(UPDATED) 11 February 2014, 12:20 p.m. – THE OFFICE of the Secretary-General has finally released the official calendar for next academic year, moving classes to July-May from the traditional June-March schedule, in preparation for the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015.
“The University of Santo Tomas will adopt a new Academic Calendar beginning next Academic Year (2014-2015) as a gradual transition to a much later date for the opening of the school year in 2015-2016 and onwards,” said Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. in a memorandum dated Feb. 11.
The transition, however, will be applied only to tertiary and post-graduate programs and not to the basic education programs of the University.
The Mass of the Holy Spirit or the traditional Misa de Apertura, which marks the opening of the academic year in UST, is scheduled on July 7. The start of regular classes will be on July 14, almost a month-long difference from the old academic calendar.
However, faculty members are required to report for work beginning June 2, and the whole month of June and the first week of July will be devoted to general assemblies, department meetings, and similar activities.
The annual Thomasian Welcome Walk for incoming freshmen will be off to a quick start as it is scheduled to happen on July 11.
Also affected by the new academic calendar are schedules for preliminary and final examinations. For the first semester, the preliminaries will be in September while the finals will be in November, instead of the usual August and October, respectively.
The first semester will end by November, after the last week of the final examination which is slated in the week of Nov. 17. The semestral break will last up to Jan. 4, 2015.
Contrary to rumors that the University will no longer hold the traditional Paskuhan festivities because it will fall within the semestral break, the Secretary General’s calendar placed it on Dec. 8, the Feast of Immaculate Conception, a Monday.
The second semester will start on Jan. 5, 2015, 43 days after the start of the semestral break. For non-graduating students, the preliminary examinations will be on Mar. 6, while the finals will take place on May 15. In the old calendar, the exams were held in January and March, respectively.
For graduating students, the final examinations will begin on April 20. The baccalaureate mass is scheduled on May 15, while the solemn investiture activities will start May 26, almost two months off the old schedule.
Since the new academic calendar will include April and May, classes will be interrupted by Holy Thursday (Apr. 2), Good Friday (Apr. 3), Araw ng Kagitingan (Apr. 9), and Labor Day (May 1).
A third term that will take the place of summer classes will start on June 3. The preliminaries for this short term will begin on June 17 while the finals will be on July 7.
There will be 104 school days (including four additional days) for the first semester from July to November, and another 104 (including four additional days) for the second semester that will run January to May — a total of 208 days for A.Y. 2014-2015.
Other universities have also decided to change their academic calendars. All campuses of the University of the Philippines, except Diliman, and Ateneo de Manila will move the start of the academic year to August from June. Jon Christoffer R. Obice with reports from John Joseph G. Basijan
kelan po entrance exam ng UST for SY 2015-2016 ?
/mayroon na po ba kayong grade11 entrance exams para sa mga k to 12 program?
may second batch po ba ang entrance exam nyo for college?
when po ang entrance exam for grade 11? i’m still in grade 9 but next year though, i’m going to be grade 11….when will be the examintation? next school year or this year??