R·I·T
Rochester Institute of Technology
J. Fernando Naveda, Ph.D
Office of Intersession and Summer
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, New York 14623
P: 585.475.5048 F: 585.475.4460
[email protected]
March 7, 2014
Colleagues,
The 2013-2014 academic year has been one of significant change for RIT and this past January was no
exception. On January 2, fifteen faculty members and over 200 students went to class as RIT’s
inaugural January Intersession got underway. While most students met their instructors for the first
time on campus, some connected to their class from hometown locations such as Mount Vernon,
Virginia or Santa Barbara and California; others “attended class” from China and Malaysia. Whether on
campus, around Rochester or across the globe, for the next three weeks students and instructors
worked together in intensive courses designed to take advantage of the intersession’s three-week
timeframe. Though the time commitment for both faculty and students was significant, the rewards
were both unique and surprising. I encourage you to take a look at the results of a survey rolled out to
this enterprising group of students as well as comments highlighting experiences and lessons learned
shared by some of our colleagues – you may be surprised!
Let’s get ready for January 2015!
On June 5 we are planning a one-day Intensive Course Development Boot Camp that will incorporate
experiences from last year’s course development activities and feature activities facilitated by some of
our colleagues who taught intersession courses this past January. While participation in this event is
not required, faculty who are planning to offer an intensive course in January 2015, are strongly advised
to participate. Details about this year’s boot camp will be shared with the university community soon.
Timeline
Experience shows that a successful intensive course should be 90 percent designed and ready to go
before the first day of class. Our first-ever intersession teachers worked on their January 2014 courses
during the summer months which allowed them to carefully plan the three-week learning experience
and prepare for unexpected events. As you may remember, on January 6, RIT closed for one day due to
bad weather and with little warning our faculty had to shift gears to keep their classes going. Advanced
planning allowed them to do so. Advanced planning also helps colleges and departments create next
year’s schedule in a timeframe that allows the Office of Intersession and Summer (OIS) adequate time
to organize an effective marketing program.
By the end of May last year, we had a good idea of which courses our colleges would be offering in
January 2014. This year we are asking that, by the end of May, colleges provide the Office of
Intersession and Summer ([email protected]) with an initial listing of courses they plan to offer in January
2015. Identifying this list this early may encourage interested faculty to participate in this year’s
Intensive Course Boot Camp.
With this in mind, the table below shows our timeline of preparation procedures and activities for
Intersession 2015.
Date
Activity / document
Comments
May 27, 2014
Colleges submit to
[email protected] a tentative list of
January 2015 courses.
Helps departments and faculty
plan next year’s schedule and the
OIS to start developing a
marketing plan.
June 5
Intensive Course Development Faculty interested in teaching a
Boot Camp. Details to follow. January 2015 course are strongly
encouraged to participate.
Details will be announced soon.
Sep 19, 2014
New course documents
submitted to [email protected].
Required documents: 1)
Intensive Course Weekly
Course Plan and 2) College
course approval documents.
Colleges approve new intensive
courses following their
respective course approval
process (see Intensive Course
Approval flowchart) and will
submit required documents to
[email protected].
New General Education courses
require GenEd approval process.
Courses that have already been
offered in the intensive format
need not be resubmitted for
approval.
Sep 30, 2014
January Intersession Course
Schedule complete.
Week of November 10
Registration for Intersession
2015 starts.
2
This is the latest date to submit
January 2015 courses to the OIS
([email protected]). Colleges are
encouraged to submit their
approved courses as early as
possible.
Important documents
Colleges are encouraged to visit the OIS’s website (www.rit.edu/tigerterms) for useful documents that
can help with the intensive course planning process.
Last January, we ran a successful Intersession term consisting of courses that matched our students’
interests. When the three-week term concluded, faculty and students walked away with a sense of
accomplishment, which was undoubtedly due to the dedication of those faculty who invested their time
in creating a completely new learning experience, and to our students who worked with their teachers
in ways they had not experienced here at RIT. It was a great start, which once more demonstrates our
ability to challenge ourselves as we provide our students with the best education possible. We can
repeat our success and improve on our accomplishments in January 2015!
J. F. Naveda
Office of Intersession and Summer
3