Summer School 2020 goes digital and domestic
26 June 2020The students from this year’s summer school learn about crisis management or negotiation mastery - live from their own living rooms.
BI recently kicked off the annual summer school programme. Special for this year is that the course is digital, domestic, and offers two courses solely at the MSc level.
Due to the worldwide mobility restrictions caused by the corona virus, summer school 2020 is wholly populated by BI students. Last year, 60 BI students were enrolled in a summer course, whereas this year 70 students are enrolled in Crisis Management and 30 are enrolled in Negotiation Mastery – with roughly 140 and 40 applicants respectively.
"This upward trend indicates that BI students are increasingly more interested in summer school, especially when they have different types of course offerings to choose from. It is important for me that the summer school grows to assist BI in reaching our strategic goals and identify opportunities to increase the quality of the student experience", says Yanique Fletcher, head of summer school and lecturer from the Department of Communication.
Summer school offer flexibility
The world is changing and students are looking for flexibility in their course scheduling, which this year’s digital offering accounts for. Students are enthusiastic and drawn to the short intense course format, at a time of the year when most can dedicate their full attention to the courses.
"A wonderful thing about summer school is that the energy is upbeat and energetic. Summer school attracts professors who are passionate about teaching. And, this year we were also able to leverage the current realities of Covid-19 and place it front and centre in the classroom", says Fletcher.
The possibility that the students can take courses over the summer increases students’ ability to take control over their own schedules, freeing up time during the fall and spring semesters. This enables them to focus more deeply on their remaining classes, unofficial internships, and jobs, or make time for their family and friends. The summer school also provides BI students that depend on these course credits the opportunity to graduate on time.