College Holiday Schedule to Change

Beginning with the 2005-2006 academic year, the College will no longer hold classes on Labor Day or Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. President Jones announced through a memo to the campus community recently that this change to the academic calendar will allow all members of the faculty and administrative staff, with the exception of those Trinity employees who perform essential services, to celebrate these national holidays by having a day off from work. In previous years, some College offices were open while others were not. “This is a positive move that we were able to make with the cooperation of several campus groups,” explains Jones. “The IMPACT Committee, the Curriculum Committee, and the Registrar’s Office each played a vital role in working out the details for this change. I asked them to make it happen and they did.”

In order to accommodate the schedule change, fall classes will begin the Friday before Labor Day to compensate for the Monday holiday and, in those years when Martin Luther King, Jr. Day falls within the week that starts the spring semester in January, classes will be held on the preceding Friday. All other aspects of the academic calendar will remain the same.

IMPACT (Improved Personnel Advisory Committee at Trinity), which represents approximately 190 staff members on the bi-weekly payroll, has been pushing for a change to the holiday schedule for several years. They have been supported in those efforts by the President’s Special Council on Women, whose members have written letters in support of the change. Many administrative personnel in academic and other departments have traditionally been required to work on the holidays while the rest of the College had the day off.

IMPACT Committee chair Robin Kelly notes that the changes will have maximum benefit to Trinity employees with minimal effect on the academic calendar. “We’re very happy that President Jones decided to make this a priority,” says Kelly. “In the past, other presidents have talked about it—but he did something about it. He met with our group last month and listened to our concerns, and then he brought the appropriate people together to work it out. Even though some departments will have to adjust their schedules, it’s really a win-win situation for everyone.”

For additional information about IMPACT, please go to: www.trincoll.edu/orgs/impact/IMPACTHome.htm.

 

back to top

Return to eQuad table of contents