The Graduate School and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law have separate bulletins that contain academic calendars for these units. The calendar presented in this section was designed to include most students activities and to limit the time missed from classes. Also, for the purpose of planning, the definition of an academic year, as provided by the U.S. Department of Education, has been used. This definition is as follows:
- An academic year is a period that begins on the first day of classes and ends on the last day of classes or examinations and that is a minimum of 30 weeks of instructional time during which for an undergraduate educational program a full-time student is expected to complete at least
- 24 semester or trimester hours or 36 quarter hours in an educational program whose length is measured in credit hours. 900 clock hours in an educational program whose length is measured in clock hours.
- For purposes of the definition of an academic year, a week is a consecutive 7-day period.
- For an educational program using a semester, trimester, or quarter system or clock hours, the Secretary considers a week of instructional time to be any week in which at least one day of regularly scheduled instruction, examinations, or preparation for examination occurs.
- For an educational program using credit hours (but not using a semester, trimester, or quarter system), the Secretary considers a week of instruction to be 5 days.
- Instruction time does not include periods of orientation, counseling, vacation, or other activity not related to class preparation or examinations.