Building on a long-standing commitment to student success, a majority of Paris Junior College courses will transition from 16-week to eight-week terms this fall. Students registering for Fall 2022 courses will choose Fall 1 from Aug. 29 to Oct. 24 and Fall 2 from Oct. 24 to Dec. 15. Some courses, such as those with clinicals, will remain 16 weeks in length. Addison Exum of Paris took Anatomy and Physiology I at PJC this summer and embraced the short format. “I think it’s best to take a short class because you have things due a lot quicker,” Exum said. “Instead of drawing it out with lecture after lecture after lecture, it’s a couple of days and an exam, then a couple of days and an exam. So everything is closer together and you don’t forget. When you have a midterm coming up, it’s easier to study.” Increasingly, non-traditional students who work full-time, are parents, or who are both, find that they can only manage two or three classes at once. Moving to eight-week instead of 16-week classes will, the College believes, help these students improve grades and graduation rates since they will be classified as full-time. That, in turn, helps with student completion of a certificate or degree. Dr. Jack Brown, PJC Biology Instructor, oversees the biomedical sciences articulation agreements with Texas A&M University and the University of Tyler - MD Anderson Cancer Center. He piloted Anatomy and Physiology I in the 8-week format. “The traditional 16-week semester tends to grind after the halfway point and I know students who have had four to five exams in one week with traditional 16-week semesters,” said Brown. “That won’t happen with eight-week terms, and with fewer classes at once students can focus more on the content since they have fewer courses at one time. Many students balance jobs and family, and I think the eight-week model will help them get their classes and maintain their work and family life.”