The new EC summer session, now divided into three terms, has been designed to attract incoming students and allow EC’s students to earn more credits quickly, administrators said.

“We expect to have a robust summer,” Francisco Arce, vice president of Academic Affairs, said. “Within the summer session there are three terms: the [first] six-week session, the second six-week session, and the eight-week session.”

He believes that the reallocation of time away from the now-discontinued winter session allows students more flexibility in the summer.

“Summer is a longer period. Winter session was only five weeks long and there was a lot more pressure on students,” Arce said. “You have several more schedule options in the summer time: It can be the eight weeks if you need a little bit more time, or the first six weeks because you want to get it over with and then work, or if you want to work in the beginning of the summer then go to school, the last six weeks might be best. You just have a lot more choices packed into one session.”

Administrators also see this change as a means for ambitious students to earn more credits quickly.

“Say you are a two year student or a three years student, with these summer sessions, we have three terms within the summer session so a student could conceptually pick up 10 units pretty easily if they are motivated,” Arce said.

In addition, EC designed its summer session with the intention of allowing its spring semester students to transition smoothly into summer coursework.

“You can see that it is a very short turn around from the end of the semester to the start of the summer term, so we thought that it would benefit the group of students who are already enrolled here,” Arce said.

The sessions have the added benefit of encouraging high school students to plan out their educational paths.

“High school students who complete the matriculation process, which is orientation, assessment and educational planning, by March 31, are given priority registration,” Arce said. “These students will be in a good position to enroll in this second six week session. What we are trying to do is give recent graduates a little bit of an upper edge if they go through the matriculation.”

Other administrators agreed that the new summer sessions cater to the needs of incoming students.

“Our placement of the second session is such that almost any high school senior who wants to get off to a good start and get a leg up can do so,” Thomas Lew, dean of Humanities, said.

A plethora of new courses have been added this summer in an attempt to meet varying student needs.

“We added almost 100 sections to the summer schedule,” Arce said. “There are a variety of types of courses that we offer, and it will be a pretty comprehensive schedule.”

The design of the summer sessions was also meant to help students complete the courses that they need to graduate on time.

“Most students who plan to transfer wind up one or two classes short and the summer gives them the opportunity to take that class and focus on just that one course,” Lew said, “My daughter would not have been able to transfer after two years if classes were not available.”

Thus far, students believe that the advertised changes will indeed help them meet their goals.

“I think that it’s a great opportunity to take more classes and it works to our advantage,” Elizabeth Menegazzo, 26, business management major, said. “I think a lot of people can really take advantage of this.”

Students who hope to graduate sooner also feel they can make good use of the new summer session schedule.

“It will allow me to take more classes rather than cramming my prerequisites,” Brandon Neher, 30, radiologic technology, said, “I think the new summer sessions will help me get out of here sooner.”