Why is the academic calendar at UC Berkeley being changed beginning in Fall 2009?
A Joint Task Force on Exams was convened in September 2008 by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer and Academic Senate Chair Mary Firestone to investigate and address a set of intertwined problems surrounding exam policies and exam administration on campus. Among the Task Force recommendations in the May 2009 report [http://vpapf.chance.berkeley.edu/ExamFinalReport.pdf] were (1) to clarify, modernize, and streamline Senate procedures for approving alternative forms of final student assessment (other than the traditional three-hour written final exam), (2) to refine campus policies for midterm and final exam scheduling, (3) to revise the academic calendar to accommodate student desire for a longer reading period prior to final exams and to reduce scheduling conflicts for students (such as religious observances and commencement ceremonies), and (4) to improve the communication and dissemination of information related to final exams to instructors, students, and administ
