J-Term Falls Through the Cracks

Studying Telugu. Exploring culinary tradition. Visiting Emily Dickinson’s home in western Massachusetts.

These were among the program ideas suggested by a 2005 committee to fill a new three-week January term left open by a 2004 proposal to create one University-wide calendar, a schedule later adopted by Interim University President Derek Bok in 2007 for implementation in the 2009-2010 academic year.

But four years later, these opportunities remain unrealized.

Instead, the College’s first J-Term next winter will feature limited housing for select individuals, encouraging students to explore off-campus options and to use the period for rest and relaxation.

The January programming once expected from calendar change has been overshadowed, as administrators reassess the College’s financial priorities in light of economic turmoil and prioritize what they consider more critical elements of the undergraduate experience, such as General Education. In the four years since planning commenced, J-Term plans were allowed to fall by the wayside, as administrative and later financial turmoil forced the College and University to adjust their priorities.

A BLUEPRINT WITHOUT BACKING

Before the decision to adopt a University-wide academic schedule, a number of Harvard’s graduate schools—including the Kennedy School, Medical School, and School of Public Heath—already included a J-Term in their calendars.

After six months of consideration, Verba’s committee recommended that the entire University convert to a calendar of two four-month semesters separated by a one-month break.

The report suggested that each of Harvard’s schools determine “how, or whether, they wish to use the January time period based on their curricular needs.”

Verba says that his calendar reform committee acknowledged that substantial resources would need to be devoted to making J-Term programming a reality.

“If formal programming was to be a success, a lot of resources had to be devoted to it,” says former Harvard professor Lisa L. Martin, a co-chair of a committee focused on J-Term during the time of curricular review. “But this never happened.”

Though the Conley report suggested that an office and staff should be dedicated to J-Term planning, and administrators and members of the committee say they have long recognized that these logistical questions had to be answered before provisions could be laid, the administration did not launch an effort to identify which resources would be necessary to implement programming until very recently.

Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris says that one early roadblock to incorporating courses during this period was identifying faculty members who would be willing to teach during J-Term, as the idea was met with some resistance among the faculty, especially from those who would already be losing research time as a result of a condensed summer break.

But Reva P. Minkoff ’08, a student representative on the Conley committee, says that the body had anticipated that these issues would be resolved in time to implement J-Term programming as early as 2007.

MORE PRESSING MATTERS

This effort was sidetracked as J-Term was overshadowed by more high-profile University and College issues.

Between 2005 and 2006, University President Lawrence H. Summers’s tumultuous relationship with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and ultimate resignation shifted focus away from calendar reform, ultimately delaying the J-Term discussion.

During this period, then-Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 made developing General Education, increasing student social space and improving student advising his priorities.

In spring 2007, the Undergraduate Council reignited the discussion, calling for a student referendum on support for the calendar revision. Of the 3,467 students who voted, 84 percent responded in favor of the change.

At the end of that academic year, Bok announced that the Harvard Corporation—the University’s highest governing body—had approved a calendar modeled on the Verba committee’s initial suggested schedule.

But in August 2007, just months after Bok’s announcement, Gross stepped down as dean of the College. David R. Pilbeam served as acting dean until Evelynn M. Hammonds took over in June 2008.

During this time, though the administration never formally announced the prospect of structured January programming, undergraduates largely assumed that programs like those in the Conley proposals would come to fruition as soon as the calendar shifted.

‘ON A DIFFERENT TRACK’

According to Hammonds, “initial plans” for the period were underway when she took office in 2008, as her staff began investigating the possibilities for J-Term programming along the lines of what the Conley committee had originally envisioned.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith says that he and Hammonds approached the Board of Overseers and some alumni early last fall with their ideas for January and were encouraged to further investigate the details involved with implementation, especially the financial aspect of J-Term.

But by November 2008—when it became evident that the economic crisis would cripple Harvard’s endowment, which the University projects will lose a third of its value by June 30—the plans for J-Term programming were overshadowed by the College’s financial concerns.

“It was one of those decisions that fell down between the cracks,” Associate Dean of Student Life and Activities Judith H. Kidd says.

The administration began to approach planning for January 2009 in an entirely different light.

“The train was stopped and put on a different track,” says Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II.

In April, Smith, Hammonds, and University President Drew G. Faust made the decision “not to create a separate, structured ‘January experience’ with programming offered by the College.” Instead, the campus would only be open to a select number of pre-approved students.

MIXED REACTIONS

Though students say they welcomed the opportunity for a five-week winter break, many say they were slightly disappointed that the College administration will not provide programming next January.

“People got excited, and then they decided to cut it,” says Rebecca H. Jablonski ’11.

But most say that their primary concern was that not all individuals seeking to return to campus would be permitted to do so. In their April e-mail, Hammonds and Smith announced that housing would be limited to students who could demonstrate a “need to be on campus.”

At present, a student-faculty committee led by Assistant Dean of Advising Programs Inge-Lise Ameer is drafting an application for students seeking to stay on campus over break and otherwise determining logistics for the period.

Ameer said that the bar for accommodating requests is “pretty high” and that the application will ask students why they need to be on campus, who they are affiliated with, and the contact information necessary to verify their affiliation.

According to Kidd, the number of students who will be granted housing next January is equivalent to twice the number that can be seated in Annenberg at one time.

Bill R. Rose ’11, a member of Ameer’s committee, says that though this application process is “reasonable” for next year, he hopes the committee will support the idea of allowing student group-led programming, which he says “fit in with the goal of public service” espoused by Faust and would “cost the College very little.”

This possibility aligns with the initial vision of the Conley committee, according to Minkoff, who says that the group backed student-led initiatives—such as having students teach peers their native languages—as viable options for J-Term.

“These are ideas that enhance the Harvard experience and don’t require $10 million to implement,” says Minkoff, who is a former Crimson Staff Director.

However, Rose says that, at this time, it seems likely that student groups such as the Phillips Brooks House Association and the Institute of Politics will have their requests to stay for next J-Term rejected.

But though students will not spend the College’s first exam-free January participating in the programming that the Conley committee envisioned, College administrators have say that formal offerings are still a possibility in the future.

“It’s not the case that we’ll never have formal J-Term programming. When the financial crisis clears up, we hope to move forward,” Ameer says.

—Staff writer Bita Assad can be reached at bassad@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Lauren D. Kiel can be reached at lkiel@fas.harvard.edu.