UNC to Offer 16 Fewer Summer Classes

A plan based on a 4 percent budget cut that was submitted to UNC-system officials last week indicates that summer instruction stands to lose funding.

Jim Murphy, dean of UNC-CH Summer School, said officials planned for potential cuts last October and were able to combat the problem when it arose."The summer program planned to be about 2 percent less than last year because we might have budget cuts and we might have tuition increases," he said.

Murphy said summer school officials chose which classes to eliminate by determining which courses have alternate options or serve the same purpose as other classes. Both duplicate sections and entire classes were cut.

But Murphy said he anticipated few problems due to the reduced number of classes because demand might be lessened.

He said tuition increases for the fall and spring semesters would make students want to pursue employment during the summer rather than spend more money on their educations.

The 2002-03 school year will be the third in a row in which tuition will increase $300.

But Murphy said summer school tuition has not increased during recent years as much as tuition during the school year.

"The summer school has been trying to hold its tuition in check the last two or three years," he said, citing a tuition increase of about $5 per credit hour for the summer school in the last few years.

Murphy said officials determine summer tuition by charging enough to offer the courses students want but not so much that it is too expensive to attend summer school at other universities. "If we don't charge enough, we can't offer the courses," he said. "We need to find a balance that keeps us feasible and competitive."

Tuition for this summer is $115 per credit hour for in-state undergraduates and $340 per credit hour for out-of-state undergraduates.

Registration for the first session of summer school classes is now at 5,128 students. Last year the final number enrolled in the first session was 6,420. The second session, which is still open for registration, has 3,393 students enrolled. Last summer, about 5,200 students attended the second session.

Assistant University Registrar Debra Neiditz said this year's figures seem consistent with last year's considering that second session has not yet closed and that registration for the first session will reopen one week before the session starts.

Murphy said that in the event that more students enroll than expected, the summer school will add more sections of certain classes that draw a large amount of student interest over the summer.

Provost Robert Shelton said that overall, the summer school does not suffer too much from state budget cuts because the sessions are self-supported.

Shelton said the summer school operates on tuition money from summer school enrollment, which factors into the number of sections of classes offered.

"What determines the class offerings is the enrollment," he said.

Shelton said students' tuition also goes to fund faculty salaries for the summer school.

Murphy compared the summer school to a business, explaining that the summer school does not receive a specific state budget appropriation. "Our goal is to meet the needs of the students without spending too much money."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.