Brigham Young University is giving its students a one-day, mid-semester respite beginning in 2017.
The first “Spring Holiday” will be on Friday, March 17, 2017.
“The new spring holiday was proposed by the Faculty Advisory Committee because they recognized that a day off in the long stretch between President’s Day and the end of winter semester would benefit the students,” said Brent Webb, BYU academic vice president. “I welcomed this proposal.”
“We partnered with the Faculty Advisory Committee and others at the university to make sure this added holiday would not impact accreditation requirements, and that we could minimize the impact to scheduled classes.”
BYU students have only had two days off during the winter semester — Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day — in the past.
Even though the 2016 winter semester is less than two weeks underway, the holiday won’t begin until 2017.
“With the current winter semester underway, it is too late to adjust the academic calendar to add the holiday this year,” BYU wrote in a letter emailed to students.