UW Trustees Adopt Academic Calendars for 2020

Starting with the 2020-21 school year, University of Wyoming students will see a shorter winter break and have a full week off during the week of Thanksgiving.

The UW Board of Trustees today (Thursday) approved academic calendars for the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, concluding a process that included extensive feedback from students, faculty and staff.

Under those calendars, the fall semester will start on the fourth Monday of August each year, with a four-week winter break, and the spring semester starting on the Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr./Wyoming Equality Day each January. The calendars retain a weeklong spring break in mid-March, with finals week ending no later than May 14.

The move to a four-week winter break means the spring semester will start almost a week earlier than it has in recent years, while still keeping the J-term option, including the possibility of international courses during the break.

Other features of the calendars include:

-- A mini-break day in the fall.

-- Two extra break days during Thanksgiving week, making it a full week with no classes.

-- A one-day February break.

-- A total of 73 days of instruction per semester, resulting in an annual increase of six instructional days from the current calendar.

The calendars may be viewed at www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/calendar/ under “Draft Calendars.”