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Winter Session at Rutgers University In Newark

In today’s economy, college students need all the help they can get so they can to graduate in a timely manner, or even a semester earlier than their classmates –who are also their competition for jobs. That’s why so many students are trading a ski lodge for a classroom during winter break.

Hundreds of area residents will flock to Rutgers University, Newark, in January, taking both undergraduate and graduate courses, which are open to RU students, students at other colleges, and non-college students.  Winter Session 2011, offered through the Office of Summer and Winter Sessions, runs from Dec. 23 through Jan. 14; no face-to-face course meetings will be held from Dec. 24-Jan. 2, but every course will have directed readings and online and/or web-enhanced coursework during the break. Winter Session 2011 registration is already underway; complete information on registration, tuition and fees, and course offerings is available online at http://winter.newark.rutgers.edu/regcal.php

Through a separate Winter Session at the Rutgers School of Law-Newark, law students at Rutgers and other schools of law can take two January courses Jan. 3 – Jan. 8. On-line registration ends Dec. 15 for the Law School Winter Session.

Detailed information on each program follows:

WINTER SESSION 2011

This year’s session will offer 47 undergraduate and nine graduate course offerings in 23 fields of study, ranging from anthropology to nursing to theater arts. A student can complete as many as four credits taking courses which meet on average four days a week.  Students enrolled at other colleges often transfer the Rutgers credits to their home institutions. Per-credit tuition is the same as regular-semester Rutgers undergraduate and graduate course rates. Nine fully online courses are available, and many other courses are web-enhanced, utilizing the Blackboard Course Management System.

All students enrolled in Winter Session 2011 courses are entitled to use campus facilities such as its libraries, the Paul Robeson Campus Center and the Golden Dome Athletic Center.

WINTER SESSION AT THE LAW SCHOOL

Winter Session at Rutgers School of Law–Newark is geared for law students who want to earn credits toward graduation.  It will offer two upper-level courses, Intensive Trial Advocacy and New Jersey Practice, for law students who have completed the first-year program or its equivalent at an ABA-accredited law school. These classes are compressed into a one-week intensive program earning two credits for either of the courses selected. Intensive Trial Advocacy will focus on the procedure, strategy, and evidentiary issues involved in presenting a case to a jury, whether in the civil or criminal context. New Jersey Practice will examine New Jersey Civil Procedure, a subject of particular interest to those who plan to take the State Bar exam in February or July 2011.  Non-Rutgers Law School-Newark students must provide a letter of good standing from their law school dean or registrar as part of the registration process.

For detailed information on Winter Session at the Law School, including registration instructions please go to http://law.newark.rutgers.edu/students/2011-winter-session-registration

Although Winter Session 2011 courses are accelerated, they are as rigorous as spring or fall courses, explains Elizabeth Rowe, director, Office of Summer and Winter Sessions, Office of Academic Technology and Office of Academic Scheduling. “It’s an intense scholastic environment, and it maintains the same high academic integrity as any other semester.” Moreover, the smaller class sizes offer students more one-on-one time with instructors, and closer interactions with classmates, says Rowe.  “Surveys and informal feedback tell us that students and instructors both consider Winter Session a very positive learning experience,” she notes.

In past years, non-Rutgers students taking advantage of Winter Session courses have included New Jersey residents attending out-of-state colleges such as Cornell University, the University of Delaware and the University of New Hampshire.  “They put their time at home during the break to good academic use,” explains Rowe.  Students from public and private colleges that are closer to home, such as Drew University and Montclair State University, also have participated.

ABOUT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEWARK

Rutgers-Newark is home to the Newark College of Arts and Sciences, University College, the Graduate School-Newark, Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick, the School of Law-Newark, the College of Nursing, the School of Criminal Justice, the School of Public Affairs and Administration, and extensive research and outreach centers, including the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience. Approximately 12,000 students are currently enrolled in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered at the 38-acre downtown Newark campus.