The Interim Term in the semester came about as a result of the 1967 curriculum changes. There was a strong emphasis on change in the 60s. The college was searching for a new and modern style of academic learning. With a change in administration, Dean McClelland and members of the Curriculum committee worked hard to execute this innovation. Older college curriculum norms changed, and “new innovated’ ideas were introduced and implemented. These new ideas came in the from an Interim period that began at the end of thanksgiving and lasted for a 4-week period. This four-week period was a period where students could put their focus on specific projects overseen by a professor or other faculty. Additionally, interim project introduced new opportunities for students to travel abroad or for seniors to gain hands-on experience within their major. An example of a new innovative development in curriculum can be found in the ‘Lets Communicate with the Deaf” interim class. This class was only taught in the three-week interim term, however, because of its creation and popularity, it led to Maryville College becoming the first non-deaf campus in the U.S. to provide ASL interpreting as a major. In the 1980s, the All-College Council debated over the current interim period (Thanksgiving to December). The Administration wanted to reverse the interim period and maintain a traditional two semester period rather a tri-semester period. They wanted to move the interim period into January. This created the J-term period. This new period was shortened to three weeks. In 1990, the interim term went through a name change and was known as experiential education and later January term (J term). The name change was dropped by the mid-2000s and is now known as J-term.