"Students have a great deal of power by letting departments know they're really interested in taking a (summer or winter) class," said Rod Jensen, dean of University College and Extension Services.
Faculty look for an enrollment trend when preparing for a class offered through summer and winter course sessions, Jensen said. He also advises students to sign up early or let departments know they are interested in a class.
Students may begin to register as early as Nov. 4 for winter session, which begins Jan. 4 and runs through Jan. 22, said Winter Session Coordinator, Jennie Wirick. Extension Services recommends that students register by Dec. 18 because its service hours are shortened thereafter until winter break when the office is closed, she said.
Also, from the first day through the first week of winter session, students are required to obtain instructor permission to register, Wirick said. And, after the first day, students must also pay a $25 late fee.
The second week of winter session, a student must obtain instructor permission and department approval to add a class. A student may register for a class until 24 hours before the last day of that class after obtaining instructor permission and department and college dean approval.
If students choose to attend winter session, they may sacrifice vacation time or social events following the tense week of finals; though with finals occurring a week earlier than previous years, they may have more down time this year. They may also give up the opportunity to earn some often-needed extra cash.
There is no separate financial aid available for summer and winter sessions, but students can use their regular school year financial aid towards the sessions, if they hold on to some of the money, said Sabrina Jenkins, customer relations representative at the Office of Financial Aid. One may call the office at 985-4641 for more information.
Some students say summer and winter sessions have their advantages. The following students opinions about summer sessions were published in the 1998 Summer Forty-Niner.
"By taking a summer class I would be getting a three unit course out of the way in six weeks. I would also have the whole time to dedicate my time to that one class, as opposed to the semester when I would have other classes to take along with it," Alicia Salazar said.
- Pratsara Kantathavorn
"I recently walked in the graduation ceremony, however I still had nine units to take. I did not want to go through another full semester of classes, so I enrolled in summer school. Enrolling in these classes gave me the option of taking these classes in two months and if I pass all three classes, I can graduate quicker than I expected," Pratsara Kantathavorn said.
"CSULB students, prospective students, students from other colleges and universities, and interested individuals from the community may enroll in summer and winter courses," according to Extension Services' web site. There is no application or admissions process required for registration.
There is a maximum 6-unit load a student may take in any one session, with no more than 9 units in two overlapping sessions, though students may petition the college dean of their major if they wish to take more units.
Students receive regular academic course credit for summer and winter session courses, said Jensen. There is no limit on the number of these courses which may be applied towards a degree at CSULB. The units will appear on CSULB transcripts and may be transferable to other universities.
Grade reports are mailed to students by the Office of Enrollment Services. The reporters are sent out approximately three weeks after the conclusion of the session in which your course is held, according to Extension Services' web site.
This year, students pay from $130 for 1-unit summer or winter class to $1,080 for a 4-unit science lab course, with 90 percent of courses costing $390, Jensen said.
Summer and winter sessions, are administered by Extension Services and have the same pay scale, though winter session is a shorter term of three weeks. Therefore, when fee increases are decided for summer courses, the same increases apply to the courses offered in the following winter.
In the summer, a student can choose from a 1-unit, one-weekend course to a 3-credit class, which runs the entire three-session summer term of twelve weeks. Though three six-week sessions is standard, said Wirick.
UCES offered more than 500 classes this summer, according to Extension Services' web site. As of Aug. 13, Extension Services estimates 200 classes will be offered this winter, said Wirick. "We are still waiting for final approval from some departments and this number does not take into account canceled courses," she said.
"Department secretaries have the ability to tally how many students have enrolled (in a summer or winter course) and can manage enrollment independent of Extension Services," Jensen said.
"Basically, the courses are owned by (CSULB) academic departments, but administered by us," Jensen said. Therefore, Extension Services administers only those courses that the academic departments offer. Extension Services is an entity independent of CSULB, but with a "very strong umbilical cord," Jensen said, "because without (CSULB) we couldn't exist."
Variations in the cost of summer and winter courses are mainly due to instructional costs, Jensen said. Faculty pay is the number one factor affecting student fees for summer and winter courses, Jensen said.
A full-time professor receives full pay of $1680 per unit for a class with a minimum of 25 students, he said.
When fewer than 25 students enroll in a course, professors are paid per student enrolled, if they agree to teach the class. However, students still pay the full designated course fee.
