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Whether we choose change or it chooses us, Summer Sessions, Off Campus Studies, and Extension exist to offer educational programs that, in one way or another, help students better adapt to the anticipated and unexpected changes of life. Each unit provides age-appropriate tools and learning experiences designed to help its students navigate successfully through life’s genetically pre-programmed stages, as well as cope with the less predictable events that arise unexpectedly, even when a particular part of the life journey might seem to be deceptively smooth.
In addition to providing approximately 750 courses during the 2008 summer term, Summer Sessions administers several special credit-bearing academic programs to help students make successful adaptations to life changes. For example, Summer Sessions maintained its half-century long tradition of offering several different Pre-College programming choices for high school students, including an Early Start Program (in which students select two courses from the summer term undergraduate curriculum); an Academic and Enrichment option (in which students enroll in one undergraduate course and take an additional non-college credit Extension enrichment class); and a Research Mentorship option (in which students enroll in classes and also pursue research mentored by UC faculty and their post-doctoral and graduate student colleagues). These Pre-College Programs facilitated successful transitions from high school to the university.
Summer Sessions also administers two special programs for first year undergraduates new to the campus. The Freshman Summer Start and Transitions Programs aided 350 freshman and an additional 300 transfer students, respectively, to make successful academic and social transitions to the university as they began their university-level studies after high school or two years of community college work. Summer Sessions’ three Travel Study Programs in Athens/Paros Greece; Queretaro, Mexico; and Ephesus, Turkey provided undergraduate students with a range of academic experiences that helped them grapple with the increasing complexities of a multicultural world. Finally, Summer Sessions administered two full language immersion, residential Summer Language Institutes that permitted students, most of whom were elementary or secondary school language teachers, to increase their teaching competencies as they earned M.A. degrees in Spanish or French while enrolling in three consecutive, 6-week long summer terms of intensive course work.
Off Campus Studies provides educational opportunities for “non-traditional” young and older adults, returning adult students, and students in career transition. For example, its learning center in Ventura offered part-time degree programs in seven different majors to meet the needs of working adult “re-entry” students, many of whom wanted to resume their education after raising a family. Off Campus studies has compiled a successful 35-year track record of providing older students with a UC quality education while they try to balance their educational objectives with careers (usually full-time) and/or family or other obligations.
The average person changes jobs three to four times in their lifetime, and, in today’s fast–moving world, few are immune to sudden job loss. Extension offers courses and academic programs that prepare for the possibility of job change. It has also developed a rich portfolio of courses, seminars, conferences, and certificate programs to meet the needs of those professionals who want to advance their careers, or remain competitive by keeping pace with rapid changes in the work and market place. Through its University Immersion Program, Extension meets the educational needs of international students who sought to study and learn along side U.S. students. By so doing, students are able to experience the vibrant life of an American university community of faculty, staff, and students and, at the same time, to bring a rich global perspective to our campus classrooms, laboratories, and studios. Finally, Extension’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)provides a broad array of academic courses and other educational activities to respond to the needs of working as well as retired lifelong learners interested in personal enrichment. This grant-supported “university of the mind” emphasizes learning for its own sake, and community members are able to experience the joy and personal fulfillment that comes from staying actively engaged in the lively lifelong pursuits of the mind.
The educational programs of Summer Sessions, Off Campus Studies, and Extension play important roles in helping people transition from where they are to where they want to be. While these programs value the past, they encourage students to prepare for the future by replacing obsolete concepts, expectations, and behaviors with the kinds of knowledge and skills needed for tomorrow’s emerging global community. By helping their students examine who they are and what they think, feel, and believe about themselves and others, powerful transformations are possible and effective decisions can follow as individuals define and pursue what they truly want in their lives.
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