UI announces changes to winter, spring semesters; eliminates spring break

Lang
9/15/20

The University of Iowa has announced changes to the upcoming winter and spring semesters, including the elimination of spring break.

According to an update on the school’s web site, the UI will begin the winter 2020 session as planned on Monday, Dec. 28th, and will expand the session by one week to include four weeks of instruction instead of three. The winter 2020 session will end on Friday, Jan. 22nd.

Starting the winter session on time is possible because the university did not change the fall 2020 academic calendar and will end the semester on Dec. 18th. School officials say lengthening the winter session will allow for select, high-priority classes to be taught, most of which will be online.

The spring 2021 semester will begin on Monday, Jan. 25th, one week later than originally planned, and there will be no spring break. The UI says the change was made in consideration of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the ability to maintain the same number of instruction days while starting one week later.

The spring 2021 semester will end on Friday, May 14th. Professional programs may choose to maintain their current calendars. By ending the spring 2021 semester as scheduled, the summer 2021 session will begin as scheduled on May 18th.

While the majority of winter 2020 classes will take place online, the university expects that classes for the spring 2021 semester to be offered in similar formats as the current fall semester. The university says it will closely monitor cases of COVID-19 throughout the winter and spring semesters and will take action deemed necessary to help mitigate the transmission of the virus.

For more COVID-19 updates from the UI you can go to their web site: coronavirus.uiowa.edu