Groundhogs have predicted an early spring at Southwestern College, which will host its first January short session courses since 2006-07.
SWC President Dr. Melinda Nish said the short-term session was made possible by the compressed calendar.
“I put my foot down and said I made a promise to the students that if we went to compressed calendar, they were going to have an opportunity to take classes in January,” she said.
All campuses excluding Higher Educational Center National City will be open for the short term.
Students will be able to select from a list of more than 70 courses to take before the spring semester officially starts.
“We don’t have to offer 200 or 300 classes in January, but we’re offering 75 to 100 sections of what we think are some of the most highly demanded transfer courses that students need,” said Nish.
Classes include sections in history, health and communications. Nish said a January session will be a regular occurrence.
Claudia Sarabia, 19, an engineering major, said it would be beneficial for many students, but she would not register for the January session classes because there are none she needs.
“I’m trying to take more advanced classes, and it really wouldn’t work out,” she said.
Computer science major Albert Hernandez, 21, said the four-week term is too short.
“For more complicated classes, it’s not enough time,” he said.
Nish said four week courses are very intensive, but should be doable.
Spring short session begins January 4.