Promotion for a significantly expanded January Term began this week with a flurry of e-mails and advertisements after last January's successful pilot program.
January Term 2006 will offer more than 400 students the opportunity to study on Grounds and provide study abroad student spots to another 110. Students will be able to choose from among nearly 40 courses. Additionally, this year students can study abroad in Italy, Ireland, Nicaragua and Spain.
Last January, 216 students chose from among 14 courses.
"I would say that the students in the pilot programs appeared to greatly value the time that they spent with faculty," said Dudley Doane, who oversees January Term as the director of summer session. "They spent a lot of time together, worked well together and really got to explore a topic in great depth during the two-week period."
The program was lauded by participants, with 100 percent of the students who filled out online evaluations saying they thought the University should continue to offer January Term. Professors shared this enthusiasm.
"January Term 2005 was an extremely rewarding experience," said Politics Prof. David Waldner, who will be teaching again this January. "It gave me the opportunity that I don't normally have during the year, and it gave me the opportunity to instruct two dozen of the most highly motivated students I've ever taught."
Some of the relationships formed during a January Term between professors and students have continued into the school year. Waldner said students from his Nation Building in Iraq course still contact him for advising and research opportunities.
The flip side to this close contact is that January courses can be intense. Waldner estimated that his January Term students put in seven to eight hours a day after the 15 hours of assigned reading per week.
"There was a clear self-selection mechanism," Waldner said. "You wouldn't sign up unless you were deeply and passionately engaged with the material."
January Term was fostered by the desire of administrators, including College Dean Edward Ayers, to increase study abroad participation and allow students to accomplish more during their four years at the University, Doane said.
It came into fruition with the assistance of fourth-year College student Karin Agness, who arranged a professor-guided trip to China for 10 days two years ago.
"I think the reason January Term came about is because there was pressure from the top and bottom," Agness said. After she successfully organized her trip, "there was a greater push for getting this done."
Since Agness' trip, Doane's office, in conjunction with the Provost's and International Studies Office, solicits and reviews professor's proposals for January Term programs.
While many of the professors said they will teach again, others said January Term was a unique experience.
"It would be unlikely for most faculty members to do this year after year because of their other work," Doane said. "But January Term also provides them an opportunity to do other things."
According to a student evaluation conducted by Doane's office, students said they were interested in January Term for the opportunity to learn about a unique topic. Other students said January Term allowed them to fulfill an area or major requirement and possibly carry a lightened course load during the year.
"You didn't have to worry about five or six other classes," said third-year College student Darius Nabors, who took Politics Prof. Larry Sabato's Virginia Politics class. "You got a lot more face time with the professor and got three credits in two weeks."
Students venturing outside of Charlottesville for January Term expressed additional reasons for their interest in the academic opportunity.
"I wanted to go to a place with a different culture and political system, spend time with students there" without a language component, Agness said. "China was great for this mold. It was a tremendous success"
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