Kansas State University

  1. K-State home
  2. »Office of the Registrar
  3. »About
  4. »properties
  5. »properties

Office of the Registrar

University Academic Calendar Committee

FSAAC: revised: 9-7-21

Policies and Procedures

1. The University Calendar Committee shall consists of one (1) chair and ten (10) voting members:

      1. University Registrar or Designee (non-voting) as chairperson,
      2. Five (5) representatives of Faculty Senate
        1. Consisting of at least three (3) representatives serving in a faculty role as appointed by the Faculty Senate President.
      3. Graduate Student Council President or Designee (1)
      4. President and Vice President or Designee(s) of the Salina Student Government Association (2)
      5. President and Vice President or Desingee(s) of the Manhattan Student Government Association (2)

The following additional members will be ex-officio members (non-voting): Salina Campus Registrar's Office Designee, the Vice Provost for Student Success or designee, the Director of Student Financial Assistance or designee, the Director of Financial Services or designee, the Director of Housing and Dining Services or designee. Administrative Representatives: Academic Affairs Provost Liaison and Faculty Affairs Provost Liaison.

2. Proposed changes to the membership and/or policies and procedures may be made upon approval from the committee members and from the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee.

3. The University Calendar Committee shall collaborate with appropriate constituent groups including but not limited to Dean's Council, CAPP (Committee on Academic Policy and Procedures), and etc. throughout its deliberations to ensure sufficient input, additional recommendations, and feedback into the consideration process.

      1. KBOR Considerations:
        1. Three-year KBOR calendar
        2. Student Holiday's
        3. Examination Dates
        4. Commencement Dates

b. Regular Maintenance (Calendar Committee Vote Only):

        1. Student Facing Academic Calendar (pdf and web views)
        2. Deadlines, key transactional dates or triggers associated with enrollment-related functions within the academic semester

c. Emergency Situations:

        1. In times of natural disasters, national emergencies, etc. typical protocols may be suspended or require a different methodology when seeking feedback or recommendations.
        2. The University Calendar Committee will rely on guidance and direction from the university administration on the timing/deadlines around emergency-related decisions, which may fast-track discussions or recommendation processes/protocols.  Shared information or conversations may go through different structures, including but not limited to Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Dean's Council, Cabinet, etc.

4. The University Calendar Committee shall present its recommendations to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, with notifiation to Faculty Senate Academic Affairs committee prior to the Executive Committee action.

5. The President of Faculty Senate shall forward recommendations to the Faculty Senate to the Provost via a vote of endorsement, copied to the Graduate Student Council, President of the Student Body at the Manhattan and Salina campuses, and the University Registrar.

6. The Provost shall then send the calendar to the Board of Regents for final approval, whereupon it shall be published in a timely fashion by the University Registrar.

7. While the Board of Regents is open, at any time, to modifications of previously submitted calendars, standard practice is for each Regent's institution to submit a single set of calendar projections once every three years.

8. The following are general operating guidelines that will be used in devloping the University Academic Calendar:

      1. Per Kansas Board of Regents Calendar Policy: "The Academic Calendar ... shall provide for an academic year minimally consisting of two sixteen (16) week semesters totaling no fewer than 146 instructional days plus 5 exam days each semester."

b. Fall semester begins in August on a Monday, ten (1) days following the last class day (i.e., a Friday) of the Summer Semester;

c. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a University Holiday;

d. The traditional Thanksgiving Day (i.e., the fourth Thursday in November), and the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day are University Holidays.  The Monday through Wednesday immediately prior to Thanksgiving Day are Student Holidays;

e. The Fall Semester commencement exercises are on the last class day, a Friday, and also the Saturday immediately following on the Manhattan campus.  The Fall Semester commencement exercises for the Salina campus are held on the Friday prior to the final examination week.

f. There are five (5) final exam days in the Fall Semester beginning on the Monday following the last class day (i.e., the Friday prior), and concluding on the following Friday of the same week;

g. The Fall Semester ends prior to the traditional Christmas Day holiday and the Spring Semester begins in January on the Tuesday immediately following the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which is the third Monday in January, and is a University Holiday.

h. Spring Break, a Student Holiday, is nine (9) days, beginning the Sunday of the 9th week of the Spring Semester and concluding on the following Sunday of the same week;

Spring break is guided/determined by KBOR - reference Spring Break alignment topic at the 12/16/2020 meeting.

1) Establish a symmetrical sixteen-week semester, and 2) create a schedule in which all first eight-week Spring courses are completed before Spring Break, and all second eight-week Spring courses are after Spring break

i. There are five (5) final exam days in the Spring Semester beginning on the Monday following the last class day (i.e., the Friday prior), and concluding on the following Friday of the same week;

j. The Spring Semester commencement exercises are on the last day of the final exam period, a Friday, and also the Saturday immediately following on the Manhattan campus.  The Spring Semester commencement exercises for the Salina campus are held on the Saturday prior to the final examination week; and

k. The first day of the Summer Semester is either ten (10) or eleven (11) days (contingent upon when the Memorial Day Holiday {a University Holiday} occurs on the calendar) following the last day of final exams (a Friday) for the Spring Semester.

Additional Resources/References:

University Calendar Committee (3035): https://www.k-state.edu/provost/committeehb/fsc.html#UCC

KBOR Policy manual – Chapter II, Academic Affairs, section 1: Academic Calendar

https://www.kansasregents.org/128-academic_affairs/academic_calendars

 

 

  1.