The Union College faculty has voted 124 to 99 to retain the trimester calendar, it was announced Wednesday by
Clifford Brown, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee.
The margin was 53 to 42 percent; there were 11 abstentions (5 percent), Brown said.
The vote followed an extensive, campus-wide discussion of the merits of both calendar systems — trimester and the proposed semester — with input from students, faculty and staff. Proponents of both systems were clear that the College preserve its greatest strengths — small class size, close student-faculty interaction, and the flexibility to pursue trademark programs such as terms abroad and undergraduate research.
Turnout was 96 percent (234 of 243 eligible voters), and nine faculty members did not cast ballots, Brown added.
The six members of the FEC met to count the ballots late in the day on Wednesday, Nov. 19, in the Joseph Board
Room of the political science department.
Faculty voted over the past week on the final proposal, which called for two
14-week semesters, each with a four-day reading period.
“The FEC thanks everyone who participated in this process for your help and your participation,” Brown said in a joint email with Linda Stanhope, secretary of the FEC.