Katie Allen
Contributing writer
With a successful spring semester completed, Southeastern transitioned into its summer term smoothly. Summer 2011 classes began on June 6, and the summer semester will end on July 29.
Summer classes are a popular choice for students because many are offered online and as block courses. Block courses are regular credit hour classes that are typically offered in one week, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Summer classes are also popular because they are more flexible and allow students to balance other responsibilities like working more hours at a job.
“Students choose summer courses for two reasons: they either want to get ahead or to catch up,” said Liz McCraw, dean of enrollment management. She added that “some students choose to enroll in a summer course because it may lighten their course load in a fall or spring semester.”
Still, others choose to enroll in a summer course because they previously dropped a course and are trying to make up for those missed hours, said McCraw.
Some students choose to enroll in a summer course to finish up their education at Southeastern.
According to Kristie Luke, associate dean of admissions and records/registrar, 92 students applied for summer 2011 graduation.
Most of the students who enroll in summer classes are current, returning students. McCraw indicated that less than 2 percent of summer students are first-time freshmen, and most of that percentage is made up of adult students.
According to McCraw, SE’s five-year summer enrollment average is about 1,780 students.
She also stated, “We (the enrollment management team) hope that our enrollment will be at or above our five-year average this summer and that’s really our goal.”
Enrollment management is made up of six SE staff departments who work together and closely with both current and prospective students.
It includes the offices of University Recruitment, Admissions, Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid, the Learning Center and the Academic Advising and Outreach Center.
McCraw has been dean of enrollment management for two and a half years and has made some improvements for students and staff alike in that time. Improvements have been made to student processes to make information more available to students. The resources SE staff use have also been improved.
The technological improvements made benefit individual students and the university as a whole. “The appropriate use of technology is essential,” said McCraw.
“For example, if we are able to pull student information from one source as opposed to having students fill out the same forms over again, it saves the students and university time,” continued McCraw.
“More importantly, it means that we are able to do a better job in getting the right resources and information to our students,” finished McCraw.