Request For Proposals: To teach an intensive Winter Study course in January 2025 or January 2026.
Eligibility. All tenured faculty and senior lecturers are invited to apply, as well as lecturers with extensive teaching experience.
Background. Since 2011, the college has offered a number of intensive Winter Study courses each year. These are courses for students who need to make up for an academic deficiency. They are intensive because they include at least 50 contact hours between students and instructors during the January term. It’s a full semester of work, and then some, rolled into a 3.5 week period. Enrolled students earn credit for a regular semester course and for a Winter Study course, and they receive a standard letter grade.
Curriculum and Pedagogy. Intensive Winter Study courses can be offered in any subject area and in almost any course format (lecture, seminar, lab, studio, etc.). They are not offered as travel courses, nor as remotely taught courses. They must be taught at an introductory level; they should not have any prerequisites; and they should not require a level of expertise beyond that normally expected of first-year students. The time commitment and workload should be equivalent to a regular semester course plus a regular Winter Study offering. Instructors can hire undergraduate teaching assistants to help with the intensive, every-day meeting schedule.
Compensation. Faculty who teach intensive Winter Study courses can choose either to receive a $20,000 payment in addition to their regular salary, or to have the course count for teaching credit. Those choosing teaching credit would therefore have a 1-1-2 or 2-1-1 teaching load during that year. Those choosing the payment would have a 2-1-2 teaching load.
Selection process. Those considering proposing a course should first discuss the possibility with their department or program chair. The unit’s curriculum should not be adversely affected by the cancellation of a regular semester course that is already planned.
Assuming there are no conflicts, please send an expression of interest to the Dean of the Faculty by January 15, 2024. An email is fine. These need not be lengthy proposals, but please do include a preliminary course description and a forecast of any special requirements or budget items that might apply. Please also indicate which form of compensation you would choose.
We will select 2-3 courses for each year in order to provide students with some choice, and we will let you know whether your course has been selected early in the spring semester.