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Wintersession

Purpose
The central purpose of the Wintersession Program is to enrich the educational experience of Rhode Island School of Design students and faculty by providing a six-week period for offering various opportunities which are not available in a regular semester. Courses are available to students regardless of major, prior knowledge or experience. Exceptions to this rule are indicated in the course descriptions contained in the Wintersession Catalog which is printed each year in October. Opportunities abound for undergraduate students to fulfill their non-major studio requirements.

Enrollment Requirements
Every degree program student is required to enroll in at least one Wintersession course during each Wintersession period in order to retain full-time student status at RISD and to remain in good academic standing. Depending upon course availability, a second course may be added during the Add/Drop period. No more that 6 credits are permitted.

Meeting Times
On-campus courses meet for 6 contact hours per week for seminar/lecture classes and 10 contact per week for studios. Refer to the Wintersession Catalog for course offerings and scheduled meeting times.

Costs
Tuition for Wintersession is included in the semester charges for Fall and Spring.  Some courses require payment of fees and/or purchase of materials.  Off-campus study courses have costs beyond tuition associated with travel and lodging and this information is available from the department sponsoring the course.

Wintersession Course Options: 

Note: Freshmen are not eligible for ISP, internships, or off-campus study/travel courses. 

Wintersession Courses on-campus: Students may enroll in any Wintersession course for which they are eligible. Most courses do not require prior instructor approval.

Wintersession Courses off-campus: RISD offers a variety of off-campus study courses in locations worldwide. Courses are developed by individual faculty who create itineraries, program costs, schedules and so on. These courses require the instructor’s permission prior to enrollment.

Independent Study Projects (ISP): ISPs are described elsewhere on this website and in the course catalog. Enrollment requires an overall 3.00 GPA, a faculty tutor, and approval of the student’s and the tutor’s Department Head and  Division Dean, using the form available from the Registrar.  Liberal Arts ISP’s require the signature of the Dean of Liberal Arts and the appropriate Liberal Arts department head. 

Internship: Enrollment in a three-credit internship (or in a select few departments, a six-credit internship) requires approval of the student’s Department Head and Division Dean, using the form available from the Registrar. The amount of course credit is linked to the content of the internship and number of hours on the job, e.g. full-time for six weeks is necessary for up to six credits, but may not, on its own, be sufficient to warrant six credits. Grading is Pass/Fail only.

Wintersession Internships
Internship programs are rigorous.  Usually, the department identifies sponsors, matches student’s capabilities and aims with the sponsor’s requirements and opportunities, checks to see that the student is getting the experience expected, and gets proper evaluation from both sponsor and the student at the end of the Wintersession internship.  The six credit internship allowed in select departments should offer the student greater range or depth of experience than a three credit internship. Undergraduates are eligible for a Wintersession internship once they have successfully completed their freshman year.

Only six internship credits may be counted toward BFA credit requirements. Graduate students may take a maximum of three internship credits toward their graduate degree, except where departmental requirements require more.

Forms for evaluating the student’s work should be sent to the sponsor and shown to the student in advance of the actual internship period so that student and sponsor will know what the educational expectations are for the internship.

Students should submit a final report about their internship which includes an evaluation of the education gained from working with a particular sponsor. That evaluation should be submitted to their department head to aid faculty and students for planning future internships.