Though money collected for larger classes may be the same for smaller classes, the professors, regardless of credentials, may get paid less because of the class size.
In the end, the constant fees collected allow Extension Services to continue to offer the smaller classes, because the larger classes support them, Jensen said.
Extension Services must always be prepared to pay for a full professor, but then if an academic department chooses an associate professor to teach a class, said Jensen, the reduced financial outlay allows Extension Services to offset other courses with minimal enrollment of, say, two or three students. Usually, though, there is a full professor.
Associate professors receive $1,329 per unit for a class with a minimum of 25 students. "We are not inclined to cancel low-enrollment classes - they allow us to balance out over-enrollment in other classes. We are prevented from negotiating to get academic departments to designate associate professors."
There are two main components to the pricing system, Jensen said; first a weighted teaching unit; second, the number of contact hours per unit.
Ultimately, a classification system, which categorizes 15 types of courses into three areas, determines fees. Each of the three areas requires a specified number of contact hours, or seated classroom time, per course unit, Jensen said.
Areas are also assigned a "normative class size" and "workload weighing factor," according to a curriculum handbook provided by Extension Services.
The area which includes lectures, discussions and seminars, for example, requires one 15-hour contact per unit, while activities with science courses, technical laboratories, art courses and workshops require two contact hours per unit.
A science lab requires 45 contact hours per unit. Here, though the class is only one unit, because classroom time is tripled the weighted teaching unit is increased. Therefore, the professor's pay and course fee increases.
- Rod Jensen
The reason why Extension Services assigns summer and winter courses a large variety of different costs - for example, students may pay $142 or $260 or $410 or $570 or $780 or $1080 - is that most have mixed course classification units, Jensen said.
Ninety-nine percent of classes will have three to four units, Jensen said. Independent study courses, such as student teaching, which is 7 units, cost more because the course professor is paid to supervise students who go into the field and observe students in the classroom, Jensen said.
Classes are rarely canceled, unless a faculty member is sick and no replacement is available, Jensen said. "We try not to cancel any classes after they start and (if winter or summer classes are canceled) students can get a full refund."
If a faculty pay increase is anticipated, rumored or pending negotiations, course fees becomes a guessing game about what will result, Jensen said. "We usually air on the side of conservation as to whether there will be a faculty increase, and there have been the last two summers - of 2.95% to 5%."
An advisory committee of faculty, students and community representatives must determine if a fee increases is necessary and approves it, Jensen said. A student fee committee of mostly students and select faculty and staff then determine whether to accept the fee increase and work to establish an acceptable fee for the course, Jensen said.
Additional fees associated with registration in summer sessions courses, are a $7 University Student Union fee and a $1 instructionally related activities fee. This $8 in mandatory fees is charged once to each student for the entire 12-week summer session, said Extension Services window clerk Amanda Dougan.
"These fees were approved by a majority vote of the Associated Student Body and are used by (CSULB) (not University Extension Services) to help defray the university's operational cost during summer," according to Extension Services web site.
"We try not to do a summer (or winter) fee increase very often, to be perfectly honest," Jensen said. "We're viewed in many respects as a pseudo-business. We have to provide a service to our students and be sensitive to the price consciousness of the student, too. There's competition for students and if we raised our prices, students could shop for their money."
Registration forms for credit and non-credit courses are available from Extension Services or may be downloaded from the university's web site (www.csulb.edu) and printed out on a local printer and mailed in.
Extension Services also offers several for-credit courses completely on-line during the regular semester and offered one this summer, but there is not enough time for an effective on-line course during the shorter winter session, said Lynn Henricks, distance learning coordinator.
"For people who are working full time and want to earn units toward their degree, the Web is a great medium for accomplishing this," said Wendy Ito, distance learning specialist in a July 25, 1997 press release.
Each on-line course costs $50. They are upper division general education courses which, like summer and winter session courses are transferable to CSULB.
A student whose company or organization will pay for that student's summer or winter session fees may obtain a fee offset authorization form from the Student account Services Office a Fee Offset prior to registration, according to Extension Services' web site. A contract with the university and the business may then be established for payment.
International students, who are being sponsored or who have scholarships, may also request fee offset authorization forms, according to the web site. A letter of support from the scholarship agency must accompany these requests. For more information, one may contact the Center for International Education at 562/985-4106.
Extension Services is located at 6300 State University Drive., Suite 104, Long Beach. Its regular hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.