Dear UMD community,
Over many years, our students have advocated that they would strongly benefit from a fall break, and our faculty and staff have echoed this sentiment. We write today with good news!
We listened carefully to campus advocates and student groups, including the Student Government Association, Graduate Student Government, Residence Hall Association, and Provost's and Vice President for Student Affairs’ Student Advisory Councils. University administration has been working with representatives from the University System of Maryland and the State of Maryland to craft an adjustment to our calendar that remains in alignment with our academic mission and university and state policies.
As a result of this years-long effort, we announce the following changes to the fall 2025 academic schedule and beyond.
Beginning in fall 2025, the university will implement a new, annual two-day fall break for students, taking place on the second Monday each October (Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus Day), and Tuesday. In addition, staff and faculty will now observe Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus Day on the Monday of fall break. The university will observe typical holiday operations on that Monday. Operations will resume as normal on Tuesday; however, no classes will take place.
We hope this extra time off will help our community members focus on their well-being. We value our Terrapin community and hope this fall academic schedule change provides new opportunities for us to strengthen our TerrapinSTRONG campus.
Sincerely,
