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NEWS
MU summer classes reduced
Tess Moore and other students watch a crisis scenario video during JMC 201 class Wednesday, July 8, 2009, at Marshall University.
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HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University's new summer schedule, which reduced the number of sessions from six to four, has gone well, university officials say.
Provost Gayle Ormiston, who helped bring about the change, told the Faculty Senate in January that summer sessions have continually lost money -- as much as $1.3 million the past four summers.
Having six sessions, he said, meant classes with too few students and buildings being underutilized.
"Sometimes we had classes with four students, and we shouldn't be doing that," he said. "We have to set a threshold ... to cover our costs."
He said the switch has proven successful thus far, and he expects the university to break even this summer.
"In the past, we weren't able to pay for everything with tuition," he said. "We were losing money."
The changes came as a result of a 2007 report written by a small group of faculty regarding summer sessions. That report, Ormiston said, called for reducing the number of summer sessions to two. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in summer sessions at the Huntington and South Charleston campuses totaled 5,723 in 2008, a 4.8 percent drop from two years before.
He said four sessions that offer the classes students really need should give way to greater enrollment figures.
In addition, this is the first summer that undergraduate courses have been offered at the South Charleston campus.
Though the classes aren't full, Ormiston is satisfied that at least classes are taking place. He also said classes are scheduled there for the fall and will be for the spring semester as well. It just might take some time until people in the Charleston area take notice.
"We're trying to let people know that undergraduate courses will be offered there," he said.
Beth Chiparo, associate director of graduate admissions, reported that graduate classes are full at the South Charleston campus, while students in undergraduate classes are sparse. An introduction to computers class, taught from May 11 to June 5, had seven students. Psychometrics 406 had one undergraduate student and three graduate students during the first session that started in late May and extends to mid-August.
No undergraduate classes were scheduled at South Charleston for the second summer session. So far, 11 students have registered for two of the three classes being offered for the third summer session, which starts July 14.
