photo by: John English, Special to the Journal-World

This file photo from April 13, 2016, shows Daisy Hill, including Oswald Hall, back left, Self Hall, back right, Hashinger Hall, front left, and Lewis Hall, front right, on the University of Kansas campus.

There is a truism in college football: When it is time to watch the games, the couch should already be in place. The University of Kansas is seeking permission to change its upcoming school calendar, in part, to make it so.

KU leaders want to start the university’s fall semester one week early, beginning next year. The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday will consider approving the request that would start classes on Aug. 18, up from its scheduled start date of Aug. 25.

Among the reasons KU gave for the accelerated start date is that it “should alleviate overlap between students moving and the first home football game,” according to a memo provided to the Regents.

KU’s football season this year didn’t begin until Aug. 29, which was three days after KU began its first day of classes. But that isn’t always the case. Changes in college football now include many schools starting their seasons the weekend before Labor Day weekend, which would coincide with the time that many students would still be moving into dorms and preparing for orientations.

In addition to moving up the start date, the change also would end the fall semester earlier. The last day of classes for the fall 2025 semester would be Dec. 4, up from the scheduled date of Dec. 11. The last day of final exams would be Dec. 12, up from the scheduled Dec. 19 date.

The proposal doesn’t call for any changes to the start or end dates for the spring semester, meaning that the winter break essentially will be a week longer than it is currently. Conversely, the upcoming 2025 summer break will be a week shorter than originally scheduled.

Under the plan, KU’s winter break would grow to 38 days between the fall 2025 and spring 2026 semesters.

If approved, the change would put KU on a schedule that is in line with the majority of the other Regents universities in the state. Wichita State, Emporia State, Pittsburg State, and Fort Hays State already have schedules that call for classes to begin on Aug. 18 and for fall finals to either end on Dec. 11 or Dec. 12. If KU moves its schedule, Kansas State will be the only Regents university with an Aug. 25 start date.

In its memo to Regents, KU did cite other reasons besides football for the change. More so than the football season, it highlighted that the schedule change would give students two full weeks of classes before the Labor Day holiday. All universities are closed for Labor Day. KU also said in the memo that the new schedule would give faculty members more time to report grades at the end of the fall semester.

The KU calendar change is up for approval on the Regents’ consent agenda, meaning it is likely to approved as a routine manner.

The Regents also will consider several other KU items at their meeting on Wednesday in Topeka. They include:

• Approve a nearly 4% increase in student housing and meal plans rates for the next school year at KU. As reported by the Journal-World last month, Regents provided preliminary approval for a host of housing and meal rates for Regents universities across the state. Under the new rate plan, a modest double occupancy room with a limited meal plan would cost $11,338 per year at KU. That’s an increase of 3.8% from current rates. The 3.8% rate increase is the largest proposed for a Regents university, slightly exceeding the 3.7% increase proposed for Pittsburg State. KU, the largest university in the system, has the second highest overall rate. Wichita State has the highest annual rate at $11,910. Rates at the other schools are: ESU, $10,500; FHSU, $9,306; KSU, $10,520; PSU, $9,320. Regents are being asked to give final approval for all the rates at all the universities.

• Approve a new KU undergraduate degree in Health and Society. The degree would be offered through the Sociology Department of KU’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. It would be the first such degree offered in the state and would provide students with an “interdisciplinary understanding of the role of social factors in health, such as housing, economics and local environments,” KU told the Regents via a memo. Graduates in similar degree programs often pursue jobs in the health care and health insurance fields, KU said in the memo. KU is projecting 35 full-time students in the degree program by the end of its third year.

• Approve a new KU professional science master’s degree in Environmental Geology. The degree would be offered through KU’s geology department, with the bulk of the degree program occurring through online classes, and would specialize in helping scientists understand both manmade and natural disasters. The degree would prepare students to work for environmental remediation firms, construction companies and entities that search for oil and other natural resources, according to a memo from KU. The university currently offers a professional science master’s degree in applied science that includes a concentration in environmental geology. The popularity of that concentration led KU to propose the new degree. KU is projecting 50 students in the program by the end of its third year.