EPCC has decided not to change its summer schedule to accommodate local high school graduates.
The Faculty Senate flirted with recommending changing the Summer I and Summer II schedules from two five-week semesters to two four-week semesters.
“It appears as though most of the disciplines are comfortable with the four- week and eight- week format,” said Dr. Dennis Brown, vice president of instruction. “However, there are some (ESL, Math, Science and English among those I recall) who are not.”
According to Claude Mathis, dean of communication and performing arts, the department got a good response from students about the success UTEP has had with the two four-week semesters.
“Some areas would need to have a specialized schedule,” said Mathis about EPCC changing to the two four-week minimesters. This was confirmed by Brown, who stated that there will be eight-week courses available to graduating high school seniors.
“To accommodate recent high school graduates, we will have an eight-week session beginning June 9 and ending on Aug. 1,” Brown said.
“It didn’t seem to make sense to change for 380 [high school] students when we have 10,000 students during the summer.” Monica Castillo, an EPCC summer student who also attends UTEP, said, “The shorter the course, the faster I get to enjoy the summer,” when asked what schedule she prefers.
However, she hasn’t been able to take advantage of the two four-week minimesters at UTEP.
“I would take the UTEP classes if they had them,” Castillo said of EPCC.
She said that she only took the EPCC courses during the summer because they weren’t being offered at UTEP and because the Valle Verde campus is in a convenient location for her.
The schedule change would result in EPCC starting their fall and spring semesters a week later and ending a week later.
