Summer Quarter Report
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The two-phase model proposed here requires for success an increasing participation of faculty and students during the summer, with the eventual outcome of realization of the potential for fuller use of the physical plant of the University in a regular Summer Quarter. To achieve this will require careful curricular planning in a manner that provides incentives for broader participation of students and faculty.
Curriculum planning should be done with the clear aim of fully integrating the Summer Quarter with the other three academic quarters. This is of importance during the enhanced Phase I, self-supporting Summer Session, and should be maintained after the full transition to the Phase II, or state-supported, Summer Quarter is achieved. If the full transition is to succeed in realizing the capacity for use of the University's physical plant, and thereby have a significant impact on increasing student access, then the Summer Quarter should be seamless with the other three academic quarters. As long as the Summer Quarter is identified somehow as different from the other academic quarters in the minds of students and faculty, it is believed that participation will remain substantially lower than possible.
A first recommended major change in the Summer Session from the present arrangement would be a change in the length of the term. The Summer Session should convert from its present arrangement of 4.5 week short terms (A-term and B-term) and a nine-week term with no final examination period to primarily a ten week quarter with an additional examination period. As well, a limited number of shorter classes should remain during the Summer Session, with academic credit granted on a contact-hour basis as during a ten-week quarter. It may be appropriate to phase out the shorter classes if the Summer Session or the full Summer Quarter succeed in greatly enhanced enrollments in the longer term arrangement.
There are presently a number of unusual courses that are taught during the summer to serve particular student groups. Examples of these are intensive language instruction courses and specific classes provided on a short-term basis for K-12 teachers. These should be maintained on a self-sustaining basis even after a transition to a full Summer Quarter as long as there is a demand for such services. The provision of such coursework is compatible with the transition to a full Summer Quarter, and these activities represent an important and flexible service component of the University's instructional mission.
Curriculum planning by schools/departments/colleges should occur on a fully annual basis, with the Summer Quarter clearly identified as a significant part of the full curriculum. Faculty and students should understand well in advance what coursework will be offered in summer, and how these courses relate to offerings during the other three quarters. The summer initially should feature courses in high demand during the other three quarters as a means to encourage student participation, and linked sequences of courses should continue during the summer as during the other quarters. Coordination of course offerings within schools/departments should include summer offerings, and the same degree of coordination should occur between administrative units such as departments. By integrating more fully summer offerings into the rest of the academic year, participation by faculty and students will be enhanced.
In the same manner that the summer offerings are to be integrated more fully with the curriculum during the rest of the academic year, there should be substantial efforts made to increase the use of the University's physical plant during afternoons, evenings, and perhaps weekends. By the same reasoning that leads to increased use of the University's capital capacity during summer as a means of increasing student access, the same facilities are at present underutilized during afternoons and evenings. This consideration of afternoons and evenings applies to most sectors of the University, and it is relevant to all parts of the academic year. Attempts should be made to offer more coursework during the afternoons and evenings, and this coursework should aim to offer groupings of classes that attract students in the same manner as is discussed above for the use in summer of the campus. The Central Administration, in coordination with the deans, should be encouraged to pursue planning to utilize more fully the University's facilities during afternoons and evenings throughout the entire year. The Central Administration as well should investigate if it would be appropriate to transfer the administration of the Evening Degree Program to the schools/colleges, to provide administrative continuity with the administrators of morning, afternoon and eventually Summer Quarter coursework.
Summer Quarter Report
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