College Winter Break: Instead of Spending Time, Money on Ski Slopes, Students Can Work Toward Degrees at Rutgers University in Newark

That’s why hundreds of area residents will flock to Rutgers University, Newark, in January, taking both undergraduate and graduate courses, which are open to RU student, students at other colleges, and non-college students.   

This winter, for the first time, law students at Rutgers and other schools of law can take two January courses through the Rutgers School of Law-Newark.  Winter Session 2010, offered through the Office of Summer and Winter Sessions, runs from Dec. 23 through Jan. 16; no face-to-face course meetings will be held from Dec. 24-Jan. 3, but every course will have directed readings and online and/or web-enhanced coursework during the break. Winter Session at the Law School is from Jan. 4 through Jan. 8.  

Information on each program follows:

Winter Session at the Law School

The new Winter Session at Rutgers School of Law–Newark is geared for law students who want to earn credits toward graduation and graduates seeking an edge in today’s challenging legal marketplace. It will offer two upper-level courses, Intensive Trial Advocacy and New Jersey Practice, for law school graduates and 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 2010.  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/visiting-student-registration-information-0 .

Winter Session 2010

This year’s session will offer 42 undergraduate and six graduate course offerings in 22 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.

Winter Session 2010 registration is already underway; complete information on registration, tuition and fees, and course offerings is available online at http://winter.newark.rutgers.edu .

 Although Winter Session 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.

All students enrolled in Winter Session 2010 courses are entitled to use campus facilities such as its libraries, the Paul Robeson Campus Center and the Golden Dome Athletic Center.

In past years, non-Rutgers students taking advantage of Winter Session 2010 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.

Media Contact: Carla Capizzi
973/353-5263
E-mail: capizzi@rutgers.edu