J-Term Prompts Debate from All Corners of Campus

Author: Megan O'Keefe

Faculty and student concerns are increasingly at odds in an escalating debate over the future of Winter Term.

While students are overwhelmingly in favor of preserving Middlebury's current 4-1-4 calendar, a majority of the faculty present during an Oct. 13 discussion on the future Winter Term urged the College to eliminate the abbreviated session.

Approximately 65 members of the faculty and administration attended the discussion, which took place during an open meeting of the faculty. Faculty dialogue on the merits of Winter Term began in September when seven discussion groups convened at Bread Loaf.

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Alison Byerly said the groups were used to "take the pulse of the faculty on the issue," as the Educational Affairs Committee began its yearlong evaluation of the current academic calendar.

The common themes from the Bread Loaf discussion groups were summarized on a handout that lists 10 "valuable aspects of Winter Term" and seven "concerns about the fall/winter/spring calendar and Winter Term." Capturing many of the principal faculty concerns, the lists address issues ranging from pedagogy to faculty and student exhaustion.

The list recognizes Winter Term as a positive space for internships, special programs (including comprehensive exams), interdisciplinary classes, focused time for student research and senior work and off-campus courses. While current budget constraints have suspended off-campus Winter Term courses, the future of these programs remains unclear.

The fact that Winter Term "allows intensive study of a single subject" and provides a "venue for innovative and experimental teaching" are also documented as positive features of the term.

The faculty has identified a number of concerns about the current Winter Term program, many of which were actively voiced during the meeting. Some faculty members articulated that it is difficult to cover a "defined body of material" in the 12-week fall and spring semesters set by the 4-1-4 calendar.

Secretary of the College Eric Davis - who has been conducting research on academic calendars at the College's peer institutions -noted that a two-semester calendar would lengthen the fall and spring semesters to 14 weeks each.

According to the handout of common themes from the Bread Loaf discussion groups, the current compressed 12-week calendar "discourages innovative teaching."

The criticism raised most often during the faculty discussion the 4-1-4 calendar centered on the complaint that Winter Term is exhaustive for faculty who are forced to prepare for Winter Term while finishing up their fall term grading and prepare for Spring Term while still teaching a Winter Term class.

While faculty are required to teach one Winter Term course every other year, most of the faculty present during the meeting expressed alarm that certain faculty bear the burden of teaching Winter Term courses, while others teach fewer than their fair share. Certain faculty may be exempt from teaching Winter Term courses due to administrative obligations, while junior faculty members may experience pressure to teach more often.

According the handout, there is a "perception that course releases for senior faculty who chair departments of sit on major committees places disproportionate burden on junior faculty."

Faculty also questioned the academic rigor of certain Winter Term courses, specifically those taught by visiting faculty. While the term was initially envisioned as an opportunity to offer "pedagogically innovative courses," a number of faculty have voiced concern that this is no longer the case and that many courses taught during Winter Term are simply compressed fall or spring courses.

'"J-Term culture' defined by student expectations of low workload" also graces the list of faculty concerns about Winter Term.

Faculty discussion on Winter Term has remained stagnant since Oct. 13 while the Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) prepares a draft of two-semester calendars that may replace the 4-1-4 plan, but student interest on the topic is just beginning to heat up.

A poll of 261 students conducted by The Middlebury Campus showed that 97 percent of students are in favor of retaining Winter Term.

The Student Educational Affairs Committee (SEAC) has been working since September, according to chair Stephen Clarke '04, to "collectively and actively seek out faculty opinion."

The Campus poll represents the first organized effort to assess student opinion. Clarke's committee has worked on the widely accepted assumption that students are overwhelming in favor of keeping Winter Term.

But Clarke is quick to point out that the current evaluation of Winter Term is "not entirely a keep it or heap it debate. In order to keep J-Term we are going to have to change it."

Clarke's committee expects to receive a very preliminary draft of the alternative calendar from the EAC this week. The SEAC plans to bring the debate to students in an open forum next week.

While Clarke said that the event will be "widely publicized," he expects to hear from students with a strong opinion. He noted that the SEAC wants to know what students "don't like about J-Term" along with what they do like about the term.

In response to faculty criticism of Winter Term, Clarke responded ,"If it's compromising teaching, it's been doing it since 1968." But he is quick to point out that the SEAC "wants to enhance J-Term for faculty and students, and forge creative compromise." For now, Clarke urges students to share their opinions with their professors. "It is probably going to be a close vote. Students need to be active.