Prepare To See More Students On Campus Over Winter Break As Enrollment in Winter Courses Soar

Rachel Tracy |

Miami University Journalism Student

The number of students who take classes during winter break has increased by nearly 53 percent since Miami University started offering courses four years ago, meaning more and more Oxford residents see students in town during the normally desolate days of winter.

This year, 5,001 students will take one or more winter term classes. Miami University expected just 500 students to sign up for the first ever January-term (known on campus as J-term), but instead had 3,279 students, according to statistics from the Miami University Registrar.

“We were on a 15-week [schedule] and we had a new provost who ran a very successful winter term at the University of Delaware and said, ‘You know what? Let’s see if we can pull it off here,'” University Registrar Dave Sauter said.

Winter term was created four years ago as a three-week period during January when students can take classes at an accelerated pace while on winter break. Also known as J-term was created for two main reasons: generate revenue and create more options for students.

And it's been growing ever since.

• In the 2013-2014 academic school year, 3,279 students took one or more winter courses.
• In the 2014-2015 school year, 4,445 students stayed on campus and took classes.
• In the 2015-2016 school year, 4,921 students enrolled.
• This year, 5,001 students enrolled.

In 2012, the Ohio Department of Higher Education required all public Ohio Universities to convert to semesters. Traditionally, Miami University had been on a semester system, said Sauter.

The Numbers (Statistics from the Office of the Registrar)

This winter, Students from the Oxford campus make up 74.3 percent of those taking Winter Term classes. The other nearly 25 percent of students are taking courses at the Hamilton and Middletown regional campuses and Voice of America in West Chester. Nearly 95 percent are undergraduates. The other five percent of students are taking classes toward their masters, doctorate, certification or a specialization.

Students are choosing to work on their Miami plan requirements, which are those classes students must take outside their major; thematic sequence requirements, which is a 200-plus level course outside a student's major; or a senior capstone, which is a senior level course in the student's major taken before they graduate.

Of all classes offered, there are 4,280 students fulfilling a Miami Plan requirements, 1,657 fulfilling their thematic sequence requirement, and 155 students getting their senior capstone out of the way. Because the winter term ranges from two-and-a-half weeks to three weeks in length, 4,043 students will take an online or hybrid-online course, according to registrar statistics.

MU brings in millions on J-term

Last winter, Miami University brought in $12.7 million from students taking J-term courses, according to a Power Point presentation created by Vice President for Enrollment Management Michael Kabbaz at the Feb. 2016 Board of Trustees meeting.

Students pay for the winter term courses in additional to their fall and spring semester tuition. Miami offers need-based financial aid for eligible students.

Last winter, $927,892 of financial aid was awarded to 639 individual students. In addition, 9 percent of Oxford of winter term were Pell Grant eligible, and 45 percent completed the FAFSA for their respective course(s).

“I get calls constantly. Bowling Green is starting to look at it, James Madison is starting to look at it, and they can’t believe how successful [Winter Term] is,” said Sauter. “There is more attention to budgets and low enrollment to make sure everything is paying for itself and students are getting the financial aid that they need.”

Student and Faculty Satisfaction Survey

In Jan. 2016, a survey was sent to students who took winter term courses. Most of the 27 percent who responded said they were pleased. Ninety-seven percent "indicated the winter term helped them achieve their education goals at Miami. "

The top two reasons students participated in winter term classes were because they could fit an extra course in their schedule and they could keep their course load down during the regular semesters. A quarter of the students said it allowed them to graduate quicker. After participating in winter term classes, 65 percent said they were more likely to "participate in an internship, field work, a practicum, research, or a similar experience over the summer."

Senior Strategic Communications and Family Studies double major Katrina Wagner, 21, of Brookeville, Indiana, took copywriting for electronic media, over winter break in 2015. Wagner said she said it is a good opportunity for students to have more flexibility in their college career.

“I picked up a second major kind of later so I was crunched for time to take all of these classes. So, J-term gave me an opportunity to fit in the extra three credit hours in that semester,” said Wagner.

Senior Management and Leadership major Brandilyn Wilkerson, 21, of West Chester, will be taking her first Winter Term class next month.

“For me, I needed 13 credits during my spring semester to graduate. But I didn’t want to take a fifth class to get that one credit hour,” said Wilkerson. “Taking this course during January allowed me to free up my schedule for the Spring and take something I could enjoy and focus on.”

The majority of the faculty who responded to the survey indicated they were satisfied and that it ·"was a a valuable and worthwhile academic option for students.”

Chair and Professor of Kinesiology Helaine Alessio has taught a Winter Term course since it was established. This winter she is teaching Medical Terminology as an online course. She said her experience in the past with J-term courses has been great.

“It requires a lot of discipline and I would say based on student feedback, something like four hours a day of work, each and every day including the weekends. And so, that’s how it can get done,” said Alessio.

Deloitte Professor of Accountancy Dan Heitger has also taught a winter term class since it was established, and this winter is teaching Managerial Accounting.

“Students are able to take care of one course requirement in a very intense, yet short, time period,” said Heitger. “So, if they stay on campus and take a course they are able maybe to lighten their load during the other spring-fall semester. Maybe it helps them free up some time in the summer to do an internship or study abroad. I think it just allows students to have another way to put their undergraduate puzzle together with more spaces, more pieces—a little bit more flexibility on their part.”

Graduation and Changes to Come

Because Winter Term is offered, students are now able to graduate more quickly, some even after winter term, said Sauter.

In 2014, 96 students graduated in the winter. In 2015, 100 students graduated. And in 2016, 116 students could graduate.

Sauter said there will be a harder focus on figuring out exactly what courses students need to graduate. Miami will begin to look at degree audits to make Winter Term as efficient as possible for students to graduate sooner and have more flexibility.

Starting in 2018, Winter Term will be lengthened due to a new policy requiring one credit hour to equal at least four days of class, said Sauter.

Currently, Winter Term is anywhere between two-and-a-half and three weeks in length. But after Martin Luther King Day and New Years Day, there are a few days students have off from class. Now, because of the new policy, a three-credit hour class will consist of four-day weeks, making every Winter Term class at least three weeks long.

Photo #1 cutline and credit line: For the fourth year in a row, Miami University offers students the opportunity to take classes during winter break. Contributed photo from the Miami University Winter Term website.