Scope

All academic programs on the Bloomington campus.

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Policy Statement

This statement describes the policies that are implicit in the campus calendar last approved by the Bloomington Faculty Council in 2010 to begin in the summer of 2012 with the exception of no classes on Labor Day, which begins in the fall of 2011.

1. The calendar for the academic year shall be composed of two semesters. 
2. Each semester shall be preceded by one week for orientation/registration. There shall be an additional break of one week between the end of the summer session and the beginning of orientation/registration week.
3. The first semester shall contain fourteen weeks and three days of instruction (that is, 73 class days, not counting Saturdays) plus one week (5 exam days) of final examinations. The second semester shall contain fifteen weeks of instruction (that is, 75 class days, not counting Saturdays) plus one week (5 exam days) of final examinations.
4. The standard length of a three-credit-hour course shall be 50 minutes three times a week or 75 minutes twice a week. The break between classes shall be at least 20 minutes but not more than 25 minutes, as determined by the Office of the Registrar.
5. The first day of classes and the first day of final exams for each semester shall fall on a Monday. The last day of classes shall fall on a Saturday, and the last day of final exams shall fall on a Friday.
6. There shall be no classes on Labor Day. Fall semester recess will occur on Friday of the seventh or eighth week of classes (no regularly scheduled classes will meet). Thanksgiving Recess and Spring Recess shall each be six days (Monday through Saturday).
7. The beginning of the second semester shall be determined by the day of the week upon which New Year's Day falls. Classes shall begin on a Monday (in order to have an unbroken week), preceded by a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for advising and registration. Therefore, when New Year's Day falls on a Tuesday, classes shall start on the first Monday in January; when New Year's Day falls on any other day, classes shall start on the second Monday in January.
8. The break between semesters (that is, between the end of final examinations and the start of classes) shall be three weeks.
9. The Spring Recess shall fall on the week following the ninth week of classes during the second semester.
10. The final examination period for semester courses shall be two hours.
11. The summer session shall consist of eight sessions: one of twelve weeks, two of eight weeks, two of six weeks and three of four weeks. The summer session shall begin on the Tuesday following the last day of final exams for the Spring semester. The twelve week, first eight week, first six week and first four week sessions shall begin on the first day of the summer session. The second eight week and second four week sessions shall begin on the Tuesday of the fifth week of the summer session. The second six week session shall begin on the Tuesday of the seventh week. The third four week session shall begin on the Tuesday of the ninth week.
12. There shall be no classes on Memorial Day and no classes on the Fourth of July. Classes shall not meet on the preceding Friday when July 4 falls on a Saturday nor on the following Monday when July 4 falls on a Sunday.
13. There shall be no special final examination period for the summer sessions.

• By action of the Board of Trustees on January 24, 1997, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be observed on the third Monday of January, and classes will not be held on that day.

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History

Bloomington Faculty Council Action: November 19, 1991 April 29, 1997 October 19, 2010

Note: Name was changed from "Calendar Principles" when policy was moved into the database in 2016.

Previous versions of this policy:

10/19/2010 - 02/13/2024

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