2015ANNUAL REPORT

AS UNIQUE AS YOU ARE!

Summer Sessions2355 Nashville Road Knicely Conference Center 124Bowling Green, KY 42101

Phone: 270.745.2478Email: summer.sessions@wku.edu Web: www.wku.edu/summer

A unit of WKU Extended Learning & Outreach

2015 ANNUAL REPORT

Table of Contents

About WKU Summer Sessions

Summer at a Glance

Summer Highlights

Study Abroad & Study Away

Dual Credit & Study Away Partnership

Student Demographic Profile

Enrollment Trends

Faculty Stipend Data (by college)

The Winter Term Effect & Summer Tuition Rates (in Kentucky)

Marketing Plan

Appendix

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ABOUTSUMMER SESSIONS

MISSION

The Office of Summer Sessions supports the overall mission of Western Kentucky University by providing academic opportunities that benefit both students and faculty. We work to maintain optimal enrollment during summer sessions, as we extend access to lifelong learners. We address students’ emerging needs in order to enhance their success at WKU.

DEFINITIONS

Structured Courses: courses with set meeting times and dates, including C (lecture/lab), L (lecture), and S (seminar) courses, but does not include independent study, thesis, or practicum.

Sections: Courses may have multiple sections offered in the same session, and each section is counted.

Course Enrollment: Registration in course sections. Students will be duplicated in this count.

Head Count: Students registered for more than one course are counted only once during the term.

Term: Within the summer term, there is a May Session (3 to 13 weeks beginning in May), A and B Sessions (3 to 8 weeks beginning in June), and C and D Sessions (3 to 5 weeks long beginning in July).

Full Term: Classes that meet the entire summer term.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks go to institutional Research and Information Technology divisions for supplying the data on enrollments, credit hours, and student counts for this report.

Division of Extended Learning & OutreachDr. Beth Laves, Associate Vice President

WKU Academic OutreachLaura Ricke, Director

Office of Summer Sessions and Winter TermAlicia Bingham, Coordinator2

SUMMERAT A GLANCE

CALENDAR

March 16: Priority Registration beganMay 18: May Session beganJune 8: A Session beganJune 15: B Session beganJuly 6: C Session beganJuly 13: D Session beganAugust 13: Last day of Summer Sessions

TUITION (per credit hour)AND FEE SCHEDULE

UndergraduateResidentNon-Resident

GraduateResidentUS Non-KY ResidentInternational Non-Resident

Tuition Incentive ProgramUndergraduate

Distance LearningUndergraduateGraduate

$381$973

$515$691$962

$506

$463$618

SUMMER HOUSING

The residence hall for 2015 Summer Sessions was Pearce Ford Tower.

Double room occupancy: $120 per weekPrivate room: $180 per week

STUDENT COURSE LOAD

SessionMay, June I, June II, and July II (3 week classes)May, June I and II, July I and II (4, 5, and 6 week classes)May, June I, and June II (7 or 8 week classes)Overall Summer Maxium

Max Hours4

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SUMMERHIGHLIGHTSENROLLMENT

WKU experienced a decrease (1.4%) in fall 2014 enrollment. This was the second year of decrease.As a result of the fall semester decrease, Summer Sessions also experienced a decrease in enrollment. There were 5,912 students that took summer 2015 classes. This was a 1.8% decrease from summer 2014. Course enrollment was 10,515, which was a 0.7% decrease from summer 2014. The student credit hour production was 30,175.50, an increase of 0.33%. The increase in student credit hour production indicates summer students are taking more hours.

SCHOLARSHIP

WKU Summer Sessions sponsored an expanded scholarship program in 2015 to try to offset some of the financial burdens of summer school. The scholarship program was automatically awarded to all undergraduate students at WKU when they registered for 6 or more hours in the summer (not all study abroad). For students with a current GPA of 2.5 to 2.99, the scholarship amount was $200. For students with a current GPA of 3.0 or higher, the scholarship amount was $381, which is equivalent to one hour of Kentucky undergraduate resident rate tuition. There were 396 undergraduate students that received the $200 scholarship, and 596 received the $381 scholarship. The undergraduate trend in summer has remained more consistent than the fall semester student count.

Facts:73% of the students that graduated (last year) in 4 years, took at least one summer or winter class. Of the students that started but did NOT graduate, 66% never took a summer or winter class. Finally, 74% of the students that graduated in 6 years, took at least one summer or winter class.

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STUDY ABROAD & STUDY AWAY

Study Abroad

There were 336 students that studied abroad in summer 2015, an increase of 36% over summer 2014. WKU Faculty-Led Study Abroad programs were offered in Argentina, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad, and Tobago.

Study Away

WKU’s School of Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport (KRS) has partnered with the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach’s (DELO) Study Away office to offer a summer seminar May 17 – 22 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Led by KRS faculty, Dr. Brad Stinnett, Dr. Evie Oregon, and Dr. Fred Gibson, 16 students got a behind-the-scenes look at facility planning, design, and construction processes in professional, intercollegiate, and interscholastic recreation and sport facilities.

“I am really excited about the Indianapolis Sport Facility Symposium. The facility access and interaction with high-level industry professionals will benefit our students tremendously,” Stinnett said.

Throughout the six days in Indianapolis, the students, faculty, and staff toured the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium, NCAA Headquarters and Hall of Champions, Butler University, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Victory Field, IUPUI, and much more.

Stinnett said the learning experience afforded to the students through the course would not only enhance their resumes as they seek employment upon completion of their degrees, but would also provide a crucial professional network for their future career paths.

