By Ana Ruiz Brictson | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Summer of Discovery will be returning for its third summer in a row, offering discounted prices for students who wish to get ahead or catch up with credit hours during vacation time.
According to Carroll Crowson, associate director of the Center for Academic Success & Engagement (CASE), Summer of Discovery began in the summer of 2020. While Baylor has offered discounts in the past, she said Summer of Discovery offers more online courses and a greater discount compared to years before it existed.
“This upcoming summer of 2022, we definitely will have in-person classes, but also we will have a good robust offering of online courses, which can be valuable to students based on their particular plans for the summer,” Crowson said.
Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 undergraduate students have participated in Summer of Discovery.
This year, Summer of Discovery will be offering two summer terms: a minimester and a full summer term.
With classes beginning on May 16, the minimester will last three weeks. Both the summer one and summer two terms will last five weeks, and the full summer term will last 10 weeks.
Crowson said the benefits of Summer of Discovery depend on the student. She said some classes will be going through content more quickly than others.
“Each student needs to make an individual choice, based on personal capacity,” Crowson said. “These summer courses are more intense and move more quickly because they have shorter timelines.”
Additionally, Crowson said she would encourage students interested in taking classes during the summer to speak with their academic advisers, as they are the experts in making sure the courses a student selects will be the best fit for them.
Austin sophomore Olivia Catazaro said she has taken a summer course at Baylor in the past.
“I liked it because it was easier for me, so I could get it out of the way,” Catazaro said. “Because I took 17 hours like the first semester, I needed to take that over the summer so I wasn’t taking over 18 hours.”
Currently, the more hours a student chooses to take with Summer of Discovery, the more money they save per semester hour. If a student chooses to take a minimum of six hours, they will be saving up to $700 per semester hour. If they choose to take seven to nine hours, they will save $1,000 per semester hour. If they choose to take more than 10 hours, they will save $1,300 per semester hour.
Additionally, Crowson said her team is working to develop a Canvas seminar that will offer academic and study support for current students. It will also have information for incoming students so they can participate in Summer of Discovery.
“This is just something we want to know — what will help students the most — and so any feedback about that is always well received,” Crowson said.
