USG discusses potential academic calendar changes and spring elections

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The Undergraduate Student Government discussed potential changes to the academic calendar and USG spring elections on Thursday, Nov. 16.

Academic calendar survey

The USG executive board has been working on an initiative to change the academic calendar for Thanksgiving break and Christmas break.

At St. Thomas, there is a minimum total of 65 meeting days and 200 meeting minutes per week for a 16-week semester, according to Kate Kapsner, president of USG. This allows for change in the academic calendar.

The discussion was prompted by the St. Thomas strategic plan to increase out-of-state enrollment at St. Thomas. This discussion was also prompted to give students more time for travel on breaks.

The board plans to send out a survey through email to students and faculty on Monday, Nov. 27, and will close the survey at 12 p.m. on Dec. 2. On the survey, there will be three potential options for students and faculty to vote on. These options were determined by how classes would be affected.

The board shared the three options with the general council:

    • The Wednesday of Thanksgiving break could be taken off without adding days to the academic calendar.
    • The Friday of the midterm break could be taken out and replaced with the Wednesday of the Thanksgiving break.
    • St. Thomas could start school the week before Labor Day. This will end finals a week earlier, still give students a fall break, and take the Wednesday of Thanksgiving break off.

The USG executive board plans to “table” across different departments on campus in order to gain traction for the survey on the week of Nov. 27.

“We’re gathering as much data to make an educated decision for what students want,” Alexis Buresh, Vice President of Student Engagement said.

Buresh prefaced that the actual change to the calendar is dependent on the data collected in the survey. The options are viable but are not set as a concrete plan for change.

“Just because we’re doing a survey doesn’t mean that this is what’s going to happen. We’re just trying to figure out what students want right now, so our action is based on the survey response, not just what we think is best.” Buresh said.

Spring elections

Vice President of Academic Affairs Maggie Bau, shared a rough outline of the Spring 2024 elections plans with the general council.

Spring elections will potentially be held in December, according to Bau. This will allow newly elected council members to train and settle into their positions before the spring semester starts.

The list of open positions for the spring is not yet available.

USG will not be meeting next week due to Thanksgiving break. The next USG meeting will be at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30 at the Iversen Center for Faith.

Gwynnevere Vang can be reached at vang5129@stthomas.edu.