Winter Flex Term, PWL

To: Executive vice presidents, chancellors, vice presidents, vice chancellors, vice provosts, deans, directors, and heads of schools, divisions, departments and offices

From: Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity

Date: April 21, 2022

RE: Winter Flex Term, PWL

Colleagues,

I am pleased to officially announce the addition of the Winter Flex term to our academic calendar, effective academic year 2022-23. The proposal was supported by the University Senate earlier this spring and will focus primarily on study abroad opportunities this first year (winter 2022-23), with asynchronous online classes being added to the offerings in winter 2023-24. Winter Flex will be available for students on the West Lafayette campus.

After listening to feedback from faculty, staff and students on a variety of winter-term models, we believe we have created a flexible program that will enhance student success, provide expanded curricular opportunities and assist with time-to-degree.

Winter Flex will be in session for three weeks between the end of fall semester and the beginning of spring semester each year and is voluntary and optional for faculty, instructors, graduate students and undergraduate students. Appropriate compensation would be provided for those supporting Winter Flex and who are not on contract during that time. 

My sincere thanks to many of you who have helped to move this initiative forward as part of the Winter Flex working group as a key collaborator and/or for the feedback you provided. I would especially like to thank working group co-chairs Kris Wong Davis, vice provost for enrollment management, and Marion Underwood, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, and core implementation team member Kristi Mickle, senior director of finance and business operations, for their leadership, creativity and persistence in this endeavor.

Read the full Winter Flex proposal.