Every year, questions arise as to how best to ensure that our classes remain on track while simultaneously addressing student needs during Thanksgiving week, including meeting family commitments, having a chance to recharge before the end of the semester, and benefiting from lower travel costs. Our experience with online education during the pandemic points to a solution to this challenge, for this academic year and in years to come.

Going forward, in order to ensure that classes on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week continue to meet while allowing students to leave campus in a timely fashion, faculty teaching courses whose learning outcomes can be met through remote instruction are encouraged to move their Thanksgiving week class meetings online. Some courses, such as arts courses and science labs, may not be conducive to this approach; in all instances, it is the faculty instructor’s prerogative to determine that their Thanksgiving week class meetings need to remain in person. It is our expectation, however, that the vast majority of AU classes during Thanksgiving week will be held online. This recommendation applies to graduate and undergraduate classes in all AU schools and programs, with the exception of those in the Washington College of Law and in programs with special calendars (such as the 4-term calendar).  

We ask all faculty to inform their students as soon as possible of their planned modalities during Thanksgiving week. Classes on Monday, November 21 will meet at their usual time. In accordance with the 2022–2023 academic calendar, classes that normally meet on Fridays will meet at their usual time on Tuesday, November 22; classes that only meet on Tuesdays are cancelled for that week. No residential classes will be held on Wednesday, November 23. 

This change will allow us to meet our critical learning outcomes while providing our students and families with greater flexibility. Please direct any questions you might have about these recommendations to provost@american.edu.