As registration approaches, Geneseo is offering a larger variety of classes for the winter intersession.
The college revived intersession courses last winter, beginning with about 22 classes, according to Interim Associate Provost for Assessment and Curriculum Melanie Blood. Intersession classes had originally been terminated in 2003, according to The Lamron.
“The main reason for reviving intersession was to increase the number of opportunities students have to complete the courses they need to make progress toward graduation,” professor of English and Assistant to the Provost for Digital Learning and Scholarship Paul Schacht said. “I think a second reason is that we know our students already take intersession courses elsewhere. It seemed beneficial both to students and to Geneseo for those students to be able to take as many of those courses as they’re interested in taking here rather than elsewhere.”
Blood said that intersession courses can also help students stay on track financially, especially those who receive the excelsior scholarship and need 30 credits per year.
Communication major junior Sarah Armbrust explained summer courses keep her on track for graduation, and that intersession courses gave her the opportunity to catch up on credits as she never had the opportunity to take honors classes in high school.
Since last intersession, there has been about a 75 percent increase in the number of seats in courses for students, according to Schacht. There are 37 courses offered online with around 830 seats available, not including study abroad options.
The courses were chosen based on whether they are “bottleneck” courses, gen-eds or other high-demand classes, according to Blood.
“What had been a pilot program goal was to expand [intersession courses] this year and to build on what seemed to be successful,” Blood said. “Out of last year’s program came the idea to target more classes that look like bottlenecks or are introductory classes to majors or prerequisites to upper-level classes.”
Armbrust is looking at gen-ed classes and other important courses for her minor. “I’m looking at a language [course] because I’m missing a language credit,” Armbrust said. “I’m [also] looking at classes for my public administration minor, so I think those are the two areas I’m focused on right now.”
Since the intersession classes are mainly offered online, new challenges arise for students and professors, according to Blood. Blood explains that they want to make sure online education maintains the best practices and that there is enough support for students adapting to the online environment.
Schacht said the college hosted workshops about online courses in preparation for this intersession.
“One of the things the workshop emphasized are ‘what are the things the faculty can do to introduce themselves to students in the class’ and ‘what are the things a faculty member can do to increase students’ engagement with one another,’” Schacht said.
Assistant professor of rhetoric and communication Lee Pierce taught online classes last winter and during the summer. She stressed the importance of holding students accountable and being available to them.
“I try to have frequent video office hours and I try to deliver content by video, so they have a means to Facetime with me,” Pierce said. “I try to create small group assignments of some persuasion so that they have each other and then we have our Slack channels too which creates a little bit more than a one-to-one email kind of thing.”
While online classes might be more challenging, Armbrust emphasized the freedom of taking courses online which works better for her style of learning.
“Each professor is different and depending on what time frame you have—you could have anywhere from three to six weeks for a class. It helps me to stay on course because I have to have everything done and it keeps me on a schedule,” Armbrust said. “I’m able to look and see ahead when I have things to do. It gives me a lot of freedom to plan my days. I don’t have to work around going to classes and all that.”
Overall, Schacht emphasized his hope for the courses to fulfill student needs, resulting in all course seats being filled enough to run.
Blood also said that she wants to hear feedback about what is working and hopes students will talk about what they need.
“We’re still evolving the program. It’s still in its second year,” Blood said. “We’re hoping students give it a try, and we’re hoping for feedback on how well it works for students and fills the needs they have.”