General Information

Winter term offers both students and faculty unique opportunities for study and learning. Each student may enroll in only one academic, credit-bearing course; each instructor teaches only one course. Students may study at the College or away from campus, independently or as participants in a course, in their major fields or in disciplines they have never studied before. The winter term curriculum consists of a variety of courses, both interdepartmental and departmental, at various levels, from beginning to advanced. A student also has the opportunity to undertake a winter internship instead of formal study.

Normally, a department may require its students to take no more than one of its winter term courses, in addition to winter term senior work, during four years. Students are urged to take winter term courses in substantially different areas in their first two years. A minimum of two and a maximum of four Winter Term courses will count toward the graduation requirement of 36 credits.

2008 Winter Term Catalog Classes
All courses meet a minimum of eight contact hours per week, and many courses require additional hours. This winter term will begin on Thursday, January 3, 2008. Due to the brevity of the term, it is imperative that each student attend the first class and all classes. A student who misses the first class of winter term must have an excuse from their Commons Dean or it will be assumed that the student has dropped the course.

Winter Term Grading System
Winter term courses normally are graded A through F. Some courses, because of their special nature, are graded on a Honors/Pass/Fail basis but must first be approved by the Curriculum Committee. The same grading system applies to all students taking a particular course for credit. Internships are graded Credit/No Credit. The faculty supervisor of an independent project shall propose, after consultation with the student, whether the project is to be graded on an A-F basis or on an Honors/Pass/Fail basis, although projects that result in a product which can be graded using the A-F system are normally graded that way.

All winter term course work must be completed by the end of the winter session. Grades of Incomplete will be submitted according to existing procedures, and such work must be satisfactorily completed by the end of the following spring term.

Students who receive grades of D, F, Fail, or No Credit in winter term courses, independent projects, or internships are placed on probation. Students who receive an F, Fail, or No Credit are required to make up a course credit, but not necessarily during a winter term.

Theses, honors projects, and other work undertaken or completed during winter term as part of a larger project will be graded under the regular A-F grading system, the grade to be based upon an evaluation of the completed project as a whole.

Winter Term Independent Study
Students proposing independent work may select from the two following options in place of registering for a regular winter term course offering, as long as:

* This is not your first winter term on campus, and

* You have not completed more than two units of winter term independent work.

1. Independent (on-campus) work proposed as a continuation of a student's major or minor for winter term must be approved by the chair or director of that department or program. These proposals do NOT need to be submitted to the Curriculum Committee. Applications/Approvals are due by November 12, 2007.

• Please Note: Off-campus independent work within the major or minor must be reviewed by the chair or director of that department or program AND must be approved by the Curriculum Committee. Applications were due October 26, 2007.

2. Independent projects proposed outside a student's major or minor must be approved by the Curriculum Committee. Approved projects will be listed as 0500 courses which are preceded by the four-letter department designation of the faculty sponsor. The proposal form is available on the web at http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/acadaff/curriculum/WT_Independent_Projects.htm Applications were due October 26, 2007.

• All students wishing to pursue independent projects outside of their major or minor must obtain signatures from their faculty adviser, the faculty supervisor of the project, and the department chair. Proposals should clearly state the nature of the project, what the final, graded project consists of, date the final project will be submitted for grading, and all required signatures provided on the form. Independent projects are normally graded A-F. A request for the grading of an independent project honors/pass/fail must be justified in the application to the Curriculum Committee.

Winter Term Internships
Winter term internships are designed to involve significant high-level exposure to the fundamental work of an established profession. Internship information is available through the Career Services Office, which is responsible for determining whether the proposed internship is of sufficient scope to be of value and to assess the results of the internship experience. The Career Services Office works in conjunction with the Curriculum Committee on winter term internships. The student must provide written confirmation of the project from an on-site supervisor who is willing to write an assessment of the student's work as an intern. Students in approved winter term internships spend a minimum of 25 hours per week at their internship site. At the end of the internship, the student, the on-campus academic sponsor, and the on-site work supervisor must submit evaluation reports to the winter term internship coordinator.

Internships are graded Credit/No Credit. First-year students may not undertake internships, and students who take more than one internship in four years should elect them in substantially different fields. A student may not repeat the same winter term internship for credit. Students who participate in winter term internships are not eligible for financial reimbursement for the internship. A relative may not function as internship supervisor. If the internship is to be taken in a foreign country, the committee will expect competence in the language of the country. Information on internships is available from the Career Services Office (contact Claire Tetrault, winter term internship coordinator, ext. 5100). Applications for internships were due October 26, 2007.

Off-Campus Winter Term Courses
No student may undertake off-campus winter term study during their first year at the College. Once a student has enrolled in an off-campus winter term course, they may not drop the course except in the case of an extreme family emergency.

Off Campus Financial Aid
Financial aid is NOT available for internships, independent projects, or any off-campus trips other than the following winter term courses:

INTD/RELI 1066 Vilnius and Odessa: The Sacred and the Profane in East European Jewry

TEDU 1002 Ethiopia: Reading Culture, Writing Lives

Only those students who are currently receiving grant aid during this academic year qualify for aid for these courses. A combination of grant and loan aid will be offered in the same proportion that grant and self-help (loan and campus employment) are offered during the academic year. If you have any questions, please make an appointment to talk with someone in Student Financial Services.

Auditing
The faculty encourages students to audit winter term courses. Prior permission of the instructor is required for any audit. To obtain "official audit" status, in which case the course will be recorded on the student's transcript, the student must make a request to the instructor, and the student and instructor must agree in writing on conditions for satisfactory completion of the audit. These students must register via Add Card for this formal Audit status. There is no credit for any form of auditing; students cannot audit a Winter Term course unless s/he is also enrolled in another academic, credit-bearing course.

Introductory Language Programs
Students enrolled in a fall term 0101 language course who plan to continue in the spring must register for the winter term language course.

Distribution Requirement Credit
Winter term courses that may be used to satisfy the seven-out-of-eight academic categories and the cultures and civilizations requirement are so indicated in the course description.

Physical Education (PHED) Credit
Students may enroll in PHED courses during Winter Term, but they must also be enrolled in a credit-bearing academic course.

Board Rebates
(For students enrolled in an unpaid internship or an off-campus independent project)

Students enrolled for both fall and spring terms who take meals on campus both of those terms are entitled to a board rebate of $80 per week (for up to 4 weeks) for the time away. Students enrolled for fall or spring term, who will therefore be on campus for only one term, are eligible for a two week rebate. Applications for winter term board rebates are available from Claire Tetreault (Career Services) for internships and from Janis Audet for winter term independent study projects. Completed forms must be returned to the respective offices by December 7, 2007. Students who register for the "Opt Out" option are not eligible for a board rebate.

Approval Required Courses
To register for any of the following courses, you must first get the approval of the instructor. Even with prior approval, you must still register in Banner during the registration period. The deadline to apply for an approval-required course is Monday, November 12, 2007.

College Writing Program 
After successful completion of a first-year seminar and before the end of the fourth semester at Middlebury, every student must elect a second writing-intensive course. These courses will include regular writing assignments that emphasize further development of the writing skills introduced in the first-year student seminars. The following courses offered during the January 2008 winter term will fulfill the college writing (CW) requirement.

 Writing Program Courses