Condensed Calendar and Winter Intersession

By Mary Gross, FA President

At the Education event, Annie Ngo, curry mitchell, and I facilitated the discussion around MiraCosta’s new upcoming Condensed Calendar and Winter Intersession. The District received approval from the Chancellor’s Office for the 2026-2027 calendar which now has a fall and spring semester composed of 16 instructional weeks along with 5 designated FLEX days each semester and 1 All College Day in the Fall. We will now have a full week off during Thanksgiving week and maintain a full mid-semester week off for Spring Break. What has changed is that fall and spring will no longer have a separate “finals week” with each class having a designated two-hour final exam block. With these changes, we will now be able to offer a Winter Intersession that runs four weeks during January.

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One of the questions we asked participants was “Do I now work fewer contractual days with the new calendar?” The answer is NO. Instructional faculty will continue to have a 15 LHE requirement for fall and spring to make their base load, and class hours will be slightly adjusted to ensure the minimal instructional time is met. As outlined in our CBA, the fall semester is comprised of 82 designated instructional days, 5 FLEX, and 1 All College Day. In the spring, we have 83 designated instructional days and 5 FLEX. This results in maintaining our 176 days; for Non-instructional faculty, their days will remain at 195 circle days between July 1 and June 30.

Our second query was “Can I be required to teach a class during Winter Intersession? Would this be part of my load for fall or spring or treated like summer intersession?" Let’s break this one down… first, no faculty is EVER required to teach during intersession, whether summer or now winter. As far as the load question, this would be subject to negotiation. Currently, the contract speaks just to summer session which is “extra-contractual” and load cannot be considered for fall load and/or banking. We then had a robust discussion about the pros/cons of course offerings in a condensed four-week Winter intersession format. The Counselors in attendance voiced support for us having certain class offerings that would be beneficial for students, noting that not all courses would be beneficial or desirable to offer. You can check out this document which shares the typical Winter Session Classes offered in the San Diego Region. Faculty will certainly play an important role in deciding what, if any, classes might be offered in our own Winter Intersession. As practiced at MCC, this will be a joint decision between faculty and administrators.

The feedback received at the event confirmed improved faculty understanding of how the new calendar and winter intersession will work but also acknowledged that many elements still need discussion between the FA, Senate, and Administration especially regarding where new LHE for winter offerings will come, how support services may be impacted, and other working condition matters. Faculty recognized the significant potential benefits for students but also have concerns about academic rigor and the practicality of compressed courses. Know that the FA and Senate are using the feedback received as we continue to engage in discussions with the District over these matters.