Iowa State University administration announced changes to the 2021-2022 school year in an email sent out Wednesday afternoon.

In the email, President Wendy Wintersteen and Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert and Senior Vice President of Student Affairs Toyia Younger announced three notable changes for the upcoming school year.

• Offering an optional 4-week winter session.
• Moving the start and end dates of spring semester 2022 back one week.
• Resuming traditional week-long Thanksgiving and spring breaks.

The summer 2021 term will begin May 17 and end Aug. 6.

The fall and spring semesters will return to the normal 16-week format. Fall semester will then begin Aug. 23 and end Dec. 17, with final exams taking place from Dec. 13 to 16.

The winter session from the 2020-2021 school year will return and begin on Dec. 20, going until Jan 14. As plans for the winter session develop, they will be posted on the winter session website.

Spring 2022 semester will start Jan. 18 and end May 13, with final exams taking place from May 9 to12. 

Thanksgiving break and Spring break will also return next year, with Thanksgiving break being the week of Nov. 22 to 26 and spring break being the week of March 14 to 18.

The email also referenced the previously announced plans to return to a “new normal,” with the university planning to return to pre-pandemic levels on in-person classes and activities.

“Online and hybrid classes will continue to be available for many courses, as they were before the pandemic, to meet students’ scheduling needs and preferred learning styles, but we will return to in-person instruction as the default for our beautiful residential campus,” the email said.

“Our planning and decisions continue to be based on appropriate health practices, an assumption that vaccinations will be widely available, and our unwavering commitment to the highest quality of teaching, learning, and student success,” it finished. 

Updates will be posted on the university’s COVID-19 response .