New academic dates set for 2016/17

This week, Dal students returning this fall will begin registering for 2016/17 courses, slotting classes into a term that will look slightly different than in previous years.

Back in November, the Dalhousie Senate approved changes to the university’s academic dates that included a fall study break, different start/end dates and “lieu” days at term’s end to make up for days lost due to holidays.

The changes came from a committee convened following requests from the Dalhousie Student Union to consider adding a fall reading week, comparable to the one each winter term. The review offered an opportunity to consider other changes to the dates as well.

One that may seem a bit complicated at first glance is the “lieu day” — a change designed to ensure that courses impacted by holidays don’t end up with fewer total classes than other courses. Each term, the final day of classes will shift to follow the class schedule of a different day: for example, to account for holidays like Thanksgiving, the final day of classes for the fall term next year — Tuesday, December 6 — won’t follow a student/prof’s typical Tuesday class schedule, but will instead operate like an additional Monday of classes.

“This change will ensure that students receive the same number of teaching hours for each class, bringing greater consistency to the academic schedule,” explains Mairead Barry, acting registrar.

Here’s a quick review of the changes to academic dates:

Start of fall classes – Tuesday, September 6. That’s two days earlier than in previous years. DSU Orientation Week will start on Saturday, September 3 and run through Monday, September 5.

Fall study break – November 7-11. November 11 is also a university holiday (Remembrance Day).

Last class, fall term – Tuesday, December 6. This will be Dal’s first “lieu day” to make up for classes lost due to holidays during the term. Instead of a typical Tuesday schedule, classes will follow a Monday schedule, meaning in this case students/profs will have the same set of classes two days in a row.

First day of winter classes – Monday, January 9. Classes in the winter term start about a week later than they did under the old schedule.

Winter study break – February 20-24.

Last class, winter term – Monday, April 10. As in the first term, the final day of classes will follow the schedule of a different day of the week — in this case, April 10 will follow a Friday class schedule.

For more, visit dal.ca/dates