The English Department is committed to making sure all classes run and all scheduled instructors teach the number of courses they were assigned or desire. However, the College requires us to cancel or combine summer courses with less than 75% enrollment a week out from the first class session. Therefore, you can and should take a proactive role when it comes to promoting your summer course(s). This will do more than ensure that your course runs; if all sections of a particular course fill well before the start of a Summer Session, new sections will be opened up if there is sufficient student interest and available instructors to staff these new sections. (Please note that students can now add their names to the waitlists for courses in CUNYFirst.) Here are some actions you can take to promote your course — some of which come from your many suggestions in the summer teaching survey. Thank you!

• • Inform your current students – more than once – about the course(s) you will be teaching in Summer Sessions.
  • Email your students from previous classes (via Blackboard) to inform them about your summer courses.
  • Announce on your social media accounts that you will be teaching in Summer Sessions and ask your followers/community to spread the word.
  • When promoting your course, consider also mentioning the QC graduation requirements (and/or English major requirements, if applicable) that your course fulfills. Information about a course’s graduation requirements can be found under its listing in CUNYFirst.
  • If teaching your online course mostly or fully asynchronously, emphasize that this mode of instruction provides students with a flexible and convenient way to get credits especially if they have time conflicts or constraints because of other responsibilities such as daytime jobs.
  • Explain that summer courses, though typically faster in pace due to their condensed format, can provide students with the opportunity to focus solely on a single course or fewer courses (compared with the larger course load of a regular semester). Additionally, the daily (or more frequent)  engagement with the subject during the Summer Sessions can help students immerse themselves more deeply and regularly in concepts and materials, which builds the momentum of learning and can lead to greater understanding and success .
  • When appropriate or relevant, highlight the affordability of QC summer sources (especially compared with other NYC universities and colleges). Click here for more information about QC tuition costs.
  • It might also be helpful to highlight that summer courses can help students accelerate the completion of their degree if they are interested in doing so, or help students catch up on their path to completing their degree if they might have fallen behind. Taking summer courses can help students avoid losing momentum towards a degree.