Summer session: Laid back or intense?
6,500 will find answer
beginning on Tuesday
The mention of summer —
even the slightest hint — is en
ough to send a lot of people into
a tailspin. as they launch a fren
zied search for shorts and san
dals
But the onset of summer and
the University's “Summer Ses
sion," which begins today, is
sending about 6,500 people into
a headspin — directly toward
the books.
Officially the University says it
“endeavors to provide through
its Summer Session, an educa
tional program of the same
quality, proportionately varied
and well-balanced, as it makes
available during any other
term."
Summer Session is generally
considered to be a laid back
term to catch up on studies and
break in a few easy credits. But
' while that may be the case for
some students, it's not for the
majority who attend summer
term.
And and if the faculty has a
say. most would equate the
summer term with any other at
the University, says Dick
Schminke. summer session dir
ector
"If I said (Summer Session)
was that way, I'd have 16 letters
from faculty members,"
Schminke says. "I suppose in
some ways it might be .. I have
a feeling it’s less frenzied, from
the students perspective. I su
spect the pace is slower,"
Schminke adds.
Shminke also says most of the
students, about 60 percent, are
working on advanced degrees,
especially in the education, mu
sic and health, physical educa
tion and recreation schools.
"About 25 years ago, 80 per
cent of the students were
teachers, now about 65 percent
are in education-related fields,"
Schminke says. "The education
business still tends to pay by
degree level.”
But for the estimated 40 per
cent of the undergraduate
students, Schminke says a
number of factors come into
play. A lot of the students find
summer a good time to catch
up, especially students between
their junior and senior years
who want to graduate with the
class they came in with,
Schminke says.
But Schminke says there are
other reasons. “I think there are
some young people trying to get
the hell done before the price
goes up again.”
Whatever the reason for en
rollment, the University, along
with Portland State University,
has about the largest summer
session in the state.
The University and PSU both
catered to around 6,800
students last summer, but
Schminke also says that a larger
than average percentage of the
University students in summer
session are from out of state.
Oregon State University
usually finds about 5,500
students enrolled during sum
mer term, and Schminke says
that about 4,000 of those
students are Oregonians. For
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Emerald photo
The University expects 6,500 students will enroll in this year’s Summer Session.
the University to match the
4.000 Oregonians figure,
Schminke says enrollment
would have to climb over the
7.000 student mark.
According to Schminke, the
number of students enrolling in
this year's session, compared to
last year's, is likely to decline,
but he says he doesn’t see the
economy as the place to put the
entire blame.
"Our enrollment isn't usually
tied to the job market,”
Schminke explains.
Schminke predicts a drop in
enrollment this summer of
about 300 students, which will
lower the summer student
population to the 6,500 level.
Because Summer Session has
become entirely self-support
mg. Schminke says that enroll
ment decline might hit a little bit
harder.
The reason for the tightness
in the money margin isn’t
neccesarily because of the state
Legislature’s mandate that all
state colleges and universities
have self-supporting summer
schools.
Schminke says that the
University has always met about
“97 or 98 percent” of the cost,
and adds that the decline in the
number of students enrolled
has always hurt.
"It’s always kind of a gamble,
if we go under 6,300 students, I
expect next year Summer Ses
sion wouldn't be this large. A
couple of hundred students do
make a difference.”
Schminke alludes to the
magnitude and diversity of
Summer Session as he glances
over the summer catalog.
Several times he says that the
numbers he has are for "for
mal” classes only. "Informal
classes," Schminke says, "are
the open -ended ones, like Re
search 509, or Thesis work
456.”
‘ ‘There are over 1,000 classes
with regularly scheduled meet
ing times,” he says.
It seems that this session will
be as much an education as any
other, but Schminke qualifies
that, saying “you can say all you
want from both sides, it's still
less fast-paced.”
By Debbie Howiett
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