The University of Maine at Presque Isle is offering its first ever J-Term – that’s January Term – to see if there is interest from its student population and the greater community in providing a short class term between the fall and spring semesters.
“UMPI is increasingly focused on providing courses when and where students want them,” UMPI Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Sonntag said. “We’ve drastically increased our online offerings, and last summer significantly increased the number of courses we offered in the summer. We will offer even more courses this coming summer, and with the addition of J-Term courses, the University will effectively offer a robust schedule of courses year round.”
Sonntag said the University has added these non-traditional schedules strategically to encourage more people to pursue their degrees and allow students to stay on track and complete their degrees in a shorter period of time.
Earlier in the fall, a committee composed of faculty members Charles Johnson (chair), Ray Rice, Shirley Rush, Peng Yu and Christopher Rolon proposed that the University begin delivering live and online courses during a January term, on a trial basis.
Courses to be offered as part of UMPI’s J-Term include the Criminal Justice course Juvenile Justice and Juvenile Delinquency , the History course World Civilization I, the Math course Basic Statistics, the Political Science course American Government, and the Art course Experience of the Arts. All of these courses are online offerings.
The J-Term will take place between Dec. 19 and Jan. 13. Courses will be four weeks in length.
“The faculty embraced the opportunity to offer J-Term courses because they recognized the need was there, especially for students seeking those last few credits to complete their graduation requirements,” Johnson, one of UMPI’s Criminal Justice professors, said. “I am impressed that the Juvenile Justice and Juvenile Delinquency course has nearly filled to capacity on such short notice. Such strong enrollment substantiates the intuition of UMPI faculty that J-Term courses are indeed in demand.”
For more information about the J-Term, or to sign-up for classes, contact the Office of Student Records at 207-768-9607.
