Many Mount Holyoke traditions have moved recently from the recesses of our communal memory to the forefront of discussion. While Faculty Show brought out only fond sentiments of by-gone eras and the community was appeased with the preservation of class-colored OneCards, the fate of J-Term cannot be said to be as satisfactorily resolved.
In 2009, the administration decided to reduce the number of academic-credit courses that would be offered during January 2010 by making the lectures larger and reducing the need for more paid professors. For 2011, new administration decisions will eliminate all two-credit classes for which faculty must be paid to teach, in an effort to save the college up to $100,000. Also, in a concerted effort with the other five colleges to coordinate the beginning and end of their spring semesters, the end of J-Term and Spring Term will be pushed up a week so that students can start saving money from summer employment sooner.
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Student responses to cutbacks for their beloved J-Term have been mixed, but the general consensus seems to be sadness at the thought of losing J-Term, to any extent. However, by rummaging through the college’s archives on special programs, it becomes clear that this is not the first time that the winter term has come under reassessment. In fact, it has been put through similarly rigorous strains in the past, and the same mentality that has helped it to survive in the past is what is giving it a fighting chance now—ingenuity.
Most students are not fully aware of the turbulent forty-year history J-Term has already established at Mount Holyoke. Winter Term, later renamed January Program, was initiated in January of 1972, and participation in two Winter Terms over the course of a student’s four years at the College was initially required for graduation. In 1987, the graduation requirement was dropped and Winter Term was renamed “J Program.” As evidenced by President David Truman’s convocation speech of that year, financial concerns similar to those the administration faces now led to the requirement cut. This exhibits the core value of ingenuity and flexibility that the requirement’s heir, J-Term, still possesses.
If “Winter Term” could have survived such perilous conditions as imminent threat of suspension of all classes mid-January as a result of a shortage of oil supply to heat residence halls in 1974, the community can surely rally again to prove it values the spirit of intellectual curiosity and creativity, not just credit-oriented ends. (In ‘74, contingency plans had to be made by faculty and the Dean of Students to board all students in faculty homes until Spring semester started and the new oil supply could be used.)
Throughout J-Term’s history, course offerings provided “opportunity for academic experimentation and innovation,” and allowed students “to develop individual interests not readily accommodated in traditional academic curriculum,” as summarized by archivist Elaine Trehub in 1991, in a brief overview of J-Term found in the archives. This explanation of the purpose of J-Term is not unfamiliar to students today, though. It should remind those worried students that, just as the spirit in which it was conceived, the program will likely continue on to serve the creativity of the student to “do as she sees fit,” be it in equally engaging non-credit courses, internships or independent studies.
Of course, this idyllically portrays the situation. To address immediate concerns of what to do about the loss of paid faculty: since inception of the program, students have always been asked to propose ideas for teaching their own non-credit courses, and this tradition should not be abandoned now. In fact, just in browsing through old course guides and brochures, student-taught courses gave January the most variety and creativity. Yes, it is frustrating to many to lose the option to pick up extra credits, but the addition of some two-credit courses during regular semesters should alleviate the stress.
Many classes, historically, have also brought in alumnae to assist faculty in discussions and as guest lecturers. This small financial setback could be seen as a way to further this alumnae involvement in undergraduate learning—yet another time-honored Mount Holyoke tradition.
Finally, J-Term on campus is, if nothing else, a time when studies come secondary to relaxation, exploration and appreciation of the beauty of the campus. This social aspect has been well-documented and recognized throughout the life of the program, and without it, a certain eccentric news article from 1975 surely would not have been of enough importance to be archived. Over Winter Term of ‘75, the same year a snow sculpture contest and a staging of the comic opera Princess Ida were held on campus, two women made a remarkable discovery in the free time unique to January. One snowy afternoon, while taking time to explore their residence hall, two women stumbled across the disassembled ceramic cast of a sloth skeleton. The skeleton, purchased by the Biology department nearly a century earlier, was believed to have been lost after Williston Hall burned to the ground in 1917. Without that coincidental revelation, the skeleton would not have been reassembled and still displayed by the Biology department to this day.
Those students concerned that academic credit will not be possible in coming J-Terms should remember that the time has always been specially designed for students to have fun, relax, forge lasting friendships and take life a little less seriously. Most importantly, this community should not doubt the power of its collective creativity and resourcefulness to continue to provide the January experience each student expects. Indeed, they are the most important elements that have kept J-Term alive for thirty-eight years.
Related posts:
- College will no longer pay faculty to teach academic J-Term classes
- Letters to the Editor
- Senior symposium brings creativity to the sciences
- A campus gem: Lapidary Club to close at end of semester
- Soccer jets to Japan over J-Term
