To: All UM Faculty

Wintersession 2009

Continuing Education invites departments to offer courses during Wintersession 2009, January 5-23. Wintersession offers faculty opportunities to teach abroad or online, design an innovative program, earn extra-to-load salary, experiment with new course formats and serve new audiences. Wintersession generates FTE, and instructor salaries are usually paid from state-support funds through Continuing Education.

Wintersession courses generate FTE. Continuing Education pays most instructor salaries from state-support funds, and faculty are paid $1,100 per academic credit to teach courses during Wintersession. Funding for Wintersession 2009 is limited, and, as such, we are unable to accept all course proposals. Courses that generated adequate enrollment during Wintersession 2008 will receive priority funding. Faculty may teach courses as part of spring load. Teaching part-of-load should have the approval of the department chair, faculty member, and dean.

The attached information includes dates and deadlines, scheduling policies, course formats and other details. Departments may offer courses for undergraduate or graduate credit, and are encouraged to submit courses and programs that satisfy general education requirements.

Please edit the 2008 course schedule to reflect your department's Wintersession 2009 course offerings. To add a new course, complete the Wintersession Section Addition Form.

To assist departments with Wintersession paperwork, forms and directions are available here.

To enhance courses using a Blackboard course supplement, faculty should request an online supplement at http://umonline.umt.edu, select the Faculty Information tab, and follow the instructions for requesting a Blackboard Supplement. Course supplements combine the elements of traditional classroom-based instruction with the tools of online distance delivery. Course materials posted in Blackboard reduce the need for paper handouts and allow for electronic links. Use of the discussion board and e-mail feature can enhance student-student and student-instructor communication.

For more information about Wintersession, please contact Peggy Nesbitt at x6014 or peggy.nesbitt@mso.umt.edu. We look forward to working with you, and receiving your Wintersession 2009 course submissions by March 28, 2008.

Wintersession Forms

2008 Class Schedule Worksheets - Edit the 2008 course schedules to reflect your department's Wintersession 2009 course offerings. Please add course days and times. To add new courses, use the Section Addition Forms.

Section Addition Forms - Use these forms to add new courses.

595 Proposals -These forms must be completed for each 595 Special Topics course. Return the signed forms to Continuing Education; CE will process the course proposals through the Graduate School.

Course Descriptions for Seminars, Special Topics, Etc. - Provide course descriptions for all courses which are not described in the 2006-2007 General Catalog; i.e., courses numbered 195, 295, 395, 455, 494, 495, 555, etc. We will highlight these courses on our websites.

If you need assistance with the form, please contact Jeff Wimett at 406.243.4470 or jeffrey.wimett@mso.umt.edu.

Dates and Deadlines

• 3/07 Call for courses distributed to departments and deans
• 3/28 Approved Wintersession 2009 forms are due in the Continuing Education Office. Any deletions, additions, or subsequent changes should be submitted to Continuing Education
• 4/11 Continuing Education distributes copies of Wintersession 2009 course schedules for departmental editing and approval
• 4/18 Corrected departmental schedules and budget approvals are due in Continuing Education. Departments may continue to submit courses to Continuing Education
• 4/25 The Wintersession 2009 website is updated and course information and registration procedures are available on the web
  10/13 Advising begins for Spring Semester and Wintersession 2009
• 10/27 Students begin registering for Spring Semester and Wintersession 2009 courses via CyberBear
• 12/01 Registration bills are available on CyberBear for students to pay or finalize
• 1/05 Wintersession instruction begins
• 1/07 Last day to register, add or drop classes, change credit or change grading option for Wintersession classes through CyberBear.
• 1/08 Students may register or drop by petition only
• 1/16 Last day to withdraw from Wintersession by petition
• 1/16 Registrations for unpaid students are canceled
• 1/19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
• 1/23 Wintersession 2009 ends
• 1/27 Last day for faculty to manually submit grades to the Registrar’s Office
• 2/02 Wintersession instructors are compensated
• 6/01 Wintersession 2009 grades are available
  

Guidelines

Class Meeting Schedules

During Wintersession, three-credit courses meet daily at one of the following times; 9:00am-12:00pm, 1:00-4:00pm or 6:00-9:00pm. Please refer to Contact Times for more information.

