After careful deliberation and consultation, the Academic Deans Committee recommended—and the Presidents Council approved—four changes to the published Spring 2021 academic calendar for the undergraduate colleges of the consortium. We wish to recognize that our institutions and our faculties approached the Spring academic calendar with diverse viewpoints and concerns before reaching these decisions.
To ensure that opportunities for cross-registration are preserved, this calendar has been adopted by all of the undergraduate colleges—CMC, HMC, Pitzer, Pomona, and Scripps— and will be utilized whether or not students are able to return to residences on any or all of our campuses. This schedule also represents our best judgments at this time regarding the path of the pandemic and its implications for academic work and life in our community.
The following four changes to the spring academic calendar include:
- In anticipation of continuing pandemic challenges, the start date of the spring semester for CMC, HMC, Pitzer, Pomona, and Scripps colleges will be delayed from Tuesday, January 19, to Monday, January 25.
- The last day of classes for the semester will be Thursday, May 6, followed by one Reading Day on May 7.
- Final exams, for all students including seniors, will begin on Monday, May 10, and conclude on Friday, May 14.
- The spring semester will have three days of break, spread across the semester, rather than our conventional weeklong break at mid-semester. These periodic breaks, which allow for some rest and rejuvenation, will accommodate the later semester start without extending into the summer months and negatively impacting student internships, employment, and/or research experiences or faculty research opportunities nor impinging on current dates for commencement. In addition, given the possibility of in-person residential life, a redistributed break will encourage students to remain close to campus and minimize both the risks and undue effects of travel during this pandemic. This recommendation about spring break, in particular, was made with input from faculty from the different undergraduate colleges and after consultation with our colleagues from Student Affairs.
Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute will preserve their previously published catalogues and work with any undergraduates enrolled in their courses around differences between undergraduate and graduate schedules.
We appreciate your continued understanding and flexibility as we move forward together into spring.