J-Term Course Procedures

• Bylaws
• Policy Document
• Procedures
• Guidelines
• Form

Greetings!  With fall semester well underway, we are now planning for J-Term (Joining Term) 2018.  Following previous years' success, and in the interest of giving online J-Term faculty and students more time to complete a course, Fredonia is once again expanding the J-Term schedule to cover three weeks for its online classes.  Campus- or classroom-based courses will remain within the traditional two-week format. 

J-Term Online:

Start Date: Tuesday, December 26

Final Exams: Friday, January 12

Extended Project Time: Saturday, January 13-Friday, January 19

Grades Due: Wednesday, January 24

Please note that Monday, January 1 is a holiday - no class work is to be expected on that day.

J-Term On Campus:

Start Date: Tuesday, January 2

Final Exams: Friday, January 12

Extended Project Time: Saturday, January 13-Friday, January 19

Make-up Day (in the event of a weather cancellation): Tuesday, January 16

Grades Due: Wednesday, January 24

Please submit your department’s J-Term 2018 proposed courses using Google Forms (see below) by Friday, October 6, 2017.  Note that you will build your schedule one course at a time and must click on "Submit Another Response" to continue adding courses for your department.  After October 6,  I will present the master schedule to the Deans for final approval.  If you do not plan to offer courses, let us know this as well. 

Also, remember to submit your J-Term textbook orders to the campus bookstore.  Students will be able to register for J-Term courses beginning in late October.  

As a reminder, faculty members are asked to ensure that any J-Term courses have their department’s approval.  Given the intense nature of J-Term, faculty should be scheduled for no more than one academic course (internships and independent/directed studies are exceptions).  Faculty who would like to offer more than one course must obtain approval from their Dean prior to submitting the department schedule to Extended Learning.  Also, the college understands that not all courses lend themselves to a two- or three-week format and departments should take this into consideration when planning their J-Term offerings. 

Students register for J-Term classes with the expectation that they will be finished with scheduled formal instruction in two or three weeks.  To further enhance the learning experience and to recognize that some instructors wish to give students extra time to complete assignments, instructors will have an extra week in which to submit their grades - they will not be due until Wednesday, January 24, 2018.  Instructors are welcome to use the week following J-Term to extend assignment deadlines or meet with individual students, however, traditional campus-based as well as online classes must be conducted within the specified parameters and are not to be held during the week between J-Term and Spring Semester.

To ensure that courses are scheduled for the requisite amount of time, please use the following schedule when planning:

Course Credits  Minutes                 Contact Hours

1 credit hour      747                        12.45

2 credit hours    1,494                    24.90

3 credit hours    2,241                    37.35

For example, a typical 3-credit course should meet for approximately 4.25 hours per day over the 9-weekday schedule.

Time-shortened Course Policy:

“Severely time-shortened courses shall require the review and approval of the Department/Program Curriculum Committee, the Department Chair/Program Coordinator, and the appropriate Dean prior to being taught.  This process will include a side-by-side examination of syllabi for the course in its 15-week and proposed time-shortened formats.  Once a course is approved for a severely time-shortened format, the Dean will notify the Coordinator of J-Term and the Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee.”

Online Courses:

Faculty who are planning on teaching online during any semester, first need to complete both the instructor and course approval process. This process is outlined at http://home.fredonia.edu/online/course-preparation. The next BYOC will start soon, but prior to the start of the 4-week synchronous course, the four MicroCourses can be completed. Links to the MicroCourses are available on the site listed above.  Please contact Lisa Melohusky, Online Learning Coordinator, at lisa.melohusky@fredonia.edu, for more information.  

If you have any questions about J-Term, please contact me.  Thanks for your assistance and participation!