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Winter Session provides an opportunity for students to earn credit toward their degree duringwinterbreak with a three-week,onlineintensive learning experience. The Division of Continuing Education works in partnership with faculty and departments to deliver a mix of course offerings to meet the needs of a variety of students and community members. We are particularly interested in offeringour learning communitya unique online experience that provides elements of experiential learningand promotes peer engagementamong students.
Winter Session istreated asan accelerated term within the spring semester. Courses run from December 14, 2026to January 4, 2027.
Winter Session Policies & Procedures
ճWinter Session Faculty Handbookhas the most up-to-date information regardingcourse proposal and course development procedures, program policiesand teaching compensation. Faculty interested in proposing and teachingwinter courses should become familiar with the handbook ڴǰproposing a course.
Course Development
The online course designprocessbegins in early September.We anticipate all new course developmentwill becompleted byNovember23, 2026.See below for atentative schedule.
how two instructors approached designing their Winter Session courses.
Timeline
July 6
Week of September 14
November 23
December 11
December 14
For more details on CE’s approach to quality course design, please see theCourse Development sectionof the FacultyHandbook.For resources, ideas, and guidancerelated to onlinecoursedesign anddevelopment,visittheLearning Design GroupresourcespageandtheCTL Remote and Online Teachingpage.
Experiential and Interactive Activities
Instructors are encouraged to integrate experiential activities into their courses as a way of engaging students more fully in the online learning environment. For example, courses can integrate project-based, experiential learning activities where students interview experts, engage in community activities, and/or work on multimedia projects. Winter Sessioninstructorsmight also leverage the fact that many students are home for the holidays, so students might be asked to collect oral historiesaround a particular themefrom family and friends,or to research local places of interest relevant to the course topic (architecture, museums, historical points of interest, etc.). Instructors might consider integrating interactions among students that combine both social and educational elements, including: “social hour” group projects; student-led, synchronous discussions in small groups; group course-related scavenger hunts, etc.
Call for Proposals
The Division of Continuing Education invites CU faculty to submit a course proposal for Winter Session 2026-2027. Faculty interested in submitting a proposal should draw from their department’s existing inventory of 1-, 2 -, or 3-credit courses that lend themselves to an accelerated 3-week schedule, delivered online.We are particularly interested in courses that are typically oversubscribed, upper division core and elective courses, and “topics” courses. Courses that incorporate elements of student-to-student engagement and experiential learning are highly encouraged.
Faculty ready to propose a Winter Session course should submitthe.
Completed proposals are due byJuly 6, 2026.
Campus Holidays
Please note that the university is officially closed for Winter Break from December 25, 2026through January 1, 2027. As a result, you may experience delays of a day or so when you request support during these dates. For assistance during this time, instructors are directed to emailWinterSession@colorado.edu.
Contact
For more information about Winter Session or questions about course proposals, please contact the program manager, Alex Parsons,atWinterSession@colorado.edu.