Semester Online adds international courses, mixed student interest

| Contributing Reporter

Students no longer need to study abroad to benefit from the unique offerings of schools far from the landlocked state of Missouri.

Semester Online, the new program offering Washington University students for-credit online classes, announced that the first international schools have been added to the program’s offerings, featuring two new classes taught by professors at Trinity College Dublin and University of Melbourne, Australia.

Former Provost Edward Macias, one of the program’s founders and now the president of the Semester Online consortium, feels that the addition of these new schools will enhance the University’s relationship with institutions abroad but is concerned that students are not aware of the program’s existence.

“The idea [of Semester Online] would be to provide courses to enhance Washington University students’ curriculums…I just hope that students know about it and find it possible to get the information they need. It’s so new that I hope they understand how to find it and what it’s all about,” Macias said.

The program is currently in week 12 of its pilot semester, with more than 100 students enrolled in classes. The upcoming spring semester will expand the number of available courses from 10 to 21.

Andrew Hermalyn, executive vice president and general manager for Semester Online, said he has high hopes for the program’s future.

“Over time, my hope is that the course catalogue continues to grow to a few hundred courses spanning a variety of different subject areas to lend itself to the different types of students that we hope to see in the program,” he said.

Hermalyn suggested that students who want to take a full course load while away from campus or who would like to take a class not offered at the University might benefit from Semester Online. He also expressed excitement about the addition of the two international schools.

“Adding Trinity College Dublin and University of Melbourne…is giving students all over the world the ability to take courses from a top international school without actually going there, which is an incredible opportunity,” he said. “Students really around the globe are going to benefit from these great professors at these international schools. It really is an extension of the experience students have while in school.”

As far as further growth of Semester Online, Hermalyn believes that the major additions will be in course expansion rather than bringing in more partner schools. He also noted that while the program aims to bring in more students, class sizes will remain small in order to maintain the quality and rigor of the experience. He shared similar sentiments to Macias about the name recognition of Semester Online but felt that it should not be a problem.

“We’re going to be doing a lot over the course of the year to get the name of Semester Online out there to make sure that students know that it is now an option for students to do this,” Hermalyn said.

While the heads of Semester Online are hopeful about students joining the program, not all students are interested.

“With all the good classes at Wash. U., I don’t see a need to take any classes online,” freshman Ariel Lowenstein said.

But some Wash. U. students said they would consider trying out the program.

“I think it would be interesting to not go out of my way to go halfway across campus to get to a class, and I could just sit down at my computer and watch a course. I think it would be very nice for people who have tight schedules, and one class is here and the other is halfway across campus with only 10 minutes in between,” freshman Harrison Schmidt said.

Junior Tony Wang also said he would consider online classes as supplemental courses rather than for his major requirements.

“I think if I had a class that I was just taking as an elective, like something not for my major, and I could watch the classes any time, I would have more free time, and I think that would be useful,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it for anything that’s really important or related to my major, though; I really value the classroom experience.”

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