Melanie Stein, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, met with the Ithaca College Student Governance Council at its Feb. 10 meeting to discuss upcoming changes to the college’s academic calendar, scheduling grid and the Academic Policy Committee.

SGC also heard from Cliff-Simon Vital, interim director of the BIPOC Unity Center, about this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Campus Wide Celebration Week, held Feb. 10-16.

Senior Kathi Hodel, vice president of business and finance and head of the SGC’s Appropriations Committee, also shared that the committee has allocated $15,373 for student organization and club events for Spring 2025. This is in addition to the $36,039 that the committee has already allocated, which Hodel presented in an appropriations report during the council’s Feb. 3 meeting.

Fall 2026 academic calendar

Provost Stein told the council that beginning in Fall 2026, the college’s academic calendar will include a three-day Thanksgiving break — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — to replace the traditional five-day break. Stein said the change was decided by the Academic Calendar Committee — a body of faculty, staff and two members of SGC which makes recommendations for upcoming academic calendars to the provost — after years of struggling to meet the requirement that each semester have at least 15 weeks of classes, according to the college’s Academic Catalog.

Stein said the committee came to two potential solutions: either hold classes on Labor Day or shorten Thanksgiving break. She said the committee recommended the latter option because it would allow for more flexibility in the academic calendar. She said that cutting Labor Day break would betray the college’s values.

“It’s not just any federal holiday, it’s Labor Day,” Stein said. “As an institution that has the values that IC has, to require staff to come in on Labor Day presents a challenge.”

Sophomore Joslyn Forcione, Senator-at-large and member of the Academic Calendar Committee, said she was disappointed in the decision. 

“While I am glad that [the committee] did come to a resolution, I am saddened to see that this was the solution that was found, because this is not what SGC recommended,” Forcione said.

Last semester, when members of the committee met with SGC to discuss potential solutions to the 2026-27 calendar, Forcione proposed that the college hold classes on Labor Day and eliminate one day of fall break in October. 

Stein said that along with the committee’s concerns about Labor Day, members of the committee agreed shortening fall break would not be in the best interest of students.

“[The committee’s] instinct is that [it is] terrible for students to go without a break for that long … that they need a definite break, that’s a real vacation, where [they] can leave campus,” Stein said.

Fall 2025 course scheduling grid

In her presentation, Stein also discussed the college’s new course scheduling grid, which will take effect in Fall 2025. The updated grid was first discussed by SGC during the council’s Jan. 27 meeting. 

Stein described the previous scheduling grid as “profoundly dysfunctional,” saying that only 40% of courses fit within the designated time blocs. She said that this was not only an annoyance for students because of the many course time overlaps, but it has also hindered students’ ability to explore all the programs the college has to offer.

“[Ithaca College] is a place that has a business school, that has a music program, that has theater,” Stein said. “Not all liberal arts places have these kinds of programs, so in theory, you should be able to dip into them … but it’s very hard to do that if the schedules are awful.”

Academic Policies Committee

For her last agenda item, Stein discussed her current efforts to restructure the Academic Policies Committee.

Stein said the committee’s complex structure, which is divided into three subcommittees — Curriculum, Policy and Assessment — has made it difficult to efficiently conduct the business of the college. In addition, Stein said vacancies for both student and faculty committee seats are increasingly common, and there is general confusion about the purview of the committee and what exactly constitutes a “policy.”

To address these issues, Stein said she is reevaluating the size and structure of the committee.

“We are hopeful that by next year, [the committee] will have a more streamlined, better-functioning process so that we won’t have vacancies,” Stein said. “We’ll have all the critical seats filled, and we can move the business of the college along.”

MLK Campus Wide Celebration Week

During the council’s open agenda portion of the meeting, Vital expressed disappointment in student turnout for this year’s MLK Campus Wide Celebration Week thus far and urged council members to spread the word about the week’s events. 

Vital said the center’s staff has been “stretched thin” since the departure of Shadayvia Wallace, former associate director of the center and program director of the MLK Scholar program, in Fall 2024. He said that while he and his colleagues are working hard to host the events, low student turnout threatens their efforts.

“It’s really hard to maintain traditions when it seems like the campus might not want to participate, especially since it’s budget season,” Vital said.

To encourage more interaction with the center, Vital said his goal is to foster an environment that is open to everyone.

“Black History Month is not just for Black people and BIPOC folks,” Vital said. “Our programs and our services are not only for BIPOC folks … When we think about creating a more unified campus, we need to be open and inviting.”