The Associated Student Senate voted unanimously Friday to support the Academic Senate’s proposal for the 2005-2006 school calendar.

The new calendar will include a summer session that gives students the option of taking an eight-week session or a six-week session.

Executive Vice-President Dr. Jack Friedlander presented the calendar options to the senate.

“The new calendar will allow us to do a better job of expanding student needs,” Friedlander said.

As Senate President James Carter pointed out, the new calendar is very similar to the calendar being used for the 2004-2005 school year. Winter break falls at the same time and has not been shortened, as many senate members had feared it would be.

The six and eight-week summer sessions will allow more flexibility and choices for students, Friedlander said.

Friedlander said the Academic Senate took a number of factors into consideration while making decisions on the calendar for the 2005-2006 school year. One of those factors was coordinating the college’s calendar with those of local schools.

“We have a number of students from other schools who take classes here,” Friedlander said. ” We have to consider their transportation needs, the needs of the students who work, and make sure these students have enough time for their school breaks. We have a lot of flexibility as to when Spring Break should take place. We decided to place it in the beginning of April because it would coincide with when the K-12 schools get their break.”

Friedlander originally proposed having two summer sessions because, he said, most students want to get their degrees as fast as they can.

“Two summer sessions would allow students to get more units over the summer and it would allow students who are falling behind to make up more of the classes they need to graduate,” Friedlander said.

Friedlander explained that the trade-off for two summer sessions would be that students would come back earlier in January and end school earlier in May.

“I am going to be working with the Senate later in the spring to discuss the possibility of having two summer sessions in the future,” Friedlander said. “The opposition of teachers and faculty was that winter break would not be long enough. It was the faculty not wanting to come back right after New Year’s. They need that time to prepare for classes, get ready for the school year, and to rest themselves.”

-Camile Allan is a

Journalism 101 student