NEWSLETTER 6.30.16
Message from the President
Our strategic planning process continues with your Administrative Council preparing to present a three- to five-year plan to the membership at the annual business meeting in Kansas City. Considerable data has been gathered from the regional meetings and a broadly distributed survey. Upon analyzing this data, six key issues of interest were identified and these are serving to focus the efforts and resources of the Association in its planning. These are the six key issues.
EDUCATION. This issue addresses the education value our members get from membership in NAASS. It will cover changes and additions to our delivery of information and content our members need to do their jobs better. It will also address the many possible methods of delivering this material, whether at the annual conference, regional meetings or via webinars, message boards, LMS, and social media platforms.
MEMBERSHIP. The obvious point here is that membership growth is vital for any viable, dynamic organization, and NAASS intends to grow membership within its regions and beyond, establish additional levels/forms of membership, diversify membership, and fully engage its members. Targets for 2019 are being set.
RESEARCH. The research NAASS engages in and supports helps our members, our institutions, and our profession. We'll identify partners, publications, and proposed topics. Summer Academe will remain our Association publication and grow with additional content, more hits on and quotes from its articles, and wider notoriety.
ADVOCACY. We are identifying ways NAASS can be the 'go to' source of information and advocate for summer sessions. This advocacy will take place within our institutions, before the general public, with policy makers, and with others we see as supporting our mission.
COMMUNICATIONS/INFORMATION. Almost everything we do depends on effective and timely communication between our members and outside our association. We want ways to identify trends, learn what people are saying, understand student needs, and more. Then, we want to have efficient methods in place to present this information to our members.
FINANCES. NAASS members understand the Association's mission can only be achieved when the Association is financially strong. NAASS is in a strong financial position now, and we want to ensure the Association's finances remain strong in the future. We will be identifying various funding sources and continuing to improve our budget and financial control systems.
This will be a strategic ACTION plan when finished and adopted. Its implementation and success will depend on the commitment of our future leaders and volunteers. If you have any thoughts or questions regarding any stage of the planning, please send me an email,
gsimon@ut.edu
. We are engaged in an invigorating process designed to strengthen and propel your Association forward.
Gary Simon, DBA
NAASS President
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Pell Grants for Summer Session Students
CALL TO ACTION
During the second week of June 2016, a U.S. Senate Subcommittee approved the FY 2017 Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill. This bill funds the U.S. Department of Education at $67.8 billion. It restores eligibility for year-round Pell grants.
In addition to restoration of year-round Pell grants, expanded eligibility and flexibility will allow students who have exhausted their Pell grant award for an academic year, and wish to enroll in additional coursework, to receive a Pell grant for an additional term (e.g. summer) during the academic year. The maximum benefit these students may receive during a year is capped at 150 percent of the otherwise maximum Pell grant. Currently, full-time students and some part-time students exhaust their full benefit after two semesters. Expanded eligibility will provide an incentive for students to take classes year-round (e.g. summer) and stay continuously enrolled. It would also help students stay on track for graduation or accelerate completion of their degree program, enter or re-enter the workforce sooner, and graduate with less student debt. This provision is expected to provide an estimated 1 million students an additional Pell grant of, on average, $1,650 during the 2017-18 academic year. In addition, the bill includes more than sufficient funding to support an increase in the maximum Pell grant from $5,815 for the 2016-17 school year, to an estimated $5,935 for the 2017-18 academic year.
Now is the time for NAASS members to take action. The bill must pass the full Senate before reconciliation with the House's bill. Your senator needs to hear from constituents to support this bill! The following are potential actions to take:
- Contact you senator and provide local rational for his/her support.
- Urge parents of college students to ask for support.
- Contact your institution's governmental affairs office to contact the senator to urge support.
- Write op ed articles on social media and other outlets to explain the issue and urge support.
- Encourage senior campus officials to contact the senator to urge support.
- Ask students to contact their 'at home' senator for support.
This is a topic we've discussed for several years. This opportunity looks good and we need to take proactive steps to assure passage of this bill with the language that supports Pell grants.
Bill McClure
Past NAASS President
Executive Director (retired)
Continuing & Professional Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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NAASS 53rd Annual International Conference
November 5 - 9, 2016
Intercontinental Hotel at the Plaza
Kansas City, MO USA
*US CITIZENS plan to vote before the conference, since we'll be in Kansas City on election day.
Call for Proposals - Extended to July 8th
This November over 200 summer session leaders will gather in Kansas City to share ideas, compare notes on the summer just past, and prepare for the future! On behalf of the conference planning team, I encourage you to add your voice to the gathering by submitting a session proposal for our 2016 Annual Conference.
Our theme this year is "Knowledge Collaboration through Creativity." As you are aware, these qualities of collaboration and creativity contribute to making summer programs successful. These principals guide us in our work and will guide us in our conference as well.
We hope you will consider reaching out to peers within your institution or in another institution and submit a proposal that will highlight your contributions in the field.
