This will be the final year of trimesters at Augustana College. Semesters will now be the foundation for years to come. Staff and students discuss the implementation and effects of this change. Augustana College was once apart of the handful of trimester colleges left in the country. 
“I think it is like any major transition looking at it like a puzzle is a pretty good way to look at it,” Gillian Lederman,  French professor, said. “In the beginning, you don’t have a lot of pieces.”
Lederman states now there are only a few more pieces left to finish the puzzle.
Students on the other hand still feel like they are in the dark.
“It is a very confusing subject that is hard to get a grasp on,” Peter Alfano, junior, said. “I  am most concerned about how classes will feel after three years of getting used to trimesters.”
Alfano hopes that Augustana and his advisors can help him get through his last year. Alfano didn’t pick the college because of trimesters but it was a nice touch.
Jarod Kovach, sophomore, did pick Augustana for its trimesters and he is currently worried that the semester change will mess up the theatre department flow and Greek Life.
“We have all the academics, majors, minors, approved,” Lederman said. “We have details on J-term courses that we will offer.”
Recently the Core department released the 2019-2020 study abroad program including J-terms. Students can learn politics in Brazil. Cultural and biological time in Washington state. Physical theatre workshop in Austria and much more.
“I think that the J-term thing is going to be nice and there are going to be some cool options in theatre, other than that I’m not too hyped for semesters,” Jonathan Meir, junior, said. “I’m glad I’ll only have to deal with the change for one year, even though on the transition year it’s probably going to be at its roughest.”
Professor Jayne Rose, Psychology professor, stresses the importance of the pop-up information sessions. These occur every Tuesday from 11:30-12:30 in the brew.
Lederman says the average only attracts 1-4 people at this point. Yet, many students on campus like Alfano, Kovach, and Meir still feel out of the loop.
Lederman mentions that the master schedule where each department shows classes for next year will be decided and released by the end of this month.
Photo Above: Anna Pfalzgraf, senior, talks to Professor Lederman during the semester transition pop-up sessions. Photo by Brady Johnson.