I would like to propose that our University switch to a quarter system.
A few elite institutions, such as Dartmouth College and the University of Chicago, have had a long and successful experience with the quarter system. A quarter system, which normally divides the academic year, beginning in September and ending in August, into four quarters of ten weeks, provides tremendous flexibility for students. Our current September to May schedule divided into two semesters is an anachronism rooted in the past, with a rationale long since lost. The University can and should make a decisive break with the past by adopting a quarter system.
With a quarter system, students would face a normal academic load, typically three courses per quarter instead of four or five per semester. The reduced course load per academic term provides students with more time to devote to a particular class and, if the student is so inclined, more time for extracurricular activities or other academic endeavors.
The idea that coursework in a quarter system might be both less hectic and prone to encouraging academic curiosity is understandably difficult to believe. Yet students at schools such as Dartmouth tend to find this to be the case. According to Laura Richardson (Dartmouth '09, Law '12), completing undergraduate courses in nine weeks allowed her to dedicate more time to each class, given that she was taking fewer classes overall.
Moreover, Richardson suggested that the quarter system had further benefits in her selection of an area of study: "In addition to being able to devote more time to any given class in general, students have the opportunity to take more classes in the year and explore more subject areas in depth before they must dedicate themselves to a major ... The idea is that the average student is then able to make a more informed decision as to what to study for the long term and has been able to compare her major to many other subjects early on."
Furthermore, an undergraduate student attending school for four terms, including summer, per academic year could easily graduate in three instead of four years. Obviously, graduating earlier is an option for students in a semester cycle, though this would usually require taking a heavier course load than their peers. A quarter system marries academic flexibility and a reduced course load with the option of accelerated graduation. In short, students in a quarter system can enter the working world quicker than their peers at semester cycle institutions, without burdening themselves with unduly heavy academic terms.
Alternatively, an undergraduate student in the quarter system could participate in a formal or informal co-op work-study program. Students and employers would not be shackled to hiring only in the usual summer period, so a feasible work-study "employment" program could be scheduled in the fall, winter or spring, which would be more accommodating for both students and employers
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