I look forward to seeing you in Kansas City! We have an exciting program planned for you.
Eli J. Lesser
NAASS vice president and Annual Conference chair
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Position Open at The Pennsylvania State University
Director of the Office for Summer Session at The Pennsylvania State University...(See More)
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NAASS Website Redesign and Transfer
Over the past months, we have been working on revamping the North American Association of Summer Sessions' web presence by changing the content management system used to control both our website and our membership database - the beginning of May saw this site go live.
Please take a moment to view the new website, as well as login and explore the membership areas.
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Affiliates Working Group (AWG)
Co-Chairs: Jessica Madrigal, University of Colorado Boulder and Chris Cofer, Syracuse University
As NAASS moved forward with its charge of strengthening our regions and engaged in identifying prospective members, Regional Vice Presidents quickly realized what a challenge it has become to identify the summer office and staff in some non-member institutions. Regardless of whether institutions have a centralized program or not, summer offices may be housed under Continuing Education units, Registrar's Offices, Enrollment Management, as stand-alone units reporting to an academic dean or provost, etc. Similarly, that NAASS members wear many hats at their home institutions is well known. Among our charges we might find new program development for first year students, winter sessions, online delivery of courses and programs, pre-college and even international programs.
It is also true that summer administrators intersect with many service units on their campuses as they do the business of summer. They might be involved in financial aid processes, admissions, registration, or serve as the academic advisors for students. The role of the summer administrator is complex and intertwined with many campus administrators/groups. How can NAASS best capture professional opportunities for our members? NAASS Affiliates!
In the coming months, NAASS will be reaching out to various non-profit professional organizations to request a formal or informal relationship that will be mutually beneficial. The Affiliates Working Group (AWG) suggests the following AFFILIATES categories:...(See More)
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Purdue Summer Enrollment Largest on Record
Summerize and link to full story!
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University will have the largest enrollment on record for the 2016 summer session.
Blake Nemelka, director of summer session, said 2016 will see a 10 percent increase over the 2015 summer enrollment numbers.
More than 250 incoming freshmen taking classes will be on campus early, 210 more than in 2015.
The increase in freshmen coming early is largely because of the Summer Start Session, a five-week course to give students a head start on their college career, said Jon Harbor, associate vice provost for teaching and learning. In the program, students get familiar with campus, professors, other students and the ins and outs of college living.
"By expanding summer options, students are more likely to graduate on time and have more ways to balance coursework with other exciting learning experiences such as study abroad, internships, research and co-op programs," Harbor said.
Of the 180 freshmen taking the Summer Start Session, 20 percent are underrepresented minorities, 41 percent are first-generation students, and 74 percent are Indiana residents.
The total number of credit hours being taken in Summer 2016 increased by 15 percent.
A survey of 5,000 students also showed that there is a 16 percent increase over last year in those who plan to be employed while they take summer courses. Those who plan to have an internship while taking classes increased six percent over last year.... (See More)
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Winter Session: In-Load or Out-of-Load, That is the Question
Owen Hooper, Assistant Director, Innovative Education, University of South Florida
Winter Session at the University of South Florida began two years ago and is 100% online. The three and a half week session (the half week is due to both Christmas and New Year's holidays) runs from the middle of December through the first week of January. Over the first two years we have seen growth in courses, 5 to 10, and growth in students, 472 to 1058. While we knew we would face logistical obstacles created by running courses during a time the brick and mortar campus is closed, faculty contracts and compensation were not on top of the list.
At USF, Winter Session is treated as part of the spring semester and can benefit students by reducing their traditional spring workload or by giving them the opportunity to take additional courses. On average we see that students that participate in Winter Session take 2.4 more credits than they did over the previous spring.
Much like students, faculty members see Winter Session as providing them with multiple opportunities. As Winter Session is part of the spring semester, courses can be counted in-load, reducing their courses taught during traditional spring, or they can get paid overload. With the faculty at USF being unionized, overload is paid at 12.5% a course and in-load contracts are typically 2&2 or 3&3, in addition to research and/or grad supervision.
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Read a Good Book Lately!
You are
invited to review a book for the 2016 volume of Summer Academe
- If you have read a recent book on higher education that you feel would be of interest to summer session colleagues, please submit a book review to Summer Academe
- July 31, 2016 is the deadline for book reviews for the next issue of Summer Academe
- Book review submission details can be found online at: ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/sa_jhe and click on Submissions
- Feel free to contact Bill Kops, Academic Editor - william.kops@umanitoba.ca with questions or for additional information
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Regional Meetings
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Meetings
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Dates
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Location
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Agenda
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Register Link
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West
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September 26 - 29, 2016
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Santa Cruz, CA
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More Information
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| Middle and Southern |
March 5 - 7, 2017 |
New Orleans, LA |
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| North Central |
March 22 - 24, 2017 |
Hilton Chicago / Magnificent Miles Suites, Chicago, IL
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| Northeastern |
March 14 - 15, 2017 |
Syracuse, NY |
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