For the 2005-06 academic year, Sacramento State’s Faculty Senate decided to make spring break fall exactly in the middle of the semester, during ninth week, because of the difficulty in coinciding spring break with Easter.

The difficulty in setting spring break dates was in the inconsistency of Easter, Larry Glasmire, director of Special Programs said.

“Spring break used to be set according to Easter, but because Easter jumps around, it became difficult to keep track sometimes,” Glasmire said.

“We had one year when spring break fell three weeks before finals,” Glasmire said. This is the sort of situation the university wants to avoid.

Butome students are finding this new placement of spring break to be unsatisfying.

Jon Von Roo, a senior at Sac State, complained about not being able to meet up with his friends.

“Other schools don’t have spring break during this time,” Roo said.

Another student, Tori Wolfe, who has a midterm upon her return, had complaints about the placement too.

“I would rather be relaxing during spring break after midterms than having to spend that time studying for them,” Wolfe said.

The senate and the Academics Policies Committee set academic calendars in two-year blocks. The committee presents the academic calendar proposal to the senate. After it goes through the senate, it is then sent to the university president for final approval, Glasmire said.

And this academic year won’t be the only time spring break will come early.

The senate and the committee approved the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic calendars in spring 2006 to reflect a spring break with maximum instructional days, Glasmire said. They did this by arranging spring break and the Caesar Chavez holiday during the same week.

By doing this, there will be 75 instructional days in the spring semesters of 2007 and 2008, according to the March 2005 meeting minutes of the senate.

The senate considered the pros and cons of doing this while making their decision ?” including the break’s affect on fall and summer semesters, lab courses and even faculty holidays, according to the senate’s Web site.

Anita Hall, an Academics Policies Committee member, doesn’t see this as a permanent shift quite yet.”

We’ll just have to wait and see for 2008-09,” Hall said.

The senate has also considered making Thanksgiving break longer, but with the consequence of starting earlier in the semester, according to the senate’s Web site.

Binde Rai can be reached at [email protected]