Students Upset With Calendar, Survey Shows

Although most students favor a switch from late January to pre-Christmas exams, support for the switch may not be large enough to effect a calendar change, according to the results of a survey of undergraduates released yesterday.

Audrey Summers '78, a member of a student branch of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE), said yesterday that 60 per cent of the respondants to a CUE survey administered last month would like a calendar that included an academic year starting September 3 (for 1976-77).

The change would mean shorter reading periods, pre-Christmas exams, and a final exam period ending May 17, as opposed to June 7, the current closing day.

No Change Foreseen

Francis M. Pipkin, associate dean of the Faculty for the Colleges, said yesterday that the calendar will probably not be changed because the percentage opposed "is not overwhelming enough. I think they [the student subcommittee of the CUE] wanted a more decisive majority."

Complaints

"The survey only shows that there is much discontent about the current calendar," Summers said.

She added the response to one question which shows that 45 per cent of the student body believes the current calendar hinders finding a summer job, clearly illustrates student unhappiness with the present calendar.

Christmas Vacation

Social Science concentrators favored the proposed calendar decisively, with 72 per cent supporting the alternative and 28 per cent supporting the current calendar. Students majoring in Humanities supported the proposed calendar by a majority of 55 per cent. However, Natural Sciences concentrators divided about equally, with a slight majority endorsing the current calendar.

In response to another question on the survey, 39 per cent of the students said the time over Christmas vacation helped them understand course material better. Thirty-seven per cent replied the vacation has no effect, and the remaining 24 per cent said the time impeded understanding.