NMCC winter mini-term provides unique opportunity for community, college students

    PRESQUE ISLE – Classrooms at most colleges and universities are quiet around the holiday season as students return home from the break between the traditional fall and spring semesters, but that isn’t the case at Northern Maine Community College, where a number of courses are offered in what is known as the winter mini-term.     The concentrated classes, held over an abbreviated three-week period beginning Dec. 21, offer appropriate college credit by meeting daily and for a longer period of time than the same courses would in a 15-week semester, the average length of the fall and spring semesters at most higher education institutions around the country.
    Albeit over a shorter timeframe, the winter mini-term mirrors what many colleges and universities, including NMCC, are offering during the summer months. The expansion of year-round learning opportunities at NMCC and in the higher education community is reflective of and in response to student, business and community needs.
    “The winter mini term was established several years ago to accommodate the needs of individuals finding it very difficult to continue their education because of the other demands their life placed on them, in particular, work schedules,” said William Egeler, NMCC dean of students. “Shortening the time frame for classes was something they and their employers were better able to manage.
    “Since then, other groups of people have found the abbreviated time frame to their liking. College students home on holiday break have taken elective or general education classes during the mini-term and transferred them back to their own college,” he said. “This has been a very cost effective way to get ahead (or catch up). Our own students have used the mini-term to reduce their academic load during the spring term. Spring is a busy time with job searches et cetera, so taking advantage of mini-term classes has been a popular way to ease the pressure.”
    In addition to more traditional courses such as general psychology and speech, the NMCC winter mini-term course offerings include specific allied health, trade and technology, and business courses of benefit to individuals in the workforce who cannot take a full 15-week semester because of work or other commitments. These courses include college accounting, database applications, health and safety compliance for healthcare professionals, industrial safety, and an emergency medical technician intermediate skills seminar, among others.
    “We offer a diversity of courses based upon the needs of the local business community and what our own students tell us they need,” said Egeler.
    For more information on the winter mini-term, including a complete listing of courses offered or to register for a course, contact the NMCC student services office at 768-2787.