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An Entreprenneurial Summer
Dr. Larry Long
Dr. Larry Long, Director of the
School of Communication,
reeled in big summer school
earnings this year.
At the College of Arts and Sciences Fall Address held on September 12, Dean Olson reported the impressive results of the College’s innovative entrepreneurial model of summer school funding that was piloted by the School of Communication this past summer. Before the new funding model was instituted, the School was prepared to offer eight courses to its students. Instead, the School of Communication offered twenty-nine courses, only three of which were cancelled due to low-enrollment. Due to the success of the pilot, Dean Olson has been assured that the College will be able to implement a comparable funding model College-wide next summer. “I am delighted to report that the results are stunning,” said Dean Olson. “As anticipated, the final enrollment figures are quite remarkable;they indicate that the School of Communication earned a total of $90,000 above and beyond the cost of delivering these courses.”

Dean Olson first announced the College’s plan to take a leadership role in introducing the university to the possibilities of a new way to fund summer school last year at the Spring Address. In previous years, summer school at ISU has been funded by fixed budgets at the department and college levels. These resources have shrunk with each new rescission. The entrepreneurial model of summer school funding enables departments and schools to exercise maximum control over their summer offerings and the resources to support them. Such a formula allows chairs and directors to track how many students it will take to make a particular course break even. Any money above and beyond that amount is returned to the department to help cover under-enrolled courses.

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