Academic Calendar Update
Kent State’s academic calendar will be changing starting fall semester 2023.
What is changing with the calendar
Fall Semester
- Classes start on the second-to-last Monday, instead of last Thursday, in August
- Class days* increase by three, from 70 to 73 M-F days
Spring Semester
- Class days end on Sunday, instead of Tuesday, in late April/early May
- Reading Day (Wednesday) is eliminated after classes end
- Final exam week is Monday to Sunday, instead of Thursday to Wednesday, in May
- Class days* increase by three, from 71 to 74 M-F days
- Spring break moves from the 11th week to the 9th week starting spring 2025
Summer Term
- Classes start on Monday, instead of Thursday, in May
- Classes end on Saturday, instead of Wednesday, in August
- Class days* decrease by five, from 62 to 57 M-F days (except for practical experience classes)
- Part-of-term classes are modified
- summer 2024 dates
- (credit-to-contact minutes)
* Number of class days do not include holidays and breaks (e.g., spring break).
Why the calendar is changing
Every five years, the ºÚÁÏÍø academic calendar is reviewed and approved by the university president for the next five years. During the most recent review, feedback was gathered on issues with the current calendar, primarily around the fall semester starting so late in the week and spring final exams starting in the same week as classes were finishing.
The Academic Calendar Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the Educational Policies Council, was convened in fall 2021 to review class data, consult with the university community and present recommendations to the president for future academic calendars. Read the background below on the committee and its efforts.
Transition from the current calendar to the new calendar
For the transition, there will be four calendar days between end of summer 2023 and start of fall 2023.
- Summer 2023 classes (Summer III) end on Wednesday, August 16
- Fall 2023 classes start on Monday, August 21
In the future, there will be a minimum of seven calendar days between end of summer term and start of fall semester.
Background information
In fall 2021, members of the Academic Calendar Advisory Committee convened to review and provide recommendations to the president for the calendar for academic year 2023-2024.
Based on feedback from the university community on the academic calendar that has been in place since fall 2018, the committee’s charge was to determine the feasibility of the following:
- Start fall semester earlier than a Thursday
- Schedule final exam weeks to be continuous Monday to Sunday
- Move Spring Break earlier in the semester
- Bring Kent State into compliance with the state’s requirement for class time for the semester credit hour
The goals of the committee were the following:
- Maintain or increase instructional days in the fall and spring semesters
- Ensure that the faculty contract remains nine months
- Retain, at minimum, five business days between each term for critical student and campus services
Timeline of Actions
| September 2021 | The Academic Calendar Advisory Committee convenes. |
| March 2022 | Committee submits initial recommendations to the provost for feedback. |
| April to May 2022 | Committee holds with the following university-wide advisory bodies for feedback on the recommendations:
More than 200 faculty, staff and students attend the . |
| May 2022 | Committee sends a survey to university-wide advisory bodies with two calendar options. More than 440 people respond, of which 77% are faculty, 21% staff and 3% students. () Faculty Senate vote on the options (Faculty Senate request that no change occur with moving Spring Break until more research was completed) |
| June 2022 | Committee sends a second survey to university-wide advisory bodies with a . More than 650 people respond, of which 72% are faculty, 22% staff and 6% students. () Committee presents survey results to the provost and Faculty Senate. |
| July 2022 | Provost presents recommendations to the president for final approval. |
| March 2023 | Committee sends a survey on options to summer parts of term to full-time faculty, department chairs, school directors and college and campus leaders. More than 240 people respond, of which 85% are faculty and 15% administrators/staff. () |
| May 2023 | Educational Policies Council votes on the committee's to changes to Spring Break and summer parts of term. |
| July 2023 | Faculty Senate votes on the committee's to changes to Spring Break and summer parts of term. Committee presents recommendations to the provost on changes to spring break and summer parts of term . |
| August 2023 | Kent State implements the for fall semester. |
| September 2023 | Provost presents recommendations to the president for final approval on changes to spring break and summer parts of term. |
| May 2024 | Kent State implements changes to (dates). |
| March 2025 | Kent State implements changes to spring break to move it to the 9th week of semester. |