The Daily Bulletin Archive

Students looking to get a head start on the spring semester and potentially ease their workload for future months may want to consider enrolling in an Intersemester class. The Intersemester period is a separate, condensed block of courses from January 4 to 22 that count toward the spring semester. This year, students have a record 22 classes from which to choose.

Registrar Mark Bausili said that in past years, Intersemester averaged about 17 classes. While he is pleased to see an increase in the number of courses this year, he advises faculty and staff that Intersemester courses fill up quickly. As of November 10, six classes were closed.

“Intersemester offers students the opportunity to gain extra credit and graduate sooner,” Bausili said. “On the other hand, if a student takes an Intersemester course, he or she could take as little as 9 credit hours during the traditional spring semester and still be considered a full-time student.”

“This could be advantageous for students who are struggling,” added Mark Petrie, associate vice president for enrollment management.

Most classes run from Monday through Friday for three hours a day. Students must carry a minimum 2.0 GPA to register for an Intersemester class; the drop/add deadline is Tuesday, January 5. The scheduled deadline for faculty to submit a course for the 2011 Intersemester is August 13, 2010, the same as for spring 2011.

David Henry, associate professor of elementary education and reading, regularly teaches during Intersemester. He will teach EDU 501: Seminar for the Reflective Teacher in January.

“I like to teach the class in a compressed format; it gives students time to have discussions and work on projects,” Henry said. “They come in worried about such a long class but are all pleasantly surprised at how fast the time seems to go by. When I teach this class in a regular semester format, I find that the students have a hard time connecting from one week to the next. During Intersemester, I know that this is the only class they are taking, so they are more focused on the work we do in the course.”

Henry recommends that more faculty try teaching during Intersemester. He appreciates having extra time to work on research as the spring semester progresses.

“My only advice,” Henry cautioned, “is to teach courses that are interactive and are based on discussions. It would be hard to teach a lecture-based course in this format.”