Academic schedule change eliminates January term

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Interim Provost Andy Rundquist released an academic calendar change for the 2025-2026 school year that would move the start of the school year to after Labor Day and eliminate January Term, known informally as J-Term. This decision to change came after several other Minnesota schools ended their J-Terms, including Gustavus Adolphus College, and the University of Minnesota.
Instead of a J-Term, Hamline will shift to lengthen the May Term to four weeks as opposed to the three weeks that both the J-Term and the May Term are currently. The elimination of J-Term will allow the start of the spring semester to be moved to the Wednesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This will shorten the length of time between the end of the fall semester and the spring semester, in turn shortening the amount of time many students are away from campus and the Hamline community. Dean of Students Patti Kersten hopes this helps connections on campus while still giving students a break.
“It still gives people a good three weeks off which is nice from a student end and a little bit more downtime in that kind of way to prepare and get ready again for the next semester,” Kersten said.
This shift from six to three weeks between semesters cuts away students’ time at home. Some athletes are required to be on campus during January for training or competition. These athletes and the few other Hamline students on campus for class or work can feel isolated on campus due to the lack of students there to populate the campus community areas. Sophomore gymnast Kaitlyn Morgan has found that campus during the J-Term can feel quiet.
“It would literally be like we would have practice, we did our meets, and the rest of our days were filled with nothing. Maybe we would talk to some other people, but most people are home, ” Morgan said.
The decision to shift is also due to a lack of retention in the J-Term programs that the administration had discovered. They hope this shift to a May Term could increase interest in a shortened term during the year.
“We have also done several pilot programs and academic experiments in January Term that have taught us that the January Term as it currently exists is not helping us meet our recruitment, retention, and student success goals,” Rundquist said.
There is a question frequently circulating about the appeal of a winter term compared to a summer term. Morgan believes it may be more difficult to want to continue another term in the spring after completing two semesters of classes.
“I feel like when it starts to hit summer, a lot of people are like ‘that’s my summer time I’m done’ but in the winter they may be more like, I guess I’ll do something when it’s cold out,” Morgan said.
The administration recognizes it is difficult to fulfill everyone’s needs in one schedule. However, they hope this schedule change proves beneficial to the majority of students.
“We recognize that no single calendar can optimize every aspect of the student experience at Hamline. However, we believe the changes we are implementing will provide the most balanced and beneficial undergraduate academic calendar,” Rundquist said in a campus-wide email.