On June 22, the Amherst faculty voted to approve a new academic calendar for 2020–2021 and revised course schedule for fall 2020.
The revised academic calendar has several changes about which everyone should be aware. The fall semester will begin on Monday, August 24. Instruction will end on Friday, November 20. Classes will be held on Labor Day and there will be no fall break. A remote reading and exam period will be held after the Thanksgiving break, with the semester ending on Friday, December 11.
The faculty have also voted to create a January term, with instruction delivered through remote teaching pedagogies. January term will begin on Monday, January 4, and end on Friday, January 29. No classes will be held on January 18, in observance of MLK Day.
The spring semester will begin on Wednesday, February 3. There will be no spring break week during the spring 2021 semester. Commencement continues to be scheduled for Sunday, May 23, as it was prior to this calendar revision.
The course schedule for fall 2020 has been modified to encourage social distancing and make more hours available for instruction. See the revised scheduling guidelines. The schedule includes a reserved two-and-a-half-hour period for co-curricular programing on Tuesday and Thursday evenings beginning at 5:20 P.M.
If you have questions about either the academic calendar or course schedule, please write to registrar@amherst.edu.