ON CAMPUS AT OCC:Year-Ahead schedule to begin

Orange Coast College will soon become the first of California’s 109 community colleges to implement a revolutionary new concept, a “Year-Ahead” class schedule.

The Year-Ahead schedule will permit students to plan their schedules for an entire academic year: fall, winter intersession, spring and summer.

“The Year-Ahead schedule is this college’s response to student demand,” Melinda Nish, OCC’s vice president of instruction, said. “Students tell us that planning a schedule can be a hit or miss proposition.

“A student, for instance, may not take a certain class in the fall, thinking that he or she can pick it up the following spring. If that class isn’t offered, it can be extremely disruptive to a student’s academic progress. Without an ability to do advance schedule planning, students tell us it’s difficult to get through community college in two years.”

The Year-Ahead schedule will not permit students to register for an entire year in advance, but Nish said it will greatly enhance the planning process.

OCC begins its transition to a Year-Ahead schedule this year. Students can plan now for fall ’07 classes. That schedule is posted on OCC’s website, and fall classes begin Monday, Aug. 27. Winter intersession and spring 2008 classes will be posted by the middle of this month. The summer 2008 schedule, available by mid-October, will be posted five months earlier than any previous year.

By June of 2008, OCC’s entire schedule for the 2008-09 academic year will be posted on the website. Fall classes for 2008 will be posted in January of ‘08; spring 2009 classes will be posted in April of ‘08; and summer 2009 classes will be posted in June of ’08.

By the 2009-10 academic year, each semester’s schedule will be posted one year in advance

“Schedules that are one-year out will be 85-90 percent accurate at the time of posting,” Nish predicts. “They’ll be subject to change, but most of the changes will consist of adding course sections. We’ll encourage students to regularly check the online schedule for updates.”

OCC WINS STATE SPORTS CUP

OCC has been awarded the 2006-07 Pepsi/NATYCAA Cup for best overall athletic performance this year by a California community college.

The award is sponsored by the Commission on Athletics (COA) and the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators.

OCC topped the final 2006-07 standings with 164 points.

During the 2006-07 season, OCC won state championships in women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, and men’s swimming and diving.

OCC has placed in the Pepsi Cup top 10 schools each of the four years that the award has been presented.

A college is awarded points based on its teams’ final positions in post-conference competition.

Each college’s top-five men’s and top-five women’s team results count toward its overall point total.

SUMMER CLASSES BEGIN MONDAY

Summer classes begin Monday at Orange Coast College.

Additional four, six and eight-week courses get underway June 25.

For summer registration information, call (714) 432-5772.