A School of Public Affairs course meant to take place during the Iowa caucuses in January 2008 had to be canceled three weeks ago after the state moved its caucuses to an earlier date.
SPA and the school's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies were offering the two-week class "Iowa Caucuses and the Presidential Selection Process" for the spring 2008 semester. The class was to begin Jan. 5 with three to four days of class lecture, according to SPA professor Candice Nelson, who was going to teach the course.
Students were to fly to Iowa Jan. 9 to observe the candidates and watch the party caucuses before flying back Jan. 15, Nelson said.
However, SPA canceled the course the week of Oct. 19 after the Iowa Republican Party announced it was moving its caucus to Jan. 3. The state's Democratic Party announced last week it would move its caucus to the same date, Nelson said.
The Iowa caucus has historically taken place before New Hampshire's primary election. New Hampshire may move up to Jan. 8, since the Michigan primary moved its own primary up to Jan. 15, according to Nelson.
If SPA had adapted to this date change, students would have needed to meet for the lecture portion of the course during the holiday season, Nelson said.
However, SPA will most likely reintroduce the class in the future, she said.
"We will certainly look at it in four years," Nelson said.
A similar course offered by the School of Communication, which will partly occur during the New Hampshire primary in January, continues as planned. SOC's class, "Covering the 2008 Presidential Election," will meet for a two-day training session from Jan. 3 to Jan. 4, before traveling to Manchester, N.H., for the primary. The class will stay there from Jan. 5 to Jan. 9 before returning to campus. It will continue to have weekly classes through March 5.
Once at the primary, the 30-person class will be split into six groups of five students, according to SOC professor Dotty Lynch, who teaches the course with SOC professors Lynne Perri and Bill Gentile. SOC professors Richard Benedetto, a former USA Today reporter, and Jim Wooten, a former ABC News reporter, will accompany the class.
Each student group will shoot a three- to five-minute mini-documentary on young people involved in the primary, such as young voters and volunteers, Lynch said. Students will also file reports and contribute to a blog.
Registration for the SOC class required an application that was due Oct. 24. So far, SOC has approved 22 students. Before the class meets, an organizational meeting will take place in December, and a blog will be set up in the next several weeks to ease communication between students and professors, Lynch said.
Registration for the SPA course did not require an application and would have occurred during regular registration dates in November, Nelson said.
If New Hampshire moves its primary, the SOC class will follow a political event in another state or in a local area such as Virginia, Lynch said.
Schools required students in the programs to pay an additional fee of approximately $700 to cover housing and ground transportation in Iowa or New Hampshire, according to Lynch and Nelson.
In the event that the class is moved to an event outside of New Hampshire, the fee may be altered, Lynch said.
Caitlin Rosser, a freshman in the Kogod School of Business, said it would be a good idea if all schools offered classes centered on political events.
"Everyone has an interest in politics, even if they don't pursue it," Rosser said.
