To help students control the time it takes to earn a degree, the university will discuss adding new summer courses and increasing availability of select, already existing classes this week.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will work toward determining the best classes for which to increase summer availability based on the needs of each school and college beginning Friday, according to Jeff Russell, Dean of Continuing Studies and Vice Provost of Lifelong Learning at the university.
Russell said the university could increase the availability of classes with historically high demand and courses it has not previously offered during the summer.
“It’s really to try to increase access [and] to help students…work on their degree program,” Russell said.
Students from Wisconsin who attend out-of-state universities during the academic year could be especially interested in UW-Madison summer courses, he added.
UW-Madison junior Ben Trapp, who is majoring in neurobiology, said adding summer classes would benefit students by improving how they plan for future semesters.
Trapp said if UW-Madison offered a summer “boot camp version” of the organic chemistry lab, students could avoid stress during the academic year.
Trapp plans on taking summer courses to catch up on general education credits he needs for his degree. He also wants to take 12 credits next semester, using the extra time to study for the Dental Admission Test, and said taking summer courses would help balance a lighter credit load.
“Just having one less class or four less credits [in a semester] makes a difference,” he said.
