Dear Department Chairs and Center and Institute Directors,

We write today to share information about changes to the undergraduate Winter and Summer Sessions. 

The Division for Pre-College and Undergraduate Programs has been responsible for offering the undergraduate Summer Session since 1981. This seven-week session provides undergraduates an opportunity to enroll in one or two intensive courses during the summer. In recent years, Summer Session has enrolled on average 300 Brown undergraduates in approximately 50 courses, with the relatively few online courses filling quickly first. In summer 2020, when Brown transitioned all courses to online, we saw a three-fold increase in enrollments.

Starting with the 2021-22 academic year, the Division will also become responsible for the Winter Session. The highly-immersive, short-duration approach to teaching and learning that typifies Winter Session courses provides undergraduates with the opportunity to study one subject closely. The Division of Pre-College and Undergraduate Programs has the infrastructure and experience with academic innovation to shepherd Winter Session through a period of growth that we anticipate in the coming years.

Summer and Winter Session offerings give undergraduates flexibility in how and when they earn credits toward degree completion. In addition, these shorter length courses provide faculty with opportunities to explore pedagogical innovations with quick turn-around for student feedback.

Moving Winter Session to The Division for Pre-College and Summer Undergraduate Programs will allow us to align compensation for teaching in either Session to a single model. Beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year:

•       Tenured, tenure-track, and lecturer-track faculty teaching a Winter or Summer Session course will be compensated with the equivalent of one month of academic year salary, no less than $10,000.

•       All other faculty will be compensated at a standard rate to be set each year before the course proposal period. For 2021-2022 this rate will be $10,000.

•       If teaching during a faculty member’s contractual period, a Winter or Summer Session course will count as 15 days (each) toward a faculty member's external consulting effort, as defined in the Handbook of Academic Administration, Chapter 7.5.

•       If co-teaching during a faculty member’s contractual period, a Winter or Summer Session course will be compensated half of the normal pay and will count as 7.5 days (each) from their available external consulting time.

•       Faculty will no longer be able to reduce their regular course load if they are teaching a Winter Session course.

•       Course development and refresh funding will continue to be available, as will support for TAs.

A call for course proposals was made earlier this week for this academic year’s Winter Session (December 22, 2021 - January 21, 2022), which will consist exclusively of online courses. We assume that for the 2022-2023 academic year, Winter Session will return to offering a combination of campus-based, online, and travel courses. For access to the course proposal form, please visit: https://wintersession.brown.edu/

If you have any questions about Winter and/or Summer Sessions, please contact Dean Adrienne Marcus ([email protected]).

Sincerely,

Rick & Adrienne

Richard M. Locke
Provost

Adrienne Marcus
Dean, Division of Pre-College and Summer Undergraduate Programs