The Summer 2022 term in the Albion College academic year is reported to be expanding its catalog of courses to a record number of 65 possible courses for Albion students to choose from. This move by the college to expand possible courses for students is not unprecedented either.
With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down college life and the shift by Albion College to remote instruction during the spring semester of the 2019-2020 and the 2020-2021 academic years, students and instructors were enrolled in online courses at an unprecedented level in years prior.
Drew Dunham, registrar, shared about the development of summer courses at Albion College in recent years.
“Students have been requesting summer courses for a long time and the College started the online summer course program in the summer of 2013,” said Dunham, via email. “At that time we had about eight to 10 courses offered. Currently we have 40 plus courses offered and have added a second summer session.”
An important aspect that Dunham noted in expanding Albion’s summer course catalog is the specific classes offered and how students from all grade levels can benefit from the added courses.
“We try to offer courses that meet student needs and that will help them towards completion of their degrees,” said Dunham, via email.
Internship opportunities for students have also been expanded in tandem with the expansion of summer classes. Some of the aforementioned internship opportunities include positions at international consulting firm Milliman Inc. and local Albion manufacturing corporation Caster Concepts.
Opportunities for Albion students to get involved locally mark a positive trend in the growing relationship between students of Albion College and the city of Albion.
Any further expansion of the summer course catalog is dependent on student demand.
“Currently, I think we are meeting the summer course demand of the students,” said Dunham, via email. “If there is more student demand in the future, we certainly will look at that for possible expansion of the summer program.”
Just as it was done 30-40 years ago