May term Global Awareness courses available

by Michelle Zimmerman

The days of worrying about Global Awareness opportunities for those unable to travel abroad are over.

The concern first came when one of the courses for Global Awareness was dropped from five to four.

The registrar’s office and other faculty have been working to make sure every student, including seniors, have the opportunity to register for the class and graduate on time.

Steve Griffith, senior vice president and dean for academic affairs, reviewed a survey from the registrar’s office that gave an estimated number of seniors that were in need of Cornerstone 7 for May term 2011 in order to graduate.

“The survey appears that there are about 67 students who will be seniors, graduating in 2011, who need Cornerstone 7,” Griffith said. “Of those 67, 40 students have to have a May term course to graduate, that is their only option. At this point we have 120 seats available, about three times the number of students. As far as we can tell at this point in time there isn’t a problem.”

Griffith has been working to make sure there are plenty of seats available for this May term. With a low number of seniors needing Cornerstone 7, Griffith felt having 120 seats available is an appropriate number.

In the case there are a larger number of students that do need the cornerstone, the college will work to provide more classes.

To decrease the demand for Global Awareness courses in May, they’re now being offered throughout the semester.

“In the last couple of years we’ve expanded Cornerstone 7 so students can take (it) at different semesters,” Griffith said.

It is important for students to know what cornerstones they need whenever registering for classes. This information is available online through the Stormfront Portal.

May term 2011 registration is coming up at the end of February. Students should be sure to check into the allotted time for their class.

If there is a problem with the designated registration time it is important students contact their advisor prior to the registration so other options may be set up.

“When registering for May term and fall, students should be proactive about making sure they don’t have any business holds because you don’t want to miss your time slot for registering,” said Murphy Waggoner, professor and chair of mathematics.

For those students that miss their registration time slot, they will need to wait until all other classes have registered to register.

Junior Kayla Willems has taken her Global Awareness class and found the process to be hassle free.

“I took my course last May term and didn’t have a problem registering for the class,” Willems said. “It’s best the students know what they need for cornerstones and that makes it easier on us and our advisors.”

May term registration begins Monday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. with seniors.