By Holly Desrosier
Craven Community College (Craven CC) is currently registering students in need of a fast and flexible learning schedule for its Weekend College program on the Havelock campus. This accelerated program gives students the opportunity to earn an associate degree in three semesters by going to school online and attending class on Saturdays.
The flexibility of the program is ideal for students who are full-time workers, parents, active military or those with extremely busy schedules. Students are only on campus one day each week, but the face-to-face time with the instructor provides them an opportunity to go over the weekly discussion or lecture and ask questions, which is critical to student success.
“The student who is self-disciplined; the student who is motivated; the student who likes fast-paced courses without jeopardizing the material—that’s the student who will benefit the most from the accelerated pace of taking classes on Saturday,” said Wally Calabrese, dean of the Havelock campus.
The streamlined degree path has several benefits over a regular degree program for full-time students. All classes are hybrid (seated combined with online learning) and class sizes are smaller. The average class size in this program is seven students as opposed to 11 students in weekday classes.
“The advantage of this program is the amount of time to complete your Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree,” said Calabrese. “Typically, if someone is taking only 12 credits hours per semester, they can plan on being completed in five or six semesters. With the accelerated format, the student will complete it in three semesters.”
The program is designed so that full-time students take 22 credit hours in spring 2020, 22 credit hours in the fall and then complete the remaining courses to meet the minimum of 60 credit hours. Ideally, students will graduate with an associate degree in spring 2021. Upon completion, students will be eligible for admission to one of the 16 University of North Carolina institutions or one of 24 independent colleges.
In addition, the Academic Support Centers (ASC) on both the New Bern and Havelock campuses are available to students throughout the year. The ASC provides academic assistance to curriculum students enrolled in courses of all levels, helping them reach academic, personal, social and economic potential by supporting their intellectual growth and providing resources such as tutoring and writing labs.
Financial aid and scholarship options are available for qualifying students. Classes are scheduled to start Jan. 13.
For more information on the weekend program, contact Calabrese at 252-444-0739 or Sylvia King, director of Student Services at 252-444-2120.
This article was originally published in the New Bern Sun Journal on December 25, 2019.