June 1, 2004

No football, less traffic and steamy weather are definite indicators that it’s summertime at the University of Houston. Of course, another factor that denotes the season’s arrival is the start of summer session classes.

Summer sessions at UH begin June 1 and close Aug. 14. Although courses last between four and eight weeks, their intensive daily schedules and quickened classroom pace offset their abridged duration.

According to Ed Apodaca, associate vice president of enrollment management, summer sessions attract students for a variety of reasons.

“We usually get a few older, post-baccalaureate students who are returning to school to obtain masters degrees but need to fulfill academic requirements before fall,” Apodaca said. “It’s also very normal to see many transit students who also are enrolled at out-of-state universities but have permanent residences here in Houston. They usually want to take some classes during the summer while visiting their families.”

There are four sessions during summer: Summer I, June 1 – July 3; Summer II, June 1 – July 17; Summer III, July 1 – Aug. 14 and Summer IV, June 18 – Aug. 14.

While tightly scheduled summer classes require diligence from students, some professors feel that the classes’ accelerated pace and daily interaction are helpful to learning the material.

Sidney Berger, director of the School of Theatre, will teach Acting II this summer. For this particular class, Berger feels the summer scheduling is to his students’ benefit.

“Since we meet every day, the students develop a camaraderie, which is hard to develop during the regular academic year,” he said. “I find that students are eager to come to class every day. It becomes habit forming.”

Mike Emery
memery@central.uh.edu