May Term will be returning the Dallas campus for the first time in 22 years this spring. Dr. Kathy Rowe, Director of SummerStudies for SMU, said that this new addition to the main campus offerings is ideal for students really “trying to maximize their time.”
“We’re finding that because of all the things [students] are involved in, the more options we can offer, the better.”
Similar to its sister program in Taos, the May Term in Dallas will allow students to take one three-hour course May 16-31.
The time frame will allow students to earn additional credits without taking up their summer. For many students, this means not interfering with internships.
“They don’t want to have to juggle their internship and school,” Rowe explained.
Using summer internships as a jumping off point, one course Rowe and her colleagues are “hoping to start this May is a course that will help students prepare for their internship [in nonprofits].”
“The idea being you would get three hours’ credit for this seminar that focuses on the history and structure of nonprofits so you really understand what you’re going into.”
In partnership with the Psychology Department, such a course would give SMU students a leg up in having taken a course in an important and often overlooked realm of business. Such an edge would hopefully help them stand out when applying to jobs and other internships.
Beyond students looking to intern for their summer, or even not wanting to move back and forth between the end of school and the start of first summer term, the May term in Dallas will allow seniors to fulfill their last credits and graduate on time.
“They could walk in May and then take that class, and not have to go home and come back,” Rowe said.
The enrollment process for May Term is “going to be set up similar to J-term,” and students may sign up anytime between February 18 and May 1.
It offers the opportunity to stay a step ahead for many students in many different scenarios, and Rowe believes that is what makes May Term very promising.
“We think there’s a real group of students that this will make sense to.”
For more information, and to enroll in classes, visit smu.edu/summer.