Quick Work to Implement Spring 2021 Date Changes

During September, the Faculty Senate voted to adjust the Spring 2021 academic calendar, as a response to the university’s commitment to student and staff safety during the COVID -19 pandemic. The changes reflect a delay in the start of instruction to January 25 and elimination of the usual spring break in favor of a long weekend from Friday, April 2, through Sunday, April 4, and no classes Saturday, March 27.  Once the vote had passed, the Academic Affairs Continuity team (AACt) developed a phased approach to plan for the schedule build, advising period, and enrollment-release schedule. The RO did a substantial amount of work to make quick changes to the Schedule of Classes to reflect this decision:
  • Session dates and deadlines were updated to reflect the changes in the academic calendar
  • New modular sessions were created where needed to reflect the elimination of the full spring break
  • Class sections currently scheduled for the spring were updated to reflect the changes in dates and/or session codes
As mentioned, the AACt developed a phased approach to implement changes in preparation for the spring semester. After the RO completed updates in SIS to reflect the new Spring 2021 calendar, Departments were able to continue to work on their schedule of classes. At this time modality guidance is not finalized; however, an appropriate designation for SIS is provided.   As is known by now, many decisions and changes are being made quickly, therefore some information may not be available or ready to share, and we know this can be difficult. As more information about the implementation of changes to the spring semester is available it will be shared. To see which enrollment-related dates have changed, view the dates and deadlines page on the Office of the Registrar website.