Letter to the Editor: Guilford Edge
To whom this may concern:
“Guilford Edge set to shake up schedule” seems like an interesting plan with good ideas being proposed. There are a few areas that might benefit from deeper consideration, but I am focusing on the schedule as stressed in your piece.
I was a CCE student at Guilford when the J-term was first initiated. There were virtually no on-campus classes offered, only study abroad or study away programs. For a large portion of the student body, both traditional and CCE, J-term was not affordable. Being set outside of the academic calendar meant students could not receive financial aid for January term.
Many students I talked to while J-term was being offered were not big fans. A major factor was affordability. The secondary factor was lack of course options. Neither required, general nor elective courses could be offered within the short timeframe. Most students wanted to get stop J-term altogether so the spring semester would start earlier in January, versus starting later in January, and thus pushing the end of the semester toward the end of May. J-term was not really an all-inclusive program to many students who have jobs and families and who could not afford the time or cost to participate.
If I had to personally estimate the cost of J-term versus fall and spring semesters, I would surmise that Guilford lost money holding J-term as opposed to offering a traditional spring semester.
I was aware that J-term was created to help students gain credits toward their degree more quickly by creating a mini-semester and raising the possibility of early graduation.
From my own conclusion reading, “Guilford Edge set to shake up schedule,” the ideas that are being proposed are roughly how our nearby neighbor, Guilford Technical Community College, has arranged their semesters, such that they offer mini-semesters through in-person and online classes as the regular semester is happening. Guilford College, of course, will have its own unique way of going forward to create the new schedule.
Sincerely,
Nicole S. Cline ‘13
