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At its March 27 meeting, Wright State University’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution to convert the academic calendar from the quarter system to semesters.
“The target for the conversion is Fall 2012,” said Thomas Sudkamp, co-chair of the Exploratory Committee on the Transition from Quarters to Semesters and president of Wright State’s faculty. “An important part of our process is to guarantee that the calendar conversion does not adversely affect either the time to graduation or the cost for students who entered Wright State on the quarter system.”
The University System of Ohio’s (USO) Strategic Plan for Higher Education called for all Ohio public universities on the quarter system to strongly consider converting to a semester academic system. In response to the USO call, Wright State’s Faculty Senate authorized an Exploratory Committee on the Transition from Quarters to Semesters. The committee, made up of faculty, staff, students, and administrators, produced a transition plan and a timeline for the conversion and presented both to the university community at the February Faculty Senate meeting. At the March meeting, the Faculty Senate, with support from the AAUP-WSU, recommended a conversion to semesters no earlier than Fall 2012. This recommendation was subsequently presented to the Board of Trustees for approval.
With the official approval of the Board of Trustees, the Provost’s Office and Faculty Governance are moving rapidly to jointly create a Semesters Transition Team (STT) to carry out the tasks identified in the transition plan. The Team will work with representatives from Sinclair and Clark State Community Colleges to create a unified regional approach to the transition.
“Wright State’s move to a semester calendar represents a watershed moment in the university’s history, for it permits us to rethink, within the context of the 21st century global community, virtually everything that currently defines the university, particularly the curriculum,” said Lillie Howard, senior vice president for curriculum and instruction and committee co-chair.
“We have not experienced a time like this since the founding of the university more than 40 years ago,” Howard explained. “The move to a semester calendar offers faculty the rare opportunity to re-envision and reinvent the entire curriculum, with a strategic eye toward creating transformative pedagogies and global educational experiences for our students that will serve them well into the future. It’s a heady time!”
More than 90 percent of the universities in the United States are on semester calendars. The trustees at both the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Ohio University (OU) have voted to adopt the semester calendar. The Ohio State University (OSU) Senate recently approved a conversion to semesters; the recommendation will be voted on by their Board of Trustees this month.
Wright State’s transition to semesters will produce a calendar that is in alignment with other universities to facilitate collaborative academic programs, student transfers, and articulation. In making the transition, Wright State faculty will have the opportunity to work with faculty at the three other four-year institutions—UC, OU, and OSU—that are also moving to a semester calendar, as well as with faculty at two-year partner schools—Sinclair Community College, Clark State Community College, and Edison Community College.
“It makes sense that we would collaborate, where possible, on the redesign of General Education transfer module courses and TAG (Transfer Assurance Guides) courses that are currently approved by the Ohio Board of Regents for all of our institutions,” said Howard. “Some of our deans have already initiated this conversation with their counterparts at the other institutions.”
“The conversion to semesters presents a daunting challenge, but also offers a unique opportunity,” said Sudkamp. “Within the next year, the faculty will review all aspects of the curriculum, from university-wide programs like General Education and Writing Across the Curriculum to the details of each individual certificate, bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. program. This global revision of the curriculum provides the opportunity to create innovative programs that meet the needs of our students in the 21st century.”
[March 2009] President’s Perspective
Excerpt from Dialogue, a newsletter for Wright State faculty and staff
As winter quarter comes to an end and we anxiously await the arrival of spring, I am reminded of new beginnings. After many cold, dreary days, I think it’s time for all of us to focus on something positive.
On March 2, Wright State University’s Faculty Senate voted to move from quarters to semesters in Fall 2012. This vote was the culmination of months of work by an Exploratory Committee on the Transition from Quarters to Semesters. My greatest appreciation goes to all of the faculty, staff, students, and administrators who served on the committee, along with co-chairs Tom Sudkamp and Lillie Howard.
Currently, there are only four members of the University System of Ohio still on the quarter system—Ohio University, University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, and Wright State University. Furthermore, 90 percent of the universities in the United States are on semesters. Converting from quarters to semesters will allow Wright State to operate on a calendar that is in alignment with other universities and will help us to facilitate collaborative academic programs, student transfers, and articulation.
Semesters offer several other advantages for students, faculty, and staff, including: more time for learning course material; opportunities for faculty to be more innovative in their teaching and curriculum; and more time for summer internships and jobs. Semesters will also allow graduating seniors to enter the job market earlier.
In today’s economy we need to be as competitive as possible with other universities and give our students as many advantages as we can. Converting to semesters is one more step in this direction.
As we begin the process to move from quarters to semesters, we will remain committed to providing our students, faculty, and staff with the smoothest transition possible. Throughout this process, I encourage you to ask questions and to give us your feedback.
I welcome your input and appreciate your active participation as we make this important step forward in the future of our university.
David R. Hopkins
President
[October 2008] To the Wright State Community:
Following a recommendation from the University System of Ohio that calls for all Ohio public universities on the quarter system to strongly consider converting to a semester academic calendar, Wright State University’s Faculty Senate has authorized an Exploratory Committee on the Transition from Quarters to Semester. This committee is being co-chaired by Faculty President Tom Sudkamp and Senior Vice President for Curriculum and Instruction Lillie Howard.
This committee, made up of faculty, staff, students, and administrators, is charged with identifying the tasks involved in a transition from quarters to semesters, producing a plan and timeline for completing the transition, and recommending possible semester calendars.
Following the submittal of the committee’s report, the university will discuss the possible change to semesters with the AAUP-WSU and seek input from faculty, staff, and students. The final decision will be made by the Wright State University Board of Trustees. If a decision is made to move to semesters, we anticipate Fall 2012 to be the earliest possible date for the conversion.
Eight subcommittees of the exploratory committee have been created to focus on particular aspects of a calendar transition. They are: calendar, curriculum, academic advising, articulation and transfer, infrastructure and administrative policies, budget, technology, and communications.
As part of the planning process, we seek to ensure that a calendar conversion will not adversely affect either the time to graduation or the cost for students who entered Wright State on the quarter system, and that the transition to semesters would be workload neutral for faculty and staff.
All considerations accompanying a change of academic calendar will be guided by Wright State’s own strategic plan and vision to transform the lives of our students. The process is viewed as an opportunity to create innovative curricula and provide flexible access to our programs to better serve our students and the community.
The recommendations will also be guided by the objectives and associated metrics defined in the University System of Ohio Strategic Plan for Higher Education.
Currently, there are four university members of the University System of Ohio on the quarter system: Ohio University, the University of Cincinnati, the Ohio State University, and Wright State University. The Ohio University Board of Trustees voted earlier this month to move to semesters effective Fall 2012, and the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees will vote next month. The Ohio State University is also considering moving to semesters as early as 2012.
This site will continually be updated to answer any questions you may have about this process. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your active participation in this important process.
Steven R. Angle
Provost
Thomas A. Sudkamp
President of the Faculty
Lillie P. Howard
Senior Vice President for Curriculum and Instruction
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