Students will have the option of taking a free May Session class again this spring.
“We are planning to roll it out just like we did last year,” said Ohio State Executive Vice President and Provost Joseph Steinmetz.
Last year’s May Session was a result of OSU’s conversion to semesters. The four-week long May Session was combined with a seven-week long Summer Session to comprise Summer Term. OSU offered students up to three free credit hours during May Session to encourage enrollment.
Steinmetz said he’ll be sending a memo to OSU faculty and the community at large in the next few days about the plan for May Session.
“It will say, ‘We are going to do what we did last year.’ It will go forward with the same kind of planning we did last year with the same kind of assumptions,” Steinmetz said. “The same kind of finance scheme, everything.”
Students who enrolled in May Session were still responsible for paying student fees, including Central Ohio Transit Authority and activity fees.
Those who took classes any time during Summer Term were eligible for a refund of up to $81 because student fees had been overcharged due to a problem with the quarter to semester conversion rate. The fee adjustments were issued July 15.
The adjusted fees for Summer 2013 for a full-time student were $25 for student activities, $51 in student union fees, $9 for COTA and $82 for recreation, according to the Office of the University Registrar website.
OSU refunded approximately 19,000 to 20,000 students because of the error.
Some OSU students said they enjoyed taking a class during the term.
“I took an operations lab during the last May Session. It was very cool and worked out,” said Clay Fernholz, a fourth-year in chemical engineering. “I think positively of it because I was able to go back to work after it in the summer. The course load was real intense but it was really packed together. I felt it was like having a full course load in an entire semester.”
Others who didn’t take May Session classes said they’re more likely to participate in the program this year.
“Now that I will live closer to campus in the summer, it is something I would be more interested in. I feel like with freshmen, it’s harder because they would have to live in the dorms during the May Session,” said Grace Hoagland, a second-year in biology. “I think with the quarter to semester change, it makes it easier for students. I probably will look into it because it’s interesting and it’s different.”
Others are going to look into it because it put their friends ahead of schedule.
“I didn’t take part in it last year because I just wanted to go home. I definitely will look into it this year though because it’s a really good opportunity and a lot of my friends took summer classes and took Maymester and now they are going to be able to graduate before me,” said Matt Bogard, a second-year in economics.
Dan Hessler contributed to this story.
