Quarters or semesters?

The page, established to "create a convenient forum for broad discussion," poses seven questions, including "What are the advantages and disadvantages of our current academic calendar?", "To what extent, if at all, is our research excellence dependent on our calendar?" and "Should we shift to a semester system?"

For each question, the viewer may submit a response as well as view previous responses. To submit a response, a name, an e-mail address and a comment are required. The comments are then stored in a public archive with each respondent's name and e-mail address and the date.

The Committee to Review the University's Calendar was appointed by the Provost in autumn quarter to consider how the University's calendar can best support the educational and scholarly goals of the students and faculty.

The committee members are chair Robert Rosner, Professor and Chairman of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Professor in the College; Philippe Desan, Professor in Romance Languages and Civilizations, Master of the Humanities Collegiate Division and Associate Dean of the Humanities; Cornell Fleischer, Professor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and the College; Anthony Mahowald, Louis Block Professor and Chairman of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Professor in the College; Nancy Stokey, the Frederick Henry Prince Professor in Economics and the College; David Strauss, the Harry N. Wyatt Professor in the Law School; Robert Topel, the Isidore Brown and Gladys J. Brown Professor in the Graduate School of Business; Daniel Garber, Associate Provost and the Lawrence Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy and the College; and Assistant Provost Ingrid Gould, staff to the committee.