Summer Quarter Suggestions for President McCormick

"Summer quarter is not an option for me. From what I've seen and what my friends have said, the courses the UW offers are just general. There's no Accounting 470. There is nothing interesting for me. (Senior, School of Business Administration)"

"You have your high demand courses that are higher level. These are courses you need to graduate, and if you can't get in you can't get in. Why not concentrate on those classes instead of general education classes? Distribution requirements are usually needed in the first few years. There is probably more demand for summer quarter later on when people realize they are in an emergency situation and they need to graduate. Personally, my attitude in the first few years was, 'I don't need summer quarter.' As I went further along I realized I needed to step it up a little. By that time, I was already in the higher level classes. So you would need the higher level classes. (Senior, School of Business Administration)"

"Organize summer quarter so there is less overlapping. It seems like with summer quarter, if you want to take three classes a day, you have to start at 8:30 a.m. and that's not happening in the summer. (Sophomore)"

"I like the idea of increased availability of classes, especially the upper level ones. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"One good incentive for attending summer quarter would be for professors to push a required class offered in the spring or fall at 11:30 in the summer. (Sophomore)"

"Offer more classes. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Offer more classes, basically. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Expand availability of classes. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Expand availability of classes and offer flexible time schedules. That way, you could take classes and maybe still work. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Keep the tuition the same, but give me some more classes. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Increase class availability. Offer the classes I need to take in the summer. (Sophomore)"

"Ensure that I could get into any classes I wanted in the summer. (Sophomore)"

"Offer more departmental classes. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Offer more departmental classes. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

Offer Smaller, Project-Oriented Classes

"Offer classes with hands-on lab experience. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Offer classes with hands-on experiences. Maybe offer classes in conjunction with your department and other departments as a team. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Find a problem in the real world to solve. Have a class project to solve that problem, whether it be to develop a machine or redesign something like a multi-speed wheelchair. That kind of project is really nice and rewarding. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Offer project-orientated courses that we could all use to find ourselves jobs. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Definitely offer smaller sized classes. (Sophomore)"

"Keep the classes small. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Offer more classes with extra perks, like field trips or hands-on projects. Offer something above and beyond. (Sophomore)"

"Offer small, intimate, classes with quality professors. I think that is something that is lacking in the school year with such big classes. It could be something special offered during the summer. (Sophomore)"

"Make it cheaper along with smaller classes. That would be perfect. (Sphomore)"

"The whole spectacle of going to summer quarter is rather unappealing to me. So the University will need to make it seem much better than normal school. It will need the same number of classes offered during other quarters. Maybe it could have a small college atmosphere which is something you can't normally get. The problem is that most students have been brought up to not go to school in the summer. (Sophomore)"

Make Summer Quarter More Financially Feasible

"Cut the tuition in half. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Definitely reduce tuition. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Offer students more money from somewhere. If you are not going to reduce the tuition by half, provide more financial aid. That is not a lot to ask for so you can take the extra quarter. (Senior, College of Engineering)"

"Making it seem special by making it cheaper or giving you something extra. If you make it cheaper, I am there. I am paying with my own money and I am trying to work. I would be able to take a different quarter off to work and come back and pay less for summer quarter. (Sophomore)"

Target Efforts at Appropriate Audience

"Ask students, 'Why do you want to take summer quarter?' and target those who are interested. Do not target the people who have to make money in the summer. Focus on those who want to complete their degree. Send brochures to the departments. You can't please everybody. (Senior, School of Business Administration)"

"Right now there is no reason why I would want to go to summer quarter. There is no incentive. It is totally not an option. I am not even considering it. I don't need to go. I should be able to graduate in four years so there is no reason. The only way I would go is if it was some type of really special class with field work or something. (Sophomore)"

"Take a look of the economics of it, the law of supply and demand. If there is a general student interest in the summer quarter, then you should have it. Personally, I am not interested in summer quarter any more. I want to enjoy my summers. (Senior, School of Business Administration)"

Communicate Changes to Students

"Guarantee high quality classes and communicate that they are available. (Sophomore)"

"Offer more classes and let people know they might be gaining something by taking them. The biggest reason I dont go to summer school is because I don't think about it. If someone told me that certain classes would be available in summer, that would be good. It would be nice if someone just reminded me. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

Other Suggestions and Comments

"For me it seems like they are tying to put a band-aid on a flood if they are trying to use summer as an excuse to try and get people out in four years. That is not the real problem. The real problem is not being able to get into classes that you need to take. It seems like a lousy excuse to try and cure something. So, I say try again. (Senior, School of Business Administration)"

"Things have got to change. I don't really know how but I think that a lot of people are not happy with summer quarter or the notion of having to go. (Senior, College of Arts & Sciences)"

"Ask Dr. McCormick to teach a course. (Senior, School of Business Administration)"