Notes about Naroni U

Mainly a thought-process post; nothing too interesting or crucial here.

The Academic Year

I've taken considerable liberties here. Basically, school is in session eight months of the year, and this time is divided into four two-month terms, as shown here in this crude mock-up:

Apparently red gets funky when saving as a jpg in MS Paint, but I suppose it's legible for the purposes of this post.

Anyway, students will generally start their freshman year of university the term in which they turn seventeen (though obviously I reserve the right to maybe have someone attempt a degree in their later years, or for some child prodigy to attempt it earlier). For birthdays during the breaks, students will begin in the term bordering their birth month (so January=Winter, June=Spring, July=Summer, December=Fall). I'm also thinking that the winter term will actually start in the last few days of January due to February having fewer days, but to keep things simple, we'll just go by months here.

But while the academic year is split into four terms, each class will run two terms, effectively resulting in a staggered semester system. For example, Severin Indruion was born in February 1167, so he'll be starting in the 1184 winter term. His first semester would therefore run the winter and spring terms, and his second, the summer and fall terms. This will continue until he graduates at the end of the 1187 fall term. Meanwhile, the Wythleit "twins" Orrick and Senwick ("officially" born in April, though Orrick was actually born in late March), as well as Landus del Marinos (June), start in the 1184 spring term. Their first semester will be comprised of the spring and summer terms, and their second, the fall and winter terms; they graduate at the end of the 1188 winter term.

This kind of gives a disadvantage to people starting in spring and fall terms, what with a huge two month break in the middle of their semesters, but I figure that the courses can all have a natural "midterm" point anyway.

As for where this system came from... well, I was originally going to make a real university sub-hood and actually play these Sims, but then I decided that was probably not the best idea for a story that tries to update thrice a week, at least given the rate at which I play, so the university will instead be a downtown sub-hood. But if I'd had gone with the originally playing plan... well, I age my teens to adults at seventeen during their birth month, but sending a teen to university requires ageing them up to young adult, so going for four terms instead of one year or two semester would have allowed for greater consistency there. Now that I'm not making an in-game university, though, some of the students with birthdays closer to the ends of their starting terms may show up in classes as teens.

Classes and Timetables

At some point, I will actually (for my own reference) have to figure out which class takes place when, but I'll slack for now. Plus they'll only be teaching freshman courses at the start anyway. I'm thinking I'll borrow timeslots from the university I attended, though: a course will either have three hour-long classes a week (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) or two ninety-minute classes a week (Tuesday/Thursday).

With the occasional admin-approved exception (I don't know how often that would come up in the story), students will be expected to take four courses per semester.

There are twelve options for majors. Within each major, there are three options for focuses:

ART -- Architecture, Painting, Textile Arts

BIOLOGY -- Anatomy, Botany, Zoology

DRAMA -- Dance, Masquing, Music

ECONOMICS -- Banking, Business and Management, International Trade

HISTORY -- Archival Studies, Classical History, Historiography

LITERATURE -- Classical Literature, Contemporary Literature, Rhetoric and Composition

MATHEMATICS -- Algebra, Geometry, Practical Mathematics

PHILOSOPHY -- Epistemology, Ethics, Logic

PHYSICS -- Alchemy, Astronomy, Mechanics

POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Canon Law, Civil Law, Practical Governance

PSYCHOLOGY -- Health of the Mind, Human Behaviour, Humours and Temperaments

THEOLOGY -- Biblical Studies, Interpretations of God, Pre-Asceticism

(Major thanks to Morgaine for helping me with these--as well as for the staff outfits!)

Students MUST declare a major by the end of their first semester of sophomore year, and a focus by the end of their first semester of junior year. There is no limit as to how early majors and focuses can be declared.

Since a student must go through eight semesters to earn a degree, each focus has eight levels of courses. In order to earn a degree, students must achieve:

-Completion of at least the fifth-level course of their focus (though I'm thinking most will go beyond this).

-Completion of at least five courses in other sub-disciplines under the heading of their major (so with the other two focuses in their major, a first-level/fourth-level combo, a second-level/third-level combo, or one all the way to the fifth-level). For Theology majors, see the note on Pre-Asceticism below.

-However many other courses they need to complete their expected thirty-two courses; all disciplines and levels are fair game EXCEPT for higher-level Pre-Asceticism courses*.

*Pre-Asceticism is specifically for students who plan on becoming monks or nuns, some of whom may enter university with some novitiate experience already. Students on the fence about joining the church may take up to the third level without making a commitment, but in order to enrol in the fourth level or above, a student must declare a Theology major with a focus in Pre-Asceticism; this is for all intents and purposes a novitiate. Theology students with a focus in either Biblical Studies or Interpretations of God may take up to the third level of Pre-Asceticism for their degree requirements, but cannot proceed past this point and must finish their requirements in the other Theology sub-discipline.