@Marlowe1 - as sympathetic as I am to your vision of the “grand communal gathering,” I suspect that after 2,000-2,500 returning College students show up in early September the rest of the university will need the several weeks to recover before dealing with the rest of the gang (many of whom will already be in HP but not necessarily taking courses yet). Also, I believe that other (graduate) divisions of the university will be under the new calendar as well, and will have their own Sep-Terms. Perhaps early September will become the new time of - if not a Grand Communal Gathering - then at least a pretty large one. Most of the College kids who trail in later probably won’t care much one way or the other.
According to the report, the Sep-Term offers a course to those who are likely to be in HP anyway (for the College, that would include 3rd and 4th years who have already moved into apartment living). It may well begin as a quieter “term” compared to the rest of Autumn quarter, but it wouldn’t necessarily be an obvious two-tranch start to the fall except, perhaps, for 2nd years who must return to the dorms. Some will possibly be arriving later than the others were there for the Sep-Term. I suspect, however, that most 2nd years will opt for Sept-Term, provided that it doesn’t cost “extra.” It’s a great way to get a course out of the way early on and allow you to go a tad lighter in the first year, perhaps having an easier time transitioning than many currently do (see the proposed schedules below).
While Summer term would normally suffice for those who wish to spread out their course of study, enrolling in summer will directly interfere with the ability to do a summer internship, especially one in another state. Not sure the College wants to make that an obstacle. Summer might also be more expensive whereas the Sep-Term - based on everything I am reading - appears to be part of the Autumn quarter (students do receive autumn quarter financial aid and credit). The read I’m getting from the report is that it probably won’t cost extra, but we don’t know that for sure yet.
Fall quarter essentially doesn’t change under the new plan, either in terms of effective instruction days or break time. Therefore, assuming no tuition or res. life rate increases for the Sep-Term, I can image a four-year schedule that’s something like 4-3-3 for first year, 5-3-3 for 2nd year and third year (where the fifth course in the fall is the Sep-Term), and then 4-3-3 again in 4th year. That’s 42 courses. While Winter and Spring are “compressed” quarters, they are also lighter loads at three as opposed to the usual four courses.