Beginning Monday (July 3), several thousand students will be beating the heat at the second summer session at West Virginia University.
Students can soak up a variety of traditional subjects, including biology and English, as well as unique offerings such as study abroad, a fast-track minor program and outdoor courses.
For example, Adventure West Virginia, an orientation for first-year students, mixes wilderness activities at Coopers Rock, Blackwater Falls, Spruce Knob and more with lessons about college life.
The Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences is offering a course called Plants and People, which touches on biotechnology versus organic production and other interesting topics, and Computers in Your Future, which explores issues such as the Internet, privacy and careers in computing.
Other summer options include a College of Business and Economics program that allows nonbusiness majors to complete a business minor in two summers (http://www.be.wvu.edu/minors/index.htm) and WVU s new personal trainer minor program in the College of Physical Educationthe only one offered by a college or university in the state and one of only a few in the country.
Taking summer classes is a great way to finish credits ahead of schedule, fill core requirements and improve your grade-point average,said Sue Day-Perroots, dean of Extended Learning.
Courses in chemistry, physics, macroeconomics and algebra are especially popular, she noted.
There are still some openings in Web-based graduate classes. However, undergraduate classes are filling up quickly, and only a limited number of spots are available.
Some of the classes with openings are in theater, tae kwon do and weight training. There are also coursesGlobal Political Issues and Politics of Terrorismthat are timely in todays changing world.
Students dont have to be on campus to take WVU classes, Day-Perroots added. Online courses, ranging from public relations to photojournalism, allow those enrolled to learn at their convenience from home or elsewhere.
At WVU s e-learn Web site (http://www.elearn.wvu.edu/teachers/index.php),
public school teachers will find an array of professional development courses: Coaching the High School Athlete, Designing Web Pages for the Classroom, Nutrition for Educators and Technology Integration, to name a few.
Classes are available at various locations. To register, call 1-800-2Learn2 (253-2762).
For those who want to expand their horizons through study abroad, summer is an opportune time to sign up for global service-learning opportunities, added Kim Colebank, director of the Center for Civic Engagement.
Through a partnership with Amizade, nine WVU students are participating in service-learning trips throughout the summer. Students earn academic credit while learning about anthropology, social work, political science and history in places such as Tanzania, Northern Ireland, Bolivia, Germany and Poland.
About 11,000 students (includingsome 3,000 who will take classes during both sessions) are expected to attend summer sessions at WVU , said Brenda Thompson, assistant vice president for enrollment management.
The second session continues through Aug. 11. For more information about summer courses, go to http://www.wvu.edu/summer/SummerSession/