With the melting of the snow and the ever increasing hours of daylight around Fairbanks these days, many students have their minds fixed on attending school even after spring semester ends. Students aren’t the only ones making plans for the summer. Michelle Bartlett, director of the Summer Sessions office at UAF, has been spending her time organizing courses and events over the warmer months in Fairbanks.
The main aim of Summer Sessions, according to Bartlett, is to “help students get finished with their courses on time, so we have increased the availability of core classes.”
The Summer Sessions program has been revising the way that summer courses work over the past few years. In the past things were based more off of what professors wanted to teach, and now a larger emphasis is being placed on courses that students need. For students currently paying out of state tuition, the Summer Sessions program offers in-state tuition for all students.
Summer Sessions isn’t all about academics. Part of the summer UAF experience is the ability to enjoy the wonderful weather and the plethora of events—academic or not. Currently on the agenda are “weekend focus” programs, short weekend long events covering Alaskan flora, canoeing, fly-fishing, wood working, painting in Valdez, and even a chance to spend a weekend at the NOAA-UAF Kasitna Bay Research Lab near Kachemak bay.
There are foreign travel options in Costa Rica, Italy, London, the Netherlands, and Belgium. These foreign programs are done in conjunction with University of California Berkley’s Summer Sessions program. Bartlett said that the travel programs were inspired by a desire to “give students a chance to travel abroad, as well as work with students from another university.” Another extremely beneficial option for students interested in sticking around UAF in the summer is the “Earn and Learn” program, which supplies employment opportunities that work around school schedules.
The Summer Session begins with the Maymester, a chance to finish a three-credit class in two weeks, which begins on May 12 and runs through May 27. Then beginning on May 27 there are two six-week sessions that run over the course of the summer. Bartlett also mentioned that after seeing the recent popularity of the Maymester program, there are plans in the works for a Wintermester for the 2008 Winter break, giving another chance to complete an extra course quickly.
Registration for Summer Sessions is currently available at http://uaonline.alaska.edu. More information can be found either in the Summer Sessions catalogs floating around campus or in the Summer Sessions office in 214 Eielson Building.