This week marks the one-month anniversary of the end of the school year. It's been a full four weeks since the 2005 graduation, and University students are well into their long-awaited summer vacations.It turns out, however, that a school-free summer isn't always the vacation some students anticipated it to be.
"I guess I'm so used to having a schedule and working all the time. I can't stand lounging around for too long," fourth-year College student Jen Marshall said.
"I've been sleeping in so late because there's nothing else I need to do," she added.
Suddenly, the thought of taking summer classes becomes much more appealing than it did in sunny mid May. Why not? Knock out a few credits, add structure to those long summer days and come back to college early! Let's face it, some students living at home this summer are probably climbing the walls at this point.
Although some Wahoos choose to return to Grounds for summer schooling, Bio-Chemistry professor Reginald Garrett sees a downside to taking particular classes during summer session.
"I wouldn't recommend a student to take courses in the summer that are crucial to their intellectual development," Garrett said. "Typically, students won't retain as much, nor will they receive as good of an education [as is] offered in the fall or spring."
English professor Victor Cabas, on the other hand, encourages students to spend some of their summers in Charlottesville.
"Charlottesville is so nice in the summer," Cabas said. "Any young person should have enough imagination to raise a little hell in this town."
Besides being able to soak up summertime C-ville, students who return to Grounds in June often enjoy smaller, more intimate classes. At a school where lectures can reach a capacity of 500 students, some are left craving more individual attention from professors. It's easier for students to interact with professors one-on-one when the University population thins out in May.
"Small classes are harder because you can't get away with not doing your work," fourth-year College student Sharon Capehart said. "But the learning is facilitated when you receive attention from professors."
Some instructors also find the small size of summer classes preferable to large lectures.
"Professional academia can be a sad place, very business-like and boring," Cabas said. "I like teaching students in the summer, particularly undergraduates, because most of them are looking for inspiration about a subject they love. They can get inspired in a smaller classroom setting."
He added, however, that he "might be the only professor who likes teaching in the summer. Well, maybe along with Stephen Railton."
Maybe not. Cabas might have spoken too soon regarding Railton.
"This summer, for the first time in years, I'm not in the category of 'professors who teach summer courses,'" Railton said. "With luck, I won't be next summer either."
Railton is one of a number of professors who finds summer school exasperating. The long hours associated with teaching summer courses are a principle reason some professors feel this way.
"Summer courses can be grueling for professors," Garrett said. "I've been teaching Bio-Chem for so long that I know it like the back of my hand, but summer course preparation for younger professors is very hard on them."
This time commitment becomes particularly problematic when it conflicts with professors' research interests. With 25 research centers in the University's Health System alone, research opportunities attract numerous professors to the University. The summer can be an ideal time for faculty to engage in more personal academic pursuits.
"It's safe to say that many professors would prefer to spend their summers researching rather than teaching," Architecture professor Peter Waldman said.
Garrett, who would like to revise a Bio-Chemistry textbook this summer, is struggling to find the balance between course preparation and research.
"It's difficult to juggle the two," Garrett said. "Especially with classes lasting as long as they do every day."
Like Garrett, Waldman also struggles with a loaded summer schedule. During the summer terms, Waldman teaches notoriously difficult architecture courses in both the morning and evening.
He manages to squeeze in some of his outside work by incorporating it into his teaching. Waldman said that when he receives architectural commissions that have fundamental problems in the design, he discusses the issues with his students and encourages them to propose possible solutions.
Waldman is optimistic about tackling his summer schedule, but admitted some frustrations.
"In architecture, longer classes do have their benefits," Waldman said. "The students progress quickly, but it's definitely hard on professors. Life, laundry, your kids, the dog -- it's a lot to keep up with."
Waldman helps keep stress in check by remembering to pace himself.
"Professors often want to teach their students everything they know in the span of one course," Waldman said. "I often have to remind myself that this is just one term, and that my students don't have to learn everything on the subject in three or four weeks. Digest time is important, too."
Despite the fact that some professors express negative opinions when it comes to summer courses, students enrolled in the Summer 2005 term can rest assured that the University's departments do their best to ensure that summer education is the highest quality that it can be.
"The Architecture department puts careful consideration and planning into the Summer Course Offering Directory," Waldman said. "It especially has over the past year and a half."
The Biology department takes a different approach, but that's not to say that its summer courses are less valuable.
"The Biology department pretty much lets professors teach whatever they want during the summer," Cabas said. "But that's not to say that the department doesn't care. It probably improves the courses a bit because the professors are teaching what they love."
Therefore, the problem with summer classes is not related to laziness -- at least not on the part of the professors. (Cabas has observed that students, on the other hand, seem geared more towards sloth than studying in the summer.)
Despite the fact that some well-seasoned professors have indicated that a student's education can suffer in the summer because there's simply not enough time in the term, Cabas sees hope for the summer student.
"But there are always exceptions," Cabas said. "For students who really want to learn, they can take a difficult summer course, do well, and retain the information."
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