[Alumni-chat] the calendar

[Pam Olsen]

\John said:  
> 
> For me, the staggered quarter system worked splendidly, and I was astonished
> to learn of the changes to the co-op program (and year schedule) that occurred
> after my graduation in 1968.  After reading Bob Devine's discussion, I can
> understand some of the reasons, but it still seems like a loss to me.  I had
> never thought about how things worked (or didn't work) from the faculty
> standpoint.  My grandfather taught at Antioch for most of the time I knew him
> -- he seemed to have summers free, although as a senior professor he might
> have had advantages not available to everyone.


john, I also had no problem with the year round, five year schedule.  I
liked being on campus sometimes in the summer.  And liked going year
round--why go home and waste the summer, or have to scramble for a job when
a zillion other college students were looking for one, too?  I liked just
keeping it within the co-op strujcture.   Nor was five years a big deal.
MOving so much was kind of a pain in some ways, exciting in others, but the
jobs were great, and when I graduated, I had two years of work experience,
which served me well when applying for jobs later on.

I would imagine that going two quarters a year instead of three could be
structured to be a financial advantage, insofar as it would keep tuition
much lower each year than trying to pay for three quarters somewhere else.
This would have to be marketed this way, though.  I know my grandmother, who
paid for my college, thought it was taking me an awfully long time and was
being too expensive, and I pointed out to her that I had actually not had to
pay for any more quarters than my sister who went to (a more traditional)
college before me.   That settled her down a bit.

Pam