Registration for the University's first January academic session began yesterday at 8 a.m. Within the hour, one class was already full.
By the end of the first day of registration, 136 of about 400 slots for students in January Term classes were full, according to program director Dudley Doane.
Administrators said they were pleased with the interest.
"It's been quite amazing," said Milton Adams, vice provost for academic programs.
The program is the collaborative effort of multiple departments at the University.
Students have been "very patient and positive" with the process, Doane said. "The overall dynamics were great."
The only wait came and went in the first hour of registration, "but we had coffee and donuts and door prizes," Doane said.
Registration for the pilot program is taking place in the Office of the Summer Session, located in the basement of Garrett Hall. The entire process takes about three or four minutes and requires students to be there in person, Doane said.
"It is an opportunity to talk to the students and go over deadlines," Doane said. He said personal interaction between students and professors is essential to a program that squeezes three-credit classes into two weeks.
During the initial hours of registration, politics courses filled up the fastest. "Nation-building in Iraq: Past, Present, Future," taught by Politics Prof. David Waldner, was full by 9 a.m., Doane said. No other classes were full by the end of the day yesterday.
For its inaugural year, the January Term only consists of a few manageable, unique classes because its birth puts a "significant strain on other programs like residence life, the dean of students office and the registrar's office, that now are responsible for thinking about students two more weeks each year," Adams said.
Registration numbers will not indicate the actual success of the program, Doane said.
"The emphasis should be placed on the actual academic experience, which doesn't even begin until January," he said.
As for the future of the program, the word is more.
"More classes, more study abroad, a wider array of classes, more unique and exciting classes," Adams said.
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