UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With summer course registration opening up on Feb. 5, the new website for the Office for Summer Session will help students find information to get an edge and get involved during Maymester and Summer Sessions I and II.
The summersession.psu.edu redesign, which went live on Jan. 8, is more user-friendly and will help students easily search for things like LEAP Prides, according to Kelly Griffith, director of the Office for Summer Session.
The Learning Edge Academic Program is aimed at first-year students at University Park. Each student is able to choose a LEAP Pride that links two courses together. Each pride is assigned an upper-level peer mentor.
“I think it will especially be user-friendly for incoming students who are exploring the LEAP program because it will provide them with an easier way to find LEAP Prides that will be of interest to them,” Griffith said.
Incoming first-year students will be able to search for LEAP Prides based on different factors, such as college, area of general education, course pairing, and more.
Beyond LEAP, the site is also organized by audience so students can quickly and easily find information that best suits them from the more-than 400 course offerings during the three summer sessions, as well as information on the Student Transitional Experiences Program (STEP) — a program for students making the junior-year transition to University Park from another Penn State campus.
The new site is divided up for first-year, current and visiting students. The latter of these includes U.S. students looking to take summer courses at Penn State, as well as visiting international students.
Students can also opt to take summer courses online.
Course registration for all three sessions opens on Feb. 5, with the opening of LEAP registration to follow on Feb. 20.
Griffith touted the benefits of taking courses in the summer, and said it has different appeal for different students.
“For first-year students, I think it allows them to transition to University Park in a smaller environment, to know their way around, to make some connections with faculty, to form some friendships, to learn just generally how to get around campus — the resources that are available to them so they can really hit the ground running in the fall,” she said.
“For current students, I think it's still a great time where it's a little bit quieter. They can focus their energy on specific classes, they can explore things that they have an interest in. It allows them to potentially free up time in their schedule in the fall or spring to do different things or to study abroad. If they've fallen behind in some way, they can take courses to get back on track to an on-time graduation.”
The Office for Summer Session is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education, the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State. Learn more about Undergraduate Education at undergrad.psu.edu.