Academic Calendar Update

Kent State’s academic calendar will be changing starting fall semester 2023.

What is changing with the calendar

Fall Semester

• Classes start on the second-to-last Monday, instead of last Thursday, in August
• Class days* increase by three, from 70 to 73 M-F days

Spring Semester

• Class days end on Sunday, instead of Tuesday, in late April/early May
• Reading Day (Wednesday) is eliminated after classes end
• Final exam week is Monday to Sunday, instead of Thursday to Wednesday, in May
• Class days* increase by three, from 71 to 74 M-F days
• Spring break moves from the 11th week to the 9th week starting spring 2025

Summer Term

• Classes start on Monday, instead of Thursday, in May
• Classes end on Saturday, instead of Wednesday, in August
• Class days* decrease by five, from 62 to 57 M-F days (except for practical experience classes)
• Part-of-term classes are modified
  • visual of the new parts of term
  • summer 2024 dates
  • scheduling courses in summer (credit-to-contact minutes)

* Number of class days do not include holidays and breaks (e.g., spring break).

Why the calendar is changing

Every five years, the Kent State University academic calendar is reviewed and approved by the university president for the next five years. During the most recent review, feedback was gathered on issues with the current calendar, primarily around the fall semester starting so late in the week and spring final exams starting in the same week as classes were finishing.

The Academic Calendar Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the Educational Policies Council, was convened in fall 2021 to review class data, consult with the university community and present recommendations to the president for future academic calendars. Read the background below on the committee and its efforts.

Transition from the current calendar to the new calendar

For the transition, there will be four calendar days between end of summer 2023 and start of fall 2023.

• Summer 2023 classes (Summer III) end on Wednesday, August 16
• Fall 2023 classes start on Monday, August 21

In the future, there will be a minimum of seven calendar days between end of summer term and start of fall semester.

Background information

In fall 2021, members of the Academic Calendar Advisory Committee convened to review and provide recommendations to the president for the calendar for academic year 2023-2024.

Based on feedback from the university community on the academic calendar that has been in place since fall 2018, the committee’s charge was to determine the feasibility of the following:

• Start fall semester earlier than a Thursday
• Schedule final exam weeks to be continuous Monday to Sunday
• Move Spring Break earlier in the semester
• Bring Kent State into compliance with the state’s requirement for class time for the semester credit hour

The goals of the committee were the following:

• Maintain or increase instructional days in the fall and spring semesters
• Ensure that the faculty contract remains nine months
• Retain, at minimum, five business days between each term for critical student and campus services

Timeline of Actions