Contact Times
A course must provide a minimum of 750 contact minutes per academic credit. Courses offered for 1-2 credits, or meeting for less than 3 weeks, should begin at one of the times listed above and meet for the appropriate contact time.

Consent of Instructor
Use Consent of Instructor (C/I) only when absolutely necessary. To allow registration for a course requiring consent, instructors must provide override permission via CyberBear for Faculty. To prevent unauthorized registrations, please list restrictions and prerequisites on the Course Proposal Form.

Cross-Listed Courses
All cross-listed courses must be pre-approved by the chairperson of the cross-listed department(s). To obtain a list of approved cross-listings, please consult the 2007-2008 General Catalog.

Instructor Compensation
Wintersession instructors earn $1,100 per credit, and courses are contingent upon adequate enrollment. Funding for Wintersession 2009 is limited. Faculty may teach courses as part of spring load. Teaching part-of-load should have the approval of the department chair, faculty member, and dean.

Enrollments and Course Cancellation Policies
Deans and department chairs should ensure that courses are adequately enrolled to attain unit enrollment goals. Decisions to conduct or cancel under-enrolled courses must be approved by the department chair and dean. If a department/school decides to cancel a course, notify Peggy Nesbitt (x6014) immediately to implement payroll cancellation and other student record management procedures.

Limiting Enrollment
To meet FTE goals, limiting course enrollment during Wintersession is discouraged.

Course Descriptions for Seminars, Special Topics, Etc.
Provide descriptions for courses not described in the 2007-2008 General Catalog; i.e., courses numbered 195, 295, 395, 455, 494, 495, etc. Make additional copies of these forms as needed. Continuing Education submits Course Proposals for 595 Special Topics to the UM Graduate School for approval. Forms are available online at here.

Post-course Work
Faculty should manually submit grades, by January 27, to the Registrar’s Office; online grade submission is not available for Wintersession. If post-course work is required, faculty should print out the class roster, enter grades and submit the roster to the Registrar’s Office as soon as possible. Grades will be posted to student transcripts by June 1, 2009. Information on grading can be found here.

Blackboard Course Supplements
Enhancing courses with Blackboard course supplements combines the elements of traditional classroom-based instruction with the tools of online distance delivery. Course materials posted in Blackboard reduce the need for paper handouts and allow for electronic links. Use of discussion boards and e-mail can enhance student-student and student-instructor communication. Instructions for requesting supplements can be found at http://umonline.umt.edu, under the Faculty Information tab. Follow the instructions for requesting Blackboard Supplements. Instructors are encouraged to request their supplements early.

Publicity and Marketing
Continuing Education prepares and distributes Wintersession marketing materials including the course schedules, program flyers and internet resources. Instructors should include a separate sheet with a descriptive paragraph about each course for marketing purposes. Prior to publication and/or release to the media, any additional advertising must be approved by UM Continuing Education. Continuing Education reviews materials for adherence to specific UM policies, particularly with regard to short courses.

Checklist

Did you remember to…

1. Edit the departmental copy of the 2008 course schedule to reflect the department’s Wintersession 2009 course schedule?
2. Provide correct dates for all special session courses?
3. Complete one Section Addition Form for each course added to the existing print schedule?
4. Provide descriptions for all classes not described in UM’s 2007-2008 General Catalog?
5. Complete the Proposal to Offer Special Topics Course (595) forms and provide signatures by the department chair and dean for all courses numbered 595?
6. By March 28, submit all signed forms to Peggy Nesbitt, Continuing Education, James E. Todd building
   
   

   For more information contact:

   Peggy Nesbitt, Program Manager

   Continuing Education

   406.243.6014
   peggy.nesbitt@ umontana.edu