Allen Community College made some changes to its Burlingame campus class schedule in order to accommodate high school students.
The change is in response to requests from five superintendents from six area schools where high school students can take college-level courses.
The smaller schools don’t have faculty with a master’s degree who can teach dual-credit courses, ACC’s Jon Marshall, vice president for academic affairs, said. Their students can either enroll in online courses, or attend college classes at the Burlingame campus.
But the traditional college schedule limits how many credits the students can earn in a semester and still enroll in high school classes.
To better meet their needs, ACC and Burlingame campus leaders developed a variety of options.
Some classes will run for about an hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and some will run for about an hour and a half on Tuesdays and Fridays. That schedule applies to general education classes such as English composition and math, as well as computer applications, sociology and personal finance.
The campus also will offer three-hour blocks from 8 a.m. to 10:55 a.m. on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday, so a student could take three different classes in a week.
Those classes also include English comp and math, with courses in nutrition, public speaking and music appreciation.
Classes will start at 8 a.m. instead of 8:30, as they previously did, so they can end at 11 and students can go back to their high schools for the remainder of the day.
The schools will provide transportation to the Burlingame campus in the morning. They also take students to Washburn Institute of Technology in the afternoon, so the change will allow districts to accommodate the needs of more students.
“This is our best go at being able to provide what the superintendents requested but also offer a traditional schedule,” Marshall said.
The course schedule can be adapted as needed, Marshall said.
He is hopeful the changes will encourage more high school students to enroll.
A handful of traditional afternoon classes also will be available, but the college has shifted away from evening classes because of lack of enrollment.
Student fees
ACC will start charging international and out-of-state students who need a ride to and from the airport, Cynthia Jacobson, vice president for student affairs, said.
