The University of Wisconsin-Superior offers a January Term (J-Term) for students to fast track their studies from December 27, 2021, to January 16, 2022. These online, asynchronous three-week courses allow students to concentrate on one subject. “A particular day is worth several days’ worth of work compared to the normal [16-week] semester,” said Nick Danz, the Dean of Academic Affairs.
J-Term may be a good fit for students looking to lighten their spring semester, pick up a university studies requirement, decrease their time to complete their degree, or meet a prerequisite for another course. “We make sure that we’re scaffolding the content and the skill development in a phased way so that even though it is on a condensed time structure, we can still see growth and progress,” said psychology professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Shevaun Stocker. Since these courses are quite rigorous, time management and commitment to success are some of the top qualities of an effective student during J-Term.
Since the program’s inception five years ago, the university has seen a stable influx of interested students. “We used the first two years to hone in on the courses students tend to be interested in. Now we have a more focused range of options, and those courses tend to be the most popular and in-demand among our students and also ones that instructors can teach well in three weeks,” said Danz. Academic contracts for instructors do not require them to teach over J-Term. Therefore, course offerings depend on instructor interest and availability as well as student need.
Stocker encourages students to reach out to their academic advisor to help determine if J-Term will be a good option for them. The last day to add a J-Term course with a faculty signature is December 30, 2021. To see the complete list of J-Term 2021 course offerings, please visit http://www.uwsuper.edu/classschedules/jterm.cfm.
