New and online:

Imagine waking up just to stay at home. No need to shower, change, scarf down a fast breakfast or worry about putting the right textbook in your bag. No need to travel to class – imagine class coming to you.

Every summer, Eastern University’s Youth Ministries Department offers the classes for Discipling Youth and Field Experience to undergraduates. However, because of many requests from students and their families, the College of Arts and Sciences will be offering a selection of courses to provide summer study opportunities.

The Business Department will be providing Marketing, Management, Business Ethics, Management Information Systems and International Business courses. The Loeb School of Education will be offering Inclusive Education, Teaching ESL/TESOL, Literacy Foundations for Intermediate Grades and Multicultural Education. Core courses include Heritage of Western Thought and Civilization, American Literature, Post-Colonial Women’s Novels, History of the Middle East and Justice in a Pluralistic Society.

These options provide a mix of specialized and general courses that have the same goals and learning objectives as those offered during the spring and fall semesters.

“Courses are offered in an online format for the convenience of students who will not be in St. Davids during the summer months,” said Diana Bacci, Vice President for Administration and University Registrar.

Students will follow their professors’ syllabi on Blackboard. Eastern has been using this learning management system for about ten years. Students and faculty are very familiar with the features and functionality of the Blackboard site.

“Course content, links to related sites, video clips and discussion boards are some of the ways faculty create interactive learning experiences,” Bacci said.

Students will “meet” asynchronously throughout the six-week summer session. Each summer course is valued at three semester credit hours, and none of the courses offered have prerequisites.

These classes will be fast-paced. However, students should keep in mind that they would only take one or two courses during the summer session as opposed to five or six during a regular semester.

As opposed to $520 per credit, Summer 2011 tuition for online courses will be $370 to make up for the lack of Eastern fellowships, grants and scholarships that will not be awarded for summer sessions.

So if you are overwhelmed by your course load and want to expand your horizons during the summer, or just get ahead (while staying in bed), Eastern’s summer courses might be for you.

The last day to register for the first summer session is May 11. Students interested in classes offered July 5 – August 11 may register by June 24.

“The goal is to provide a means for students to complete Eastern courses from wherever they are living and working this summer,” Bacci said. Faculty plan to analyze the results this summer, collect more information and determine how Eastern can expand and improve next summer’s program.