With the announcement that summer classes at Washington University will be fully online, course offerings and academic resources are being updated to suit the remote learning environment.

Photo by Grace Bruton

Tuition will remain the same, and summer courses are expected to be of the same difficulty as they would be in-person.

“One thing for students to keep in mind is that summer classes are intensive, in any format. They run in increments of three, five, or eight weeks rather than in a more expansive fifteen-week schedule,” Summer School Director Beth Landers wrote in a statement to Student Life.

With many other universities nationwide making the switch to remote summer learning, Washington University will accept online courses for credit from other universities. However, the flexible policies of the spring semester are being reconsidered for the summer courses.

“As of now Arts & Sciences is planning on moving back to more normal policies regarding pass/fail, etc. for summer classes,” College of Arts & Sciences Dean Jennifer Smith wrote in a statement to Student Life.

The early decision to transition to remote learning for summer courses has given University professors more time to incorporate online learning tools. Instructors will be trained to teach online in a three-week program.

“Our hope is that this lead time and pedagogical support will allow instructors to set up their summer courses in ways that maximize learning in a remote environment,” Landers wrote.

Some of the hiccups of the abrupt transition to remote learning for the Spring semester might be minimized by this process.

Different courses are adapting to the new environment in different ways. Organic Chemistry, a popular summer course with rising sophomores, will offer the associated lab course in the Spring semester. Students can reach out to individual instructors to find out more information about their course of interest.

Academic resource centers are creating summer operations, and students will have more information by early May.

“[Students] may have originally had other plans for summer, but we hope that remote classes will be a fruitful plan B for everyone!” Landers wrote.