Matt Reed

I’m going to ask my readers for a favor. I’ve written before about my experience with women’s and gender studies courses in college and grad school. The short version is that they proved useless in getting jobs, but incredibly helpful in doing jobs. They forced me to look at things from other points of view and to consider how an idea or practice can look very different depending on your social location. That’s useful in administration.

The debates around the term “noncredit” for courses that don’t carry academic credit isn’t likely to end any time soon. The folks responsible for noncredit offerings often object, rightly, that the term “noncredit” defines the courses by what they are not.

I miss students. I don’t mean “enrollment”—our summer enrollment is up. I mean students. Most of our summer classes are online, reflecting student demand. That means there aren’t many students on campus in the summer, despite increased enrollment. They’re at home, or at work, or wherever, taking classes virtually. There are exceptions, such as some allied health programs, but most of our summer enrollments are online. I can’t begrudge students making the best choices for themselves.