Kim Nelson | Co-Editor-In-Chief

President Fred Moore announced at the Community Meeting held on Aug. 28 the possible expansion of May travel opportunities to the Buena Vista University (BVU) academic school year. Although May Term does not exist yet at BVU, even with the uprising of more trips late in the spring semester, President Fred Moore says that this does not mean it is the end of J-Term.

“We want to continue to enhance our May and early June value-added opportunities for students, in particular winter athletes who cannot in travel in January, and keep January, but we want to provide more opportunities for students to travel in May and early June,” Moore said.

For BVU students, the month of January is well known for travel opportunities. In past years, students have ventured to Europe, India, China, and Japan, as well as many other locations. However, not all students were able to have the option of going abroad for J-Term due to other academic commitments. Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty David Evans reiterates Moore’s statement from the community meeting by claiming that adding May travel opportunities allows those students who cannot travel during the winter to have that option in the spring.

“Right now the way January works, neither education students nor winter athletes can participate in January travel, and we think that’s too bad because we think that it’s important for them to have those opportunities,” Evans said.

Some faculty members have already begun to offer trips during May. Recently, Associate Professor of Digital Media Andrea Frantz held an informational meeting for the trip she will be leading to Ireland in late May to have students experience publication work in a small town on the coast.

“My students produce for a coffee table photography book and for an annual community publication in Sneem, Ireland,” Frantz said. “It’s such a small community, so what we do over a period of eight or nine days allows my students to go out and find the stories for the magazine.”

Frantz also believes that traveling in May and early June allows for more mobility to see the area being visited.

“For what I do, photography and journalism, you have to be outside all the time, and freezing to death doesn’t do well when getting a story,” Frantz said. “I am a huge advocate for May because it is a far better time to travel to a lot of different places. January is not a great time to travel for weather reasons. I grant that January might be cheaper because it is not the peak of tourist seasons, but it’s so much more wonderful to do it in May.”

Although the weather might be a beneficial reason to travel in May rather than January, there are still conflicts being resolved for the travel opportunities made available in late spring. Financial aid may be one obstacle for students to overcome if choosing to travel once the spring semester is over.

“It is very difficult to attach financial aid to things that don’t happen during the semester,” Evans said. “There are very complicated financial aid rules about this, and we’ve struggled with this already in January, and we are struggling with it in May as well.”

Since travel opportunities will begin in late May and early June, students will have to enroll for summer credit hours. Frantz advises prospective student travelers for her Ireland trip to enroll with one credit instead of three if they do not need the extra credits for graduation. She also wants students to know that financial aid opportunities are still available for May trips.

“The standard BV support is still available for students traveling in May, but they have to pay summer tuition,” Frantz said. “There is also the Henry Olson and Ed Bock International Travel Stipend worth $500 that can be applied.”

Those who are in the Honors Program and the Dean’s Fellowship Program may apply their travel stipend towards May trips as well.

“We think that it’s important for all students to have these opportunities,” Evans said. “We are continuing to figure out how we can create these opportunities for students.”

Photos courtesy of Deni Peters, Brandy Zumbach, & Makensie Brown