The University of Maine at Presque Isle is offering its first-ever Fall Short Term from Oct. 15 to Nov. 30, providing students and others looking to complete their four-year degrees with a concise, 6-week session as an alternative – or an addition – to the regular 15-week semester.
“This will give students who are progressing well in their ‘normal’ 15-week coursework the opportunity to pick up an extra course, thus helping speed their time to completion,” UMPI Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Sonntag said. “And if a 15-week course just isn’t working for students for whatever reason, this gives them an alternative, allowing them to pick up a new course mid-semester and avoid getting behind. Our short terms will help us meet the University of Maine System Board of Trustees goals of promoting quicker time to degree completion and increasing graduation rates.”
Sonntag explained that the University hopes to achieve several other goals with this and future short terms: to provide students with greater scheduling flexibility, to encourage more people to pursue their degrees, and to provide even more support in helping them stay on track and complete their degrees in a shorter period of time. The University has been moving in this direction already by implementing several initiatives, including new online majors in English, History, Psychology and Liberal Studies, a wider variety of online courses, and a comprehensive list of summer courses. Provost Sonntag indicated that the University is strategically moving in the direction of year-round course offerings and the campus community is responding positively to these initiatives.
The University piloted its first short term in January when it offered a J-Term to provide degree seekers with a short class between the fall and spring semesters. Based on the success of that term, UMPI is moving forward with its Fall 2012 Short Term and will offer another J-term at the beginning of 2013, as well as two six-week-long short terms in Spring 2013.
For its Fall 2012 Short Term, UMPI has 15 course offerings. All of these classes are online. They include
ART 107 Experience of the Arts, ENG 101 College Composition, ENG 151 Introduction to Literature, ENG 121 College Composition II, ENG 211 Introduction to Creative Writing, ENG 361 Crime and Punishment, GEO 101 Human Geography, HTY 115 World Civilization I, HTY 116 World Civilization II, HTY 162 United States History II, MAT 101 Basic Statistics, MAT 117 Intermediate Algebra, PSY 100 General Psychology, PSY 200 Social Psychology, and SOC 200 Social Psychology.
“We’re very aware of how busy our students are and how important it is to have courses when and where they want them, so we’re very pleased to be providing them with even more learning options through our short terms,” Provost Sonntag said. “This really helps us offer a robust schedule of courses year round and to do our very best in assisting our students in reaching their educational goals.”
For more information about UMPI’s Fall 2012 Short Term, or to sign up for classes, contact the Office of Student Records at 207-768-9540.