Final preparations are being made for students who want to study during the winter break.

A schedule of classes offered during Western’s first winter term will be released Oct. 10 on TopNet. The class list also will be available in a printed schedule bulletin.

The winter term will take place from Jan. 2 to Jan. 20. The fall semester ends Dec. 16 and the spring semester begins Jan. 24.

Classes will take place on the main campus and on extended campuses. Online and study abroad courses will also be available to students.

About 150 courses will be offered, said Beth Laves, assistant to the dean of the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach.

Financial aid will also be available for students who want to take classes during the break. There are also some housing opportunities for winter term students, but no temporary housing will be available.

Winter term registration will begin on Oct. 17. Students can register for classes until Jan. 3.

The regular tuition rates of $215 per credit hour for in-state undergraduate students will apply to the winter term. Students who want to apply for financial aid can fill out a form on Western’s financial assistance Web site by Nov. 1.

Three credit hours is the maximum that a student can take during the winter term, Laves said. This could be one three-hour class or a combination of a one- and two-credit class.

“This is going to be a very intense class time, and it would be difficult for students to take more than one class,” she said.

Students who want to live on campus during the break will have to register for a room change before the end of the semester, said Kit Tolbert, director of housing operations. Students would live in Pearce-Ford Tower or Northeast Hall for the winter term and during the spring semester.

Winter term students will be given first priority for room changes to Northeast, Tolbert said.

Most campus services will be available during winter term, Laves said. Dining services will have abbreviated hours.

Students are encouraged to Continued from front page

register for winter term classes as early as possible, Provost Barbara Burch said.

Early registration will ensure that students get a spot in the classes they want. Courses will be canceled if enough students aren’t enrolled in a class.

Students should register by Dec. 12 because decisions will be made before winter break about which classes will be canceled due to lack of enrollment, Laves said. There has to be at least 15 students in undergraduate courses and 11 students in graduate courses in order for the class to be offered.

Academic departments have been taking suggestions from students about what classes they want during winter term. Students can suggest classes through the winter term Web site, Laves said.

Student surveys were also conducted by e-mail about what kind of classes they would want in winter term, reasons students would take classes during the term and reasons why they wouldn’t, Laves said.

Some classes students may want will not be available because some subjects can’t be covered in that amount of time.

“Not everything lends itself to being taught in a three-week term,” Burch said

Most of the classes that will be offered have already been decided, but others may be added if there is enough demand, she said.

Another survey of students will be conducted after winter term is over for administrators to evaluate the program, Laves said. She said she will be interested in what type of students took winter term classes and if the offerings were satisfactory.

Laves said the winter term would be a good way for students to get the credits they need to graduate or tackle a tough subject.

“It’s a class they can concentrate on and get done, and have the opportunity to only focus on that one class,” Laves said.

Reach Samantha Hupman at news@wkuherald.com.