Christmas Vacation Extended By One Week for 1975-1976

The Faculty Council voted Wednesday to extend the 1975-1976 Christmas vacation by one week as a result of an irregularity in next year's schedule.

Commencement is usually scheduled for the second Thursday in June; in the calendar year 1976, this date occurs late enough in the month to add an extra five days to the term.

The Faculty Council decided to compensate for the extra days in spring by paring one week from the beginning of the second semester, and extending Christmas vacation to three weeks. Students will return for reading period after vacation as usual.

Bruce Collier, assistant dean of the College, said yesterday that the University will save close to $100,000 on fuel costs by eliminating one week from the academic calendar in January.

Due to another calendar irregularity, next year's fall term also contains more days than usual, and Collier said the Faculty Council is considering adding a fourth week to Christmas vacation to counter this problem.

"There's a tendency to go that way," John V. Fox '59, secretary to the Faculty Council, said of the four week vacation.

The calendar subcommittee of the Faculty Council, which usually plans University calendars ten years in advance, recommended the Christmas vacation change to the Council. The subcommittee, chaired by James S. Duesenberry, Maier Professor of Money and Banking, recommended a three week Christmas recommended a three week Christmas vacation last year in response to the energy crisis.