Enrollment increases in second year
By Sammy Neiswander, For The Miami Student
Miami University's Winter Term has become a "fourth academic term of opportunity" for over 4,400 students this year, university registrar David Sauter said, which is an increase of about 30 percent from last year's Winter Term participants.
For these students, Miami's Winter Term has enabled a number of valuable opportunities, such as study abroad trips or academic workshops. Junior Tola Adedipe took advantage of the extra month of classes to catch up on her major.
This was Adepipe's first time taking Winter Term classes, and she decided to complete Political Science 101 and Theater 123 to stay on track to graduate in four years. Throughout the three weeks, however, she discovered she really enjoyed the different pace and focus involved in Winter Term classes.
"Even though the teachers were rushed for time, we were still able to focus a bit more on the material because we didn't have a [large number] of students in the class," she said.
She also said she enjoyed the more intimate and discussion-based class, and would potentially take classes during the term again.
"I would consider taking J-term classes again next year," she said. "It was a great experience. I made a lot of new friends and I got more of the one-on-one time with my teachers, which was very important."
Most assume the Winter Term provides financial gain for Miami, but the additional term comes with losses as well.
Because Winter Term allows many students to accelerate their graduation, the university loses tuition money from early graduates. According to David Creamer, the senior vice president for financial and business services, at the end of last year's Winter Term, almost 100 students did not have to come back for spring semester because the classes they took allowed them to graduate early.
"The J-term has added to the university's costs for some operations like King Cafe, the residence halls and our facility operations," Creamer said.
Despite these additional expenses, Winter Term has already proven its worth to Miami students and faculty.
"Financial performance is not the primary issue in determining whether it should be continued," he said.
The speculations regarding the end of Winter Term's demise were no more than rumors.
"I have a draft calendar out to 2022 which includes the winter term," Sauter said.