Summer Course Planning

Owned by Hannah Hein
Last updated: Apr 28, 2022
3 min read

Downloadable Summer Course Planning (Word Doc)

Summer Course Planning Guidelines

Summer courses in VPA are offered through University College, which operates as a service center. Courses are normally offered in multiple formats (main campus, off-campus, and online) and in one of four different sessions:

  • Maymester (first two weeks after Commencement)
  • Summer Session I (six weeks late-May to early July)
  • Summer Session II (six weeks early-July to mid-August)
  • Flexible Format (varying number of weeks running across SSI and SSII)

The process for identifying courses to be offered works as follows:

  • University College representative (Senior Program Administrator Maria Borte) reaches out to VPA Senior Associate Dean and VPA Budget Director during the middle of the fall semester to meet and begin the planning process. This first meeting is typically to review offerings and enrollments from the previous year and to confirm if there will be any changes to the normal process for selection of summer course offerings.
  • Senior associate dean solicits potential course offerings from VPA chairs/directors for the various summer sessions, and puts list of those courses together to be shared with all of the chairs/directors and placed on the agenda for discussion at the next available VPA Academic Council meeting. Faculty interested in teaching a summer course complete the Summer Course Proposal form and submit it to their chair/director for consideration.
  • Potential course offerings are discussed at Academic Council, with an eye toward offering the best mix of summer courses, avoiding too much competition for the same student populations, and generating potential interest from non-VPA students. One goal is to offer the somewhat limited menu of courses to avoid having too many classes cancelled due to low enrollment.
  • Once list of courses has been culled, the list is shared with University College administrator and VPA chairs/directors to map out schedule of course offerings, consulting with our office and VPA Budget Office as needed.
  • VPA Senior Associate Dean and VPA Budget Director confer periodically during the summer registration process to determine if any courses need to be cancelled due to low enrollment. Budget Director calculates financial break-even point for courses in question, and senior associate dean informs faculty member (copying chair/director and UC Senior Program Administrator) when a course is to be cancelled.
  • VPA Academic Affairs writes summer appointment letters for faculty members.
  • At the conclusion of all summer sessions, a review of enrollments, procedures, faculty summer pay rates, etc. should take place and results shared with the dean and other relevant parties.

Where appropriate, the College encourages faculty members to offer a select group of summer course offerings at U.S.-based locales where the College has or desires to establish a presence and provide value-added experiences for our students (e.g., New York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC). 

While the combination of tuition revenue and student course fees are used to cover faculty lodging and travel, faculty members are not compensated for other incidental expenses. Typically the faculty member must engage in a significant effort to identify and arrange for field trips and other learning experiences, and must recruit students to register for the course.   

Budget Information

Each summer course offering will be evaluated to ensure the course is fiscally sustainable; including a review of course enrollments and related tuition revenue, financial aid, salary, operating expenses and indirect cost assessments.

This policy outlines how full-time faculty compensation will work in VPA. 

Summer Compensation

Based on careful consideration, we have established the following stipend-based system for summer salaries, based on faculty rank:

  • Assistant Professor $5,100 ($1,700 per credit)
  • Associate Professor$5,700  ($1,900 per credit)
  • Full Professor $6,300  ($2,100 per credit)
  • Professor of Practice $5,100 ($1,700 per credit)
  • NTT Faculty $5,100 ($1,700 per credit)