Verba acknowledged that at a decentralized University, calendar standardization isn’t as simple as it sounds.
“We want to find out what the constraints might be of getting everybody on the same page,” Verba said. “There is no intrinsic value of having separate calendars, but each school has its reasons.”
According to Fox, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has been discussing moving exams to before winter break on and off for the past twenty years.
Fox said the Faculty has traditionally been reluctant to change the current exam schedule because it thought it “better for students to have a long period of time to absorb and consider material.”
Verba said he has found his share of students who disagree.
“I have heard many arguments from my own students. They want to know why they can’t enjoy their breaks,” he said.
Those sentiments are likely to be represented on the calendar committee by the two College delegates, Undergraduate Council President Rohit Chopra ’04 said. The council will be responsible for the selection of the representatives.
Chopra said council members will be interested in protecting reading period and a summer vacation long enough for study-abroad and summer internships.
“I don’t want [a semester] that starts in early August,” Chopra said.
Several professors contacted yesterday also expressed openness to a change.
Morris Professor of Health Care Policy Richard G. Frank, who teaches General Education 186, “Introduction to Health Care Policy”—a popular course that draws from the Kennedy School of Government, the School of Public Health and the College—is one professor whose life could be simplified by a unified calendar.
“It would be easier to have one coordinated calendar, but it’s not a horrible burden,” Frank said.
Disjointed registration dates and exam schedules have meant that he has had to introduce his course twice and adjust finals times to meet the needs of his students, Frank said.
In addition to Cohen and Verba, the Committee on Calendar Reform will include Provost Steven E. Hyman, Travelstead Professor of Architecture George P. Baird, Thomas Professor of Divinity Harvey G. Cox, Maier Professor of Political Economy Benjamin M. Freidman, Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies Jay M. Harris, Industrial Bank of Japan Professor of Finance Walter C. Kester, Professor of Education Daniel Koretz, Lecturer on Public Health Practice Leonard J. Marcus, Professor of Law Harry S. Martin, Stanton Professor of the First Amendment Frederick Schauer and Adams University Professor Christoph J. Wolff.
—Staff writer Ebonie D. Hazle can be reached at hazle@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.