Accessible Transcript: In-depth student and faculty perspectives on 
summer session

Anne Van Arsdall, CSU Summer director and narrator: "CSU summer session courses are available 
in terms of four, eight, and 12-week terms and terms of varying lengths. The condensed terms allow 
focus on few courses which Reports from Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness show that 
students who take summer courses tend to persist and graduate at higher rates, especially students 
seeking to improve their GPA or who struggled during their first academic year. On behalf of the 
Colorado State University community in Fort Collins, Colorado, I'd like to invite you to study with us 
during summer session."
"CSU is one of the top research universities in the county set in one of the best college towns in 
America. As Colorado's land-grant institution, we are committed to access and academic 
excellence."

Dr. Anne Marie Merline, master instructor, Honors Program: "My favorite aspect about the summer 
session is that it is summer in Fort Collins."

Dr. Patrick Byrne, professor, Soil and Crop Sciences: "Fort Collins is wonderful in the summer. It 
slows down a little bit from the regular school year and there are myriad activities."

Dr. Sarah Badding, instructor, Richardson Design Center: "I love CSU in the summer. It's my favorite 
time of year. That's why I love to teach in the summer. We're a Tree City USA campus and so our 
landscaping and our grounds are beautiful and it's a way to enjoy the university when it's a little bit 
more quiet. I also love the cadence of the class. It runs faster, and in my opinion, that mimics more 
what a professional environment would be like."

Anne Van Arsdall: "Summer classes are offered in the classroom and research facilities on campus, 
as field experiences or internships, and at the CSU Mountain Campus or through Education 
Abroad. Online courses are also available, so learning with CSU can take place anywhere."

Mila, Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology student: "The first class that I took on summer 
session was called NR220, which was collecting data on natural resources, which was up at the 
Mountain Campus, so I lived there for a month. And it was super immersive - we did school all day 
and most of our schoolwork outside, which was really fun and perfect for the summer."

CSU Mountain Campus professors: "The best part of getting to teach Colorado's environmental 
history at our Mountain Campus was really being able to immerse students in the very places that 
we were learning about."

Dr. Patrick Byrne, professor, Soil and Crop Sciences: "If you can get some type of practical 
experience that complements the subject that you're studying, so much the better. The 
complementarity between actual hands-on experience and what you would learn in a classroom I 
think is really powerful."

Matt Camper, master instructor and assistant dean, College of Agricultural Sciences: "You can 
condense information because of a four-week session or an eight-week session, and so it allows us 
to condense and change up the information. And plus, for me, the bugs are out in the summer, so I 
can get them outside."

Dr. Anne Marie Merline, master instructor, Honors Program: "So, we usually are in a really small 
room, and we all sit in a circle, and we really can have these great, intimate conversations about the 
topic at hand. And that really allows us to connect and to have great seminar discussions."

Dr. Courtney Ngai, associate director, Office for Undergraduate Research and Artistry (OURAS), with 
Jenniffer Riley, program coordinator: "So, OURA has a number of resources available for students to 
help them connect with research experiences during the summer and also beyond. We also work 
with students to help them find faculty and researchers at CSU who hopefully can provide them 
with summer opportunities because that is traditionally one of the best times to engage in 
research, and when you have more time, and you can really dig deep into a research project."

Dr. Emily Hardegree-Ullman, associate professor, Physics: "There's a lot less of me talking at 
students and a whole lot more of them learning by doing activities. In the summer session, like, 
everyone's there in it together, and I get to sort of bebop around between the students."
Harrison and Livia, Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science students: "I think the biggest 
difference is like, kind of the flexibility with your schedules. Like you can take four-week classes, 
and you can take them in the beginning of the summer or the end of the summer, the middle. And 
then you have like eight-week classes or 12-week classes and so it's kind of nice to have that 
flexibility."

Virginia and Joey, College of Agriculture Sciences students: "It's not like it'll take it away, your 
summer away - you'll still have your summer. It's a lot more relaxed - I would say way more relaxed 
than what you just came out of spring semester which is usually very hectic."

Malaysia, Political Science student: "The four-week session was the leadership course that I took. I 
thought summer was going to be overwhelming considering I had a long school year, but it wasn't 
as overwhelming as I thought it was going to be."

Jonathan, Biomedical Sciences student: "And it was the only thing that we had to focus on, too. Just 
this class. So, we can really hone in on just this subject."

Erik, Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience student: "And having multiple different things to use -- we 
had the VR, we had the cadavers, and we had lecture as well. And we're getting all this information 
about the same topic in all these different, you know, these different ways. So, you can kind of 
connect it in a lot of different ways."

Kenny Ivie Jr., senior anatomy instructor and Human Anatomy outreach coordinator, "It is double 
the pace, but a lot of times, it's the only thing that students are actually focused on. If I help you 
understand something, you get an aha moment; I get an aha moment of being able to help you with 
that."

Anne Van Arsdall: "Institutional research tells us that students do better when they take summer 
courses. Their term grade point averages tend to be higher than fall and spring semesters and 
graduation rates are also higher. Students can take advantage of summer session to get caught up 
on credits or even get ahead and graduate earlier."

McKenna, College of Business student, "This past year I found out that through the CSU summer 
session, because of that, I was able to graduate a lot earlier than expected. So, because of the CSU 
summer session, I can now graduate a whole year early."
Tristan, incoming CSU student: "It also gives you like a, a jump on your degree. If you're trying to 
like, graduate early, taking summer courses is definitely a way that you can help get some of those 
credits."

Yasmin, incoming CSU student: "Yeah, I just like making those connections with new people... 
creating those memories."

Ben, Journalism and Media Communications student: "I picked up a second major my sophomore 
year of college. And I think that summer classes have helped me graduate on time through a four-
year program, which I really wanted."

Carli, Health and Exercise Science student with and American Sign Language (ASL) minor: 
"Sophomore year I added a minor of ASL (American Sign Language). Because I added the minor, I 
decided that I needed to take summer classes because I wanted to graduate in four years and walk 
with my friends and be able to graduate and celebrate with them."

Learn more at SUMMER.COLOSTATE.EDU. We look forward to seeing you in the summer!

CSU SUMMER SESSION
EXPLORE. EXPERIENCE. EXPAND.
SUMMER.COLOSTATE.EDU






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