Update on Upcoming Summer Semester

By Hannah Finley Last updated Apr 2, 2021

St. Lawrence University implements a 3-semester program to accommodate students during COVID time. Image Credit: Elizabeth Bascom '23.

As the spring semester comes to a close, students are looking to the upcoming summer semester. The summer semester is named “Term 3” and offers an option for students to complete the academic year in the summer.

This past school year has been difficult for some students since they had to adjust to remote learning. One student, Serena Wells class of 2022, stated that remote learning is isolating. “ I honestly don’t think I could do another year of learning like this,” she said.

Completing classes online might pose challenges for the summer term as well, but for students on campus it might be easier. “While remote learning wasn’t ideal and I would have loved to be in a physical classroom, the atmosphere of campus and the ability to study in the library made the experience feel as normal as a regular semester,” stated Morgan Montminy, class of 2022.

The summer term is tentatively planned to happen from May 3 to July 9.

One challenge that may present itself in the summer term is the availability of courses to take. However, the nice weather might provide more opportunities for hybrid learning. “I hope to have some outside classes during the summer because of the weather but also because some professors realize that they might need to switch up how they are doing remote learning a little bit,” Wells said. “ I think this type of learning will allow for people to enjoy the warm weather in upstate NY as well as get an in person learning experience that we have been craving over a year now,” stated Montminy.

According to Academic Planning and Registration, there are about 117 courses currently being offered in person or as a hybrid course.

Students also believe that the courses that are being offered to students are limited compared to past semesters. Although there will be less students on campus taking courses during the summer term, this is still disappointing for students. “With the way the school really pushed for students to do the summer semester I was expecting there to be better options and a wider variety than what we got,” explained Wells. Wells also stated that since the term is condensed, her schedule seems “kind of crazy.”

Montminy feels that the courses being offered were difficult to organize her schedule around. “Many classes were around the same time and there was a very limited selection for the 2nd set of 5 week classes,” Montminy said. “Thankfully, I was able to choose a schedule I am excited about, but, the wider selection of classes would have made the process easier.”

The class of 2022 President, Lauren Arthaud, sent an email on Feb. 23 to students regarding the summer term and opportunities available. In this email Arthaud highlighted what the summer semester will look like according to staff in Residence Life and Student life. Students in the summer term will live in either Rebert, Lee, or Whitman according to this email.

Despite the disappointing news of not being able to live in other dorms, Residence Life is working on creating a committee to make safe adjustments to the Laurentian Pact. Additionally, given that there will only be about 504 students on campus, Residence Life believes that students will not be packed into the dorms, according to the email sent by Arthaud.

Wells is looking forward to the summer term dorms, “and even looking forward to hopefully living in Lee again. I’m especially looking forward to seeing canton and campus when the weather is nicer and not in the middle of winter.” For other students, they are curious about all the hype of SLU in the summer. “Many professors I have spoken to have shared their experiences of Canton in the summer and have said it is a completely different experience than a regular academic year, so that makes me excited,” said Montminy.