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...prevailing fog that has occluded the administration’s plans for J-term lifted momentarily this past weekend, but the forecast looks bleak nonetheless. At a question-and-answer session for junior parents this past Friday, Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris informed parents that housing at the College during January of next year—which will no longer host reading period or exams—might only be granted to international students, athletes, and other special-interest groups. This sudden revelation is emblematic of the disturbing mixed signals that the student body is now receiving about...
...late as April of last year, Harris engaged in dialogue with the Undergraduate Council to brainstorm a host of options for J-term, such as offering short classes on everything from PowerPoint to metalworking. This academic year, however, we have heard little or no concrete details from the College about its vision for the new term. Even a basic outline for the term or a window into its planning process would suffice, but, with next January looming closer, Harris’s comments are the first suggestion of a new and very different plan in the works...
...College is either being too obscure about J-term or it has clearly not planned well enough for the changing calendar. As we approach the end of this school year—with an administration that recently has tended toward pushing plans off—it is far too late to not have a clear conception of what January will be. The schedule change has been under consideration for years, and the idea that the College is still uncertain about this essential component is troubling. If budget anxiety is to blame for the prolonged uncertainty, then the administration ought...
...create their own January experience. It is lamentable that the College is considering not only dropping these possible opportunities, but also refusing the majority of students to even live on campus during the term. Without living accommodations, students will even be denied the liberty to participate in self-directed J-term activities on campus, whether that is research, an internship, or an extracurricular. January has also been an incredibly important time for senior-thesis writing—which could be deeply difficult to accomplish at home. Furthermore, it is shortsighted to believe that only specific groups of students will...
...administration intends to make drastic changes on J-term plans going forward, it needs to solicit input from students when considering possible decisions. The recent near-silence about calendar change plans does not bode well for university-student relations...