Phase II: Migration to Semester Calendar (January 2026)

Starting for the Spring 2026 term in January, we will shift from the 11-week quarter-term academic calendar to the 15-week semester academic calendar. This means we will have three terms in 2026 (spring, summer and fall), rather than four quarters. Your coursework will be spread out more evenly with breaks between terms, and the full-time course load will be adjusted from 6 credits to 9 credits.

Students who maintain a 6-credit load each semester will still get access to federal financial aid. We anticipate many of you will have questions surrounding this change, so we’ve put together a list of what we expect will be Frequently Asked Questions to address your concerns (see below). We will also be holding several information sessions this fall in advance of the shift to the semester that will include experts from the Office of Financial Aid and the Office of Veterans Success.

As always, if you have questions about how this migration will impact your academic program of other inquiries related to academic advising, you can schedule a meeting with me to discuss how these changes may present opportunities for your program.    

FAQs:

1. Q: Why are you making this transition to the semester now, and does this have to do with the University’s decision to take over management of Maxwell’s online EMPA program?
   
   A: The Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, along with the faculty teaching in the online EMPA program, made the decision to shift to the University’s standard academic calendar (three 15-week semesters) back in the spring of 2024. This decision was made to increase the elective options available to students in the online EMPA program and prevent cross-calendar enrollment restrictions. The University has been preparing for this transition since the spring of 2024 and faculty are in the process of revising their courses to be delivered on this new calendar. We hope the new calendar will allow students to get more out of their courses and the program, overall.
   
   

2. Q: How is the University going to navigate this shift to the semester calendar, and will it impact how my program is defined or how what classes I can register for?
   
   A: There are two changes that will happen on behind-the-scenes that will impact how students are defined and what courses they can enroll in. Students in the Executive MPA program will have a new program code applied to their accounts that will be associated with the semester calendar for the January 2026 spring semester. Their degree program will not change, only the code associated with the degree program on our systems. This will allow them to register for semester courses when pre-registration opens for the spring in the fall of 2025. Students in this program will no longer be limited to courses is the quarter session (e.g. “ONL2 Winter”, “ONL2Spring”), but will be able to register for any class set-up on the “Regular Academic Session” starting in spring 2026.
   
   

3. Q: Why would you make the courses longer when we can complete the work in a shorter amount of time? One of the benefits of this program was to be able to work through the degree quickly!
   
   A: Semester-long course offerings will provide students with more time to process, reflect, engage in the sometimes difficult and demanding concepts that are presented across the program curriculum. The total contact time will remain the same across all 3-credit courses, but the investment of time will be spread out over four more weeks, allowing students to better juggle the many competing demands on their time (e.g. full-time jobs, family commitments, community engagement, etc.). Some semesters will even offer a break during times of the year when many people take personal time for family commitments or vacations (e.g. Thanksgiving holiday, spring break). Students who wish to complete the program quickly can still take 6 credits per term and complete in 20 months, or can add two intensive short courses (January and Maymester) for a 9-credit load two terms, and finish the program in as few as 14 months.
   
   

4. Q: How will this change the weekly time commitment I’ve made to the courses in this program. Right now I spend about 10 hours per week per class, of which 1.5 hours is in my live, synchronous Zoom meeting with the instructor and other students?
   
   A: The faculty value the weekly live sessions, so we plan to continue to schedule 90-minute weekly live sessions for all classes offered online on the semester calendar. However, faculty will be reducing the amount of asynchronous content from what was ~126 minutes/week down to ~70 minutes/week. Readings and assignments will also be spread out over the semester, reducing the weekly time commitment from outside work down to 300 minutes/week from what was 410 minutes/week. In total, you should expect the time commitment for courses in this program to go from ~10 hours/week/class down to ~8 hours/week/class. In addition, the fall semester will have a one-week break over the Thanksgiving holiday, and the spring semester will have a one-week break in March for spring break. This will hopefully prevent student burnout and increase retention.
   
   

5. Q: I loved the ability to adjust the pace of my program by taking only a single course at a time, taking a leave of absence, or jumping back in and increasing my course load. Will I still have this level of flexibility in the semester calendar?
   
   A: Yes, students will still have this flexibility! In fact, shifting to the academic calendar will increase options to allow students to pursue only 3-credits per semester, 6-credits, or 9-credits, by taking one or two classes at a time, or by adding a short course option in the winter intercession (part of the spring semester) or Maymester (part of the summer semester). The one change will be that the full-time academic load level will increase from 6 credits to 9 credits, which means that students will need to enroll in a minimum of 6 credits to be able to access federal educational loans, and a minimum of 9 credits to be considered full-time for veterans housing benefits. For questions about how this academic load rate will impact your financial aid or veterans benefits, please reach out to the Office of Financial Aid and/or the Office of Veterans Success. Students will still be able to take a leave for a semester and resume their students the next term, if they work with their academic advisor.
   
   

6. Q: I am worried about how this change will impact my ability to take classes to complete my degree. Where can I find the updated class schedules and learn how this will affect my expected graduation date?
   
   A: Don’t worry! We will continue to offer classes regularly and there will be even more course options available for you to complete your program. You can find the tentative class schedules for the upcoming academic year online here. We will continue to certify graduates three times a year, and now these graduation dates align perfectly with the semesters. Students who complete their coursework in fall 2025 will be certified in December and walk in May 2026; students who complete their coursework in spring 2026 will be certified and walk in May 2026; students who complete their coursework in summer 2026 will be certified in August and walk in May 2026. Please reach out to your program advisor, Nell Bartkowiak, with questions/concerns about your specific program/plan.