Fall quarter will start a week later than usual this year at UC Santa Barbara and seven other UC campuses, which will result in a shortened winter break.

Classes will begin Oct. 2 to avoid conflicts with religious holidays, according to Brooke Converse, a UC Office of the President spokeswoman.

Because of the change, winter break was shortened from the typical three weeks between quarters to two, she said.

The end of spring 2015 quarter will remain the same, concluding June 12 for commencement weekend.

This marks the first time calendars will be adjusted to comply with a relatively new university policy, which was established in response to conflicts between fall residence hall move-in days and the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Converse said the policy enacted in 2007 provides specific accommodations for years when move-in conflicts with a major religious holiday, requiring all academic calendars after 2010 to prevent such clashes.

One such conflict occurred in fall 2006, according to the “Addressing Religious Holiday Conflicts with Residence Hall ‘Move-In’ Days” policy.

This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 24 and continues through sundown on Friday, Sept. 26 — when campus activities and the first day of instruction would typically have begun.

Officials decided against lengthening spring quarter because the later start of the 2015 winter quarter would put the Cesar Chavez holiday (March 31) during finals week, which can’t be shortened, Converse said.

The number of days of instruction can’t be shortened, either.

“Starting the 2015 winter quarter later would push the start of the 2015 fall quarter later into October, which would cause the same winter break problem the following year,” she said, and changing the approved and already published 2014-15 academic calendar now would disrupt already booked and contractually obligated conferences, travel plans and family events.

— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.