Last year, the Undergraduate Student Government organized Wintersession, a new program during Intersession in which students can take courses taught by other students and representatives from certain University resource centers, such as Career Services, with topics ranging from “Rubik’s Cube for Beginners” to “Intro Bulgarian.” The program was immensely popular, with over 1,300 students participating in 69 different courses. USG will be offering it again this Intersession. However, despite the success of Wintersession last year, the University lags behind some of our peer institutions in offerings during similar breaks in their academic calendars. The Editorial Board recommends that the University, particularly the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, take a larger role in the administration of Wintersession to build on USG’s success and create a more robust Intersession program that is expanded to include courses and trips with University faculty and alumni.
Programming of some sort during Intersession is important because it is a great opportunity for students to use the break between finals and the spring semester to learn new skills or explore interesting topics while they are on campus relaxing before classes resume, doing research for independent work or training for athletic teams. In order to expand the program, the University could learn from its peer institutions that have established programs similar to Wintersession. During the week before spring classes begin at Harvard, their Office of Student Life sponsors a wide range of classes, workshops and trips offered by Harvard alumni, graduate schools and student organizations, ranging from a trip to the United Nations to SCUBA certification, or a day at Harvard Law School. During their winter break in January, MIT offers a month-long Independent Activities Period during which students can take take advantage of short courses on various topics throughout the break. Expanding Wintersession to include more offerings similar to the Harvard and MIT programs would only be possible if it was run by ODUS, because USG simply does not have the resources or budget to expand Wintersession and should not use all of its resources on it.
An ODUS-run Wintersession would allow students to have a wider range of Intersession opportunities beyond the current USG program. Putting the weight of the University behind the program could help organizers (which should still include USG and members of the student body) do things such as fund and arrange subsidized trips to New York or Philadelphia, or work with the Alumni Association to bring alumni to campus (or students to alumni) to facilitate courses or workshops focused on career preparation in various fields. Willing faculty members could offer short courses in topics that interest them or skills that they have, and they could also collaborate within their departments to offer courses or workshops that could introduce underclassmen to the department as part of the Major Choices initiative. ODUS could also expand partnerships with University organizations like Career Services, Campus Recreation and the Pace Center to offer more resume building and career planning workshops, sports leagues and athletic classes, or community service opportunities near campus. While some of these additions to Wintersession might be possible in subsequent years if it is run by USG, having ODUS run it would create the best Wintersession possible, with the most benefit for students and the University community because it would result in more resources dedicated to the program.
Through a partnership between ODUS, USG and Princeton’s faculty, alumni and various centers and offices, the University could create a campus-wide Wintersession that could be a defining experience for University students by allowing them to explore new skills and subjects, as well as preparing themselves for their life after they graduate. Harvard and MIT have shown the feasibility of large winter break programs and the possibilities they offer students. The University should follow suit and create an even better program for its students during Intersession.
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