Subject: Common Academic Calendar
Effective: Fall 2011
Date Revised: Spring 2017; Fall 2019
In keeping with nationwide best practices and to assist multi-campus students, students in collaborative programs, distance education students and faculty teaching at multiple campuses and sites, the University of Maine System has adopted a common academic calendar, based on the parameters below. The parameters provide a solid framework that brings structure to the system-wide academic calendar, while allowing a degree of flexibility for each individual institution to best serve its own students and pursue its unique mission.
Fall Semester
- The fall semester will start the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday before Labor Day (when Labor Day is Sept 4-7), depending on the length and variability of student orientation. When Labor Day is Sept. 1-3, the fall semester will start on the Tuesday or Wednesday after the holiday. It is the expectation that the same start date will apply to all campuses.
- Fall Break – a one-to-three day fall break
- American Thanksgiving – a three-day break
- Veteran’s Day – Each campus must observe Veteran’s Day, but making it a day off is optional and dependent on where the day falls in relation to the calendar.
- A minimum of 68 class days, not including the final exam period
Spring Semester
- Start date would typically be the Tuesday after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday
- Break schedule:
- One one-week break to allow for a break between spring semester and start of summer session and to allow for alignment of spring start date when necessitated by the calendar (see AY 17-18 calendar as model)
- A minimum of 68 class days, not including the final exam period
* “Calendar week” means including the week of President’s Day
Short Session Courses
With the exception of national holidays, any additional breaks or holiday observances will be at the discretion of the instructor.
Procedures for Submission of Academic Calendars
Academic calendars shall be forwarded to the Chancellor for review and approval based on the given parameters. Typically, calendars are submitted to the Board of Trustees for their information no later than at their January meeting. Universities shall submit academic calendars in two-year increments. The Office of the Vice Chancellor will set the schedule for the submission of academic calendars and will notify universities of submission due dates.
Departure from an established calendar must be approved by the Chancellor.