May Term at McMurry University, an academic term clearly distinguished from its fall and spring semesters as well as from its two summer sessions, equal in importance though it differs in format from those regular semesters.
During May Term's three week time frame, students enroll in a maximum of four semester hours which enables them to heighten the learning experience. In addition, May Term provides opportunities for students to supplement, extend, and enhance their educational life in a manner unavailable during the traditional academic year. Since students and instructors engage in fresh, stimulating, unique, yet substantive courses, May Term becomes a welcome change of pace for both - one which fosters academic discipline marked by an intensity of focus, depth, and exclusively of attention on a single area - subject, topic, project, or course.
More specifically, May Term provides:
- affords a depth of inquiry and a freedom of method not usually existent in the established curriculum;
- provides broader and deeper educational benefits through educational experiences both inside and outside the geographic boundaries of the McMurry campus;
- promotes scholar ship in areas of special interest;
- permits increased student initiative, self-reliance, and responsibility for planning and pursuing each individual's educational commitment;
- enables students to explore and to delve into disciplines in which they may have a compelling interest, but for which they may not have extensive preparation;
- facilitates curricular flexibility through team teaching and interdisciplinary study.
May Term registration, open to McMurry students, to other students from the area, and to students from other colleges and universities, is held during the designated dates in Spring Semester and on the first day of May Term. Regular tuition is charged for May Term; there are proportional room and board charges for those students who live in residence halls. Additional fees or travel costs are stated in the May Term catalog for specific courses. May Term is stringently monitored by the university's Academic Policies Committee, but is administered by its May Term Director.
