January@Brown, the pilot program of a winter academic term that has run the last two years, will not run this academic year unless more students sign up by the end of this week, said John Caron, assistant dean for summer and continuing studies.
The fate of the 10-day not-for-credit program, which 30 students participated in last year, will be determined by 5 p.m. on Friday. This year's program would need 40 students to pay tuition in order for the program to cover its projected costs, but so far only 15 students have signed up.
The program is entering the last of three years for which the University approved a trial run. In past years, students took one class that met daily, and went on group outings organized by the program. January@Brown's organizers had originally hoped the program would gain momentum and eventually become a for-credit winter term similar to the kind offered by many small, liberal arts colleges - although some had suggested the program would work even without academic credit.
The January program grew from 18 students in January 2007 to 30 students in 2008, and was subsidized by the University. However, as planned, the program will not receive subsidies for its third trial year.
If the program does not enroll enough students to be independently viable, it will be cancelled for 2009 and will not return in the future, Caron said. There needs to be "enough student interest to sustain the program," he said. "It's got real costs associated to it."
Although less than half the requisite number of participants have signed up, Caron said he was hoping that many students simply had not finalized winter break plans until Thanksgiving break. Last year, enrollment surged during the week after break, he said.
The Office of Summer and Continuing Studies has tried to grow the program this year by increasing its visibility. The office is "really trying to get the word out" with an advertising campaign that includes Brown Morning Mail, table slips and an ad on Facebook, Caron said.
The January term is also offering more flexible pricing options this year. Students paying the $475 program fee now have the option to forego paying either $100 to live in a dorm or $325 for meals and instead provide for themselves.
Among the students who are often good fits for the program are mid-year transfers, said Katie Jennings '10.5, who attended January@Brown last year.
"The best part about January@Brown for me was helping me orient myself in terms of the campus and figuring out where everything was," she said. "The transfer orientation is very short" and the program assisted the transition, she said.
Jennings said she appreciated the opportunity to explore the city on extracurricular outings and in her class about Providence neighborhoods.
Nonetheless, Jennings said she saw the program's current appeal as limited. "I would only do J-term once," she said. "It's a lot of class hours" and "a significant expense" for a program that does not offer credit, she added.
The College Curriculum Council, a University committee that deals with undergraduate academics, voted this past spring in support of offering half-credits for a January term, but the credit option has since been abandoned.
If January@Brown is discontinued, the Office of Summer and Continuing Studies will continue to "look at all kinds of opportunities for undergraduates," including increasing access to internships during Brown's unusually long winter break, Caron said.
