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Printer-Friendly ModeMore than 5,000 enroll for spring and summer
June 8, 2009 —
For most students, the winter semester’s conclusion means a fourmonth hiatus from the rigors of the classroom. Others, though, choose not to swap their blue books for sunscreen. About 3,300 students are taking at least one course during this year’s spring semester, while nearly 2,000 students are registered for the summer semester.
According to Chris Looney, vice president of Student Services and Enrollment, students typically take courses during this time for one of two reasons.
The first and most common reason is simply to make progress. The second, he says, is to take care of prerequisites. “Some students are keyed in a course program where they need to do X before they can go do Y,” Looney said.
The University considers these semesters extra, says Looney.
This means a general educationheavy course schedule that will ensure healthy enrollment numbers for each class.
“We want to offer courses the most people need,” Looney said. “So you won’t see too many specialized courses because we can’t have a class where only five people enroll.”
But not everyone occupying a classroom in the coming months will be filling a general education requirement. The core of some programs begin during the spring semester, says Looney.
Programs such as the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy admit its first class of students each spring. Select required courses for programs such as computer science are only offered during this time, making spring or summer enrollment a necessity for some.
Criminal justice students also tend to use the spring and summer semesters to complete their required field work, says Looney.
“A lot of them find it difficult to fit this requirement in during the fall or winter because of other classes, so they’ll take care of it during the spring or summer,” he said.
Though many professors choose not to teach spring or summer courses, full-time faculty members make up the majority of the staff during these semesters.
They receive 10 percent more off their base pay per threecredit course, according to Donald Bachand, vice president for Academic Affairs. Adjunct faculty members earn the same amount they would during the fall or winter semester.
Adjunct faculty is only used when the University is unable to obtain a full-time professor for a course, says Bachand.
Two courses make up a typical load for an instructor to take on during the abbreviated semesters, with younger or newer faculty generally outnumbering veteran faculty members.
“It’s not that more senior faculty members don’t want to teach the courses,” Bachand said. “A lot of them would just prefer to spend this time doing research or traveling.”