Over the winter holiday, three Criminal Justice faculty - Department Chair Bobbi Kassel (CJ 3300), Associate Professor Marcy Hehnly (CJ 3060), and Assistant Professor Jonathan Rudd (NSS 2010) - were busy teaching three-week classes in the “J-term.” This article explores their motivation, logistics, and take-aways for themselves and their students. Would they do it again? The answer is resoundingly yes! In fact, the department is gearing up to offer Spring Break and more condensed options to students.

Marcy, who came to UVU in 2014 from the Georgia system, was familiar with the advantages of condensed courses and wanted to offer flexibility to her students. In her third year of doing so at UVU, she has worked through the logistics (with the support of Director of Program Completion Tiffany Evans, the registrar’s office, Academic IT, advising, and OTL) and convinced her colleagues to try condensed courses too. Bobbi and Jonathan were skeptical but grew to appreciate the singularity of teaching focus - just one class for many hours per day - and the sustained conversations with their students. “I found myself being really excited with the course because I was very focused on it,” said Jonathan. 

 

What is a J-term Course?

J-term courses include the same amount of content as 15-week courses. Students are provided access to the Canvas course one week prior to the term start for pre-work; the J-term extends two weeks past the close of term for final assignment submission. Because of the fast pace of content, it is critical to nudge students to get assignments submitted on time. Advisor Christina Fife played a critical role in reaching out to students who lagged. Including the online success “coach” is one of the key lessons learned.

 

Lessons Learned:

• Work closely with Academic IT, registrar’s office, advising, and Tiffany Evans to set up the unique term.
• Add an online success “coach” - whether advisor, instructional assistant, etc. - who can monitor signals of drift or distress and reach out to students.
• Do not allow late additions to the class. Prominently communicate the last day to withdraw.
• Consider a 24 hr grace period for assignments.
• The courses are coded as regular (in this case, online) courses, so it is essential to clearly communicate with students that this is a fast-paced, 3-week class in which each day equals one week of work.

 

Were students successful? What did they say?

97% of students said they would take another course. They appreciated focusing on one thing at a time. For CJ 3300, 11 of 20 completed; for CJ 3060, 20 of 20 completed, and for NSS 2010, 14 of 18 completed. Bobbi adds, “A few students quickly withdrew from my course once they realized the workload for the three-week class. The students that completed the course were all motivated students; the work they turned in was exceptional.”

 

Final Thoughts

“As a Department Chair, I was skeptical about the three-week class setup and about the students having enough time to complete the homework,” said Bobbi.  “This is why I volunteered to teach during the J-term. I wanted to see for myself if this would work or not. I was pleasantly surprised at the engagement and excitement from my students. They worked extremely hard over those three weeks, I was impressed. I would teach again during the J-term and plan to encourage my faculty to consider offering other J-term options for our students.”

The faculty and advisor had daily dialogue about the courses. Since faculty were busy grading and providing feedback to students, the advisor provided critical underpinning support and care of students. 

Kudos to these faculty for innovating, learning, and growing on behalf of student success. They welcome questions from other departments interested in offering condensed courses/intersessions ([email protected]). Tiffany Evans ([email protected]) is available to discuss J-term and other condensed course options including:

1. Spring Break – condensed courses can be offered during spring break. Coursework begins before the break and extends after the break, with all assignments submitted by designated deadlines and grades submitted accordingly.
2. Summer Term– condensed delivery parts of the term are currently being used by departments but could be expanded. One is the first ten days of summer terms to offer condensed courses to those who might not otherwise enroll in the summer semester.
3. Weekend Condensed- condensed weekend courses can occur on 3–4 weekends spaced throughout a term, allowing students time to work on assignments in between sessions. Weekend courses are typically offered for 2 or 3 credits.
4. J-Term- condensed courses are held between the end of the fall and before the spring semesters. These sessions are a special part of the spring term.