School administrators are considering making a significant change to the term calendar by shortening semesters by one week and adding a winter January term.

The University currently has a 16-week semester. However, some Ohio schools have only 15-week semesters and an additional term in January, often called J-term.

“There would be two significant changes,” Vice Provost for Academic Affairs John Fischer said. “One would be taking our 16-week semester and creating a 15-week semester…The second, by doing that, and then shifting the start time of the second semester a bit, you open up a window in the middle that allows for a J-term…approximately three weeks in length.”

A 15-week semester meets the requirements set by the state.

“If you look at what Miami (University) does right now that would be a good example of what the state requires,” Fischer said.

The appeal of creating a J-term at the University lies in the extra opportunities that would be afforded to students, including study abroad programs, internships and extra time to stay on track for graduation.

“The institutions who have J-terms right now are talking about how it provides opportunities for students to catch up if they struggled with something…and it actually improves the number of students moving on their way to graduation,” Fischer said.

If the new calendar is approved by the University administration, including the president and board of trustees, then students would experience their first J-term in January 2019. The decision will come soon, likely in December or January.

“Because of significant planning…we need a decision as soon as possible,” Assistant Vice President for Academic Operations Michelle Simmons said.

The University of Toledo is likely switching to a similar 15-week calendar with a J-term next school year.

“UT appears to be headed to this calendar next fall, they did a slightly quicker flip,” Fischer said.

The University is planning to wait longer to enact any calendar change to work out any kinks in the potential switch.

“We’re trying to be judicious about it,” Simmons said. “We’re also taking our cues from other institutions about how long it took.”

Miami University is the basic model of what the change would entail, but exact starting and ending dates are still up in the air.

The University also aims to sync its calendar with the University of Toledo and Owens Community College.

“Years ago, under different presidents, UT, Owens and BGSU academic calendars were in sync, which made it easier for academic programs that were offered at two schools …as well as for students who were enrolled at two schools concurrently,” Simmons said.

All nursing students and Master of Public Health students at the university attend courses at the University of Toledo, too.

“The hope is that we all end up on the same broad calendar,” Fischer said. “That would be a goal that both the president of UT and our president here have agreed to.”

Specific opportunities to be offered under this potential J-term have yet to be determined, but will focus on experiential learning and keeping students on-track for graduation.

Fischer and his counterparts have a goal of including an experiential learning component in every program offered, and the three-week J-term would help create a time for these components.

Course offerings are likely to include courses that students often struggle with or retake and online courses that can fit into a three-week time frame.

The University of Rhode Island also has a J-term and offers about 20 courses and experiential learning opportunities. Fischer would be happy with a similar offering in January 2019, he said.

There are several logistical obstacles that must be overcome to enact a new calendar.

“The office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, Registration and Records, the Bursar’s office and others are working together to determine what modifications would be required as well as how to communicate changes to the broader University community,” Simmons said.

Other challenges include housing, dining, faculty contracts and abiding by all state requirements.

According to the requirements found on Ohio.gov’s Department of Higher Education page, “One semester credit hour will be awarded for a minimum of 750 minutes of formalized instruction.” Therefore, students can expect course blocks to change if a J-term is implemented.

“We’ll do a draft that is seven years of a calendar, because seven year cycles tend to catch all the issues with the calendar, and it’ll be approximately two weeks,” Fischer said.

Students who do not enroll in any J-term offerings would have an extended winter break of about five weeks.

In the meantime, as administrators come to a final decision, students can look to other Universities that offer J-terms to better understand how a change could impact them, Simmons said.