“I’m ecstatic that the School of KRS continues to support this great opportunity for our students,” Oregon said. “Experiences like this enhance networks and leave an everlasting impact on our students’ lives and really put our program on the map.”

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DUAL CREDIT & STUDY AWAY PARTNERSHIP

Fifteen Kentucky high school students recently gained college credit and studied in New York City through a partnership between Dual Credit, Study Away, and WKU’s Theatre & Dance and Economics Departments. Students took one of two online courses, including Thea 151 – Theatre Appreciation or Econ 150 – Intro to Economics. They took three weeks of online coursework and then traveled with their instructors and Dual Credit staff to New York City, where they completed the fourth week of their classes.

“My experience in New York was an overall 10 out of 10,” said one student. “It was one of the best weeks of my life with some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met. I will never forget this once in a lifetime trip.”

Students gained course-related experience, attended Broadway shows, and visited the Federal Reserve. They also toured Chinatown, Little Italy, Freedom Tower, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Central Park, and attended a New York Yankees game.

WKU Dual Credit collaborated with Study Away and faculty from the Theatre and Economics departments to develop the courses and provide students with this experience.

Dewayne Neeley, Dual Credit program manager, said that the program allowed students to fully immerse themselves in their studies. “The week in New York City was incredible, and the students were great. They were fun and flexible – they completely engaged in the whole experience,” said Neeley.

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SUMMER 2015STUDENT DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

GENDER DEMOGRAPHICS

AGE DEMOGRAPHICS

ETHNICITY DEMOGRAPHICS

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ENROLLMENT TRENDSData was collected 7/31/15 from ASA Report STU SEC ENROLL – Student Course/Hour count by Level/Coll/Dept.

Graduate enrollment continues to account for approximately 30% of the entire summer course enrollment.

The data on the right represents course enrollment from the first date of each summer session. In 2015, May Session began May 18, A Session began June 8, B Session began June 15, C Session began July 6, and D Session began July 13.

May Session grew 4% from 2014 to 2015. Other parts of term that grew this summer were the 5 weeksession in the second part of June, and the 3 week session in the second part of July.

The most popular parts of term in summer 2015 were as follows: 13 week May session, 5 week D Session (July II), 4 week A Session (June I), and 3 week May Session.

ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY COURSE ENROLLMENT

WKU Summer Sessions offers convenient classes to fit almost any student’s schedule. This chart demonstrates the enrollment trend in the alternative delivery methods. The online course enrollment data here excludes Independent Learning courses. Evening, weekend, and IVS data exclude WKU Regional campus enrollment.

COURSE ENROLLMENT

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SUMMER STUDENT TYPE HEAD COUNT COMPARISON

Data collected from ASA Report: CPE Enrollment Summary on 8/2/13, 8/1/14, and 7/31/15. Undergrad other encompasses Post-Baccalaureate, Non Degree Seeking, High School, and Gatton Academy students.

STUDENT TYPE IN DETAIL

Although student head count decreased from 2014, student credit hour production actually increased. This is important to note. Although there are fewer students, they are taking more hours. Targeted marketing, scholarship opportunities, and course offerings contributed to the increase in credit hour production. The Dual Credit program offered online classes again thissummer, increasing the number of high school students.

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ENROLLMENT TRENDS(continued)

COURSE FREQUENCY

ENROLLMENT BY COLLEGE

“Open Sections” may have zero enrollment. This data includes all campuses, study abroad, independent learning, and cohort courses.

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Data was collected 8/2/13, 8/1/14, and 7/31/15. The data comes from ASA Report: CRS SEC ENROLL by College.

FACULTY STIPENDDATA BY COLLEGE

Full-time faculty stipend rates remained the same in 2015 as they have been for the previous five summers. The stipend for full-time faculty was $1,500 per credit hour.

Part-time faculty rates also remained the same. Part-time faculty made the following for a 3 credit hour course:

• Level I: $1,692• Level II: $1,840• Level III: $2,136• Level IV: $2,280

In Summer 2015, there were 349 paid full-time faculty and 63 paid part-time faculty.

Summer 2015 was the fourth summer in which an enrollment based stipend schedule was utilized. Each college came up with their own guidelines for low-enrolled classes. Departments with good stipend efficiency were awarded through summer distribution dollars.

For courses with high enrollment, an incentive was paid to the instructor: $200 per credit for 31 or more students.

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THE WINTER TERM EFFECT& SUMMER TUITION RATES IN KY

THE WINTER TERM EFFECT

Many students are taking both summer and winter courses in order to graduate sooner. In fact, 42% of the winter 2015 students enrolled in a class this summer.

Institutional Research confirmed that 73% of students whograduated from WKU in 4 years, took at least one summer or winter term course.

SUMMER TUITION RATES IN KENTUCKY

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MARKETING PLANWKU SUMMER SESSIONS 2015

Tactics Included:

• Summer registration rallies in Bowling Green, Glasgow, and Elizabethtown with giveaways• Print and online Herald ads• Posters for all WKU campuses• Mass email messages and direct mail postcards• WKU campus monitor advertising• Social media posts to engage current students

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APPENDIX

Summer Sessions Weekly Progress Report

Summer Special Instructional Assignment Form

eSignature Correction Form

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© 2015 Western Kentucky University. Printing paid from state funds, KRS 57.375 . WKU is a regionally accredited university. Western Kentucky University is an equal opportunity institution of higher

education and upon request provides reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. www.wku.edu/eoo

SEPTEMBER 2015WKU.EDU/SUMMER 270-745-2478