“Some faculty might be concerned that this would put even more of a teaching burden on them,” he said. “That’s something we have to look into, to make sure it doesn’t increase the teaching load for the faculty. There are pluses and minuses to doing this.”

Student leaders also expressed concerns about the new calendar.

Outgoing Undergraduate Council President Rohit Chopra ’04 said he would be in favor of changing the schedule and instituting a January term if the change had broad support and if it would not affect the length of summer vacation or reading period.

“The only way [a J-Term] will work is if there’s a lot of attention and financial and faculty resources devoted to it” Chopra said. “It also shouldn’t come at the expense of normal term-time courses.”

Any calendar restructuring should also facilitate Harvard students’ experiences with applying to summer jobs and internships, incoming council president Matthew W. Mahan ’05 said.

“One of the ultimate goals of this earlier shift, in my opinion, needs to be getting students out of spring exams far before June 1,” Mahan said. “We are put at a major disadvantage with internships and other employment opportunities, since most other colleges end their year in early May.”

Despite Chopra’s reservations about changing summer vacation, he recognized that the timing of Harvard’s summer break is atypical.

“There is no reason why we need to start halfway through September, especially given that most of our friends are back in school in late August,” he said.

Students at other schools with established January terms give the option good reviews.

Iken G. Joseph, a sophomore at Williams College, said he will take a 10-day trip to Nicaragua with a group of classmates next month to administer eye exams to that nation’s poor.

“It’s supposed to be where you pursue something you like,” he said of the January term. “I think it’s a pretty cool time just to unwind from the rigors of your normal semester.”

Marilyn Gomez, another Williams sophomore, agreed. She said she took a class focused on a style of modern painting during last year’s January term.

“Sometimes I just feel we move on too quickly,” she said of term-time courses. “So [the January session] was a nice change of pace.”

—Staff writer Joshua D. Gottlieb can be reached at jdgottl@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Laura L. Krug can be reached at krug@fas.harvard.edu.