diessnerc2@lopers.unk.edu

UNK is offering 32 online three-week courses during the recently approved intersession. The three-week courses will take place Jan. 4 through Jan. 22, 2021. 

The new spring schedule was made official by the Nebraska University Board of Regents in mid-Oct.

“The opportunity, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, offer[s] students additional flexibility over a long winter/holiday break,” emailed Lisa Neal, the university registrar. “This change allows students to earn credit hours in an online course or have an experiential learning opportunity such as an internship or research project.”

For some courses, there are multiple sections or are offered in different credit hour increments based on the length or difficulty of the class. 

To enroll in these courses, students can register through MyBLUE. Undergraduate students can enroll in a maximum of six credit hours for the three-week session, while graduate students can enroll in three credits.

A student’s enrollment status for the semester will be based on the number of credits taken during the three-week session in conjunction with their normal spring semester’s credit hours.

 To offer a class during the intersession, professors submit class proposals for the three-week session to their department chairs, who later forward the proposal to the college’s dean. With the college dean’s approval, proposals are then reviewed and approved by Peter Longo, the vice chancellor of academic and student affairs, and Charles Bicak, the senior vice chancellor of academic and student affairs. 

During the early registration period, over 200 students are anticipating enrolling in a course over the three-week session as indicated by their MyBlue shopping carts.

If a class does not have enough students enrolled, it may be canceled.

“Three-week courses tend to fill up quickly or may be canceled due to low enrollments,” Neal said. “I encourage students to enroll early in the classes they want to take.”

As for future semesters, the university-wide calendar committee will meet in late spring to discuss the 2021-22 academic calendar. Until then, it is unknown if the three-week session will happen in future semesters at UNK.

While a three-week session course may be a good idea for some students, others have concerns about the difficulty of their course load.

“If you’re worried about possible burnout, that’s something that a student has to gauge,” said Karlee McKelvey, a comprehensive biology major. “I’m a senior now, so I know how much I can handle. If you can try to get some of your big classes out of the way so that you can alleviate heavy course loads, or if you wanted to graduate without taking 17 credits your last semester, this is another opportunity that you can just kind of get it done, and if you don’t want to take a vacation between New Years and the next term, do it.” 

For more information, visit the Registrar’s Office webpage at https://www.unk.edu/offices/registrar/index.php.