Academic Calendar

2018
August	27	Monday	First Days
September	3	Monday	Williams Reads
September	4	Tuesday	First-year student advising
September	4-14	Tuesday-Friday	Drop/Add period
September	6	Thursday	Fall semester classes begin
September	8	Saturday	Presidential Induction
September	15	Saturday	Convocation
September	27	Thursday	Last day to register for Winter Study travel courses Last day to submit Winter Study 99s to faculty sponsors
October	TBA	One of first three Fridays	Mountain Day
October	8-9	Monday-Tuesday	Reading period, no classes
October	22	Monday	Last day to drop a fifth course
October	26-28	Friday-Sunday	Family Days
October- November	29-5	Monday-Monday	Spring 2019 preregistration period
November	3	Saturday	Homecoming
November	7-9	Wednesday – Friday	Winter Study registration period
November	15	Thursday	Last day to change grading option of a course to pass/fail
November	16	Friday	Last day to withdraw from a course
November	21-25	Wednesday-Sunday	Thanksgiving Break
November	26-30	Monday-Friday	Last Chance Winter Study registration period
November	30	Friday	Last day to claim exam hardship
December	7	Friday	Fall semester classes end
December	8-11	Saturday-Tuesday	Reading period
December	8-16	Saturday-Sunday	Self-Scheduled and Take-Home Exam period
December	12-17	Wednesday-Monday	Scheduled Final Exam period
2019
January	3	Thursday	Winter Study begins
January	21	Monday	Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no classes
January	25	Friday	Winter Study ends
January- February	28-8	Monday-Friday	Drop/Add period
January	30	Wednesday	Spring semester classes begin (classes follow a Thursday schedule)
January	31	Thursday	Claiming Williams, no classes
February	1	Friday	Classes resume assigned schedule
February	15-16	Friday-Saturday	Winter Carnival, no classes
March	16-31	Saturday-Sunday	Spring Break
April	4	Thursday	Last day to drop a fifth course
April	22-29	Monday-Monday	Fall 2019 preregistration period
April	25	Thursday	Last day to change grading option of a course to pass/fail
April	26	Friday	Last day to withdraw from a course
May	3	Friday	Last day to claim exam hardship
May	10	Friday	Spring semester classes end
May	11-14	Saturday-Tuesday	Reading period
May	11-19	Saturday-Sunday	Self-Scheduled and Take-Home Exam period
May	15-20	Wednesday-Monday	Scheduled Final Exam period
June	1	Saturday	Baccalaureate Service Class Day
June	2	Sunday	Commencement
June	6-9	Thursday-Sunday	Alumni Reunions

Number of Class Meetings

	Mornings		Afternoons			Evenings
	M,W,F	T,Th	M,Th	W	T,F	M
Fall Semester	36	25	25	12	24	12
Spring Semester	36	25	25	12	24	12

The Winter Study Period covers 22 calendar days.

Approved by the faculty on February 10, 2016; revised March 3, 2016; revised May 10, 2017.

Williams College Policy on Observance of Religious Holidays

Because no Williams student should ever have to choose between important religious observances and academic or athletic commitments, college policy provides for students who wish to participate in religious observances that conflict with other obligations to make arrangements with their instructors and coaches to do so.

The policy, approved in 1984 by the faculty and trustees in compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, states that “Any student who is unable, because of their religious beliefs, to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on a particular day shall be excused from any such requirement, and shall be provided an opportunity to make up such requirement which they may have missed because of such absence now—provided, however, that such makeup examination or work shall not create an unreasonable burden upon the College. No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student who makes use of this provision of college policy.