U of R classes starting at SE College this fall
August 19, 2017, 9:24 am
Kara Kinna
Students will have the option of taking first year U of R classes at the Southeast College this fall and winter.
Students interested in taking their first year of university classes at home now have that option, with Southeast College offering first year University of Regina classes starting this fall at their campuses in Moosomin, Weyburn and Estevan.
“Starting this fall, September 2017, we are reintroducing first year university to Southeast college,” says Sheena Onrait, Manager of Marketing and Communications with Southeast College. “So students anywhere within our college region can apply to the University of Regina, and then once they have done that they can register in our Southeast College sessions—our classes that we are offering at our locations.”
All of the classes being offered are 100-level classes. In the fall semester the college is offering English 100, Indigenous Studies 100, Sociology 100, and Biology 140. Classes will also be offered for the winter semester, starting in January, and include English 110, Film 100, Math 101 and Religious Studies 100.
How does the sign up process work?
“Students need to apply to the U of R,” says Onrait. “Our student advisors in each of our main locations are willing, ready and able to assist students with that process. They can give us a call at any location and they will walk them through that process. Once apply to U of R then they can register in the Southeast College sessions.”
Onrait says instructors will be on site in Weyburn and classes will be streamed live to the Moosomin and Estevan locations. The sessions are interactive, and students in Moosomin and Estevan will be able to ask questions or interact with the professors live.
“Nothing is recorded ahead of time, it is all live and interactive. It is super cool technology. Really amazing. You can be in Estevan, Moosomin or Weyburn taking the same course,” says Onrait. “It is fully interactive. They will be able to see the professor and the other classrooms and the other students, and you will be able to interact just as if you were in a classroom.”
As of last week Onrait said each course had about 10 students enrolled, but enrollments were going up daily. In Moosomin, seven students had enrolled. She said there is still time for students to enroll, and they can enroll right up the course start date on September 5. She said there are significant benefits to taking your first year college courses at home.
“It seems like we are adding more students to our classes daily. It is not too late to make that decision to take that first year of university right at home where you live,” she says. “The cost savings are substantial. We have calculated it is about $10,000 to move away from home, and that is just your living expenses, that is not your tuition and books. We estimate that a student would save about $10,000 their first year by taking it at home at Southeast College.
“Not to mention that when the students take courses at home like this, you do have the support of small classroom sizes and individualized instruction, so your classes are a lot smaller than what they would be on campus. You have the support of student advisors in each of our larger campus locations—Estevan, Weyburn and Moosomin. You have the support of your parents and peers. There are a lot of other non-monetary benefits of taking your first year at home.
“For students that are maybe still sitting on the fence and undecided on what they want to do next year, they might as well enroll in a class or two.
“Students can enroll right up until the course date. But we do encourage them to contact one of our student advisors as soon as possible and just start to get that ball rolling and get that conversation started with one of our student advisors.”
Onrait says the feedback to offering university courses has been positive so far.
“There are so many happy parents and students and just happy people in general throughout our communities,” she says. “They are happy that we are going to be able to offer full-time university classes again. It benefits our community. It is good for the students and cost saving, and it is good for the college.”
Onrait says the plan is to offer university courses again next year as well.
“The plan is to continue those first year classes for September 2018,” she says. “Whether if it those exact same classes or not, we wouldn’t know that for sure until it got closer to that time, but I would say right now that basically everything is on the table. We are considering all of our options and we have a pretty broad view of what we could offer for university.”
A student orientation is being held on Tuesday, Aug. 22 from 1-3 pm at all three campus locations. Onrait is encouraging people to call their campuses and register for the orientation, although people can also just show up if they can’t pre register. She says the orientation is for U of R students, but people who have not yet registered for U of R classes are also welcome to attend.
“It is specifically for our students who have already signed up for classes and it will give them a lot of information on what they can expect with the university classes. It could also provide a lot of really good information for those who are sitting there deciding if they wanted to take some classes or not,” she says. “It is open for everybody.
“I’m excited that we are extending to the rural locations like Moosomin. The last time that we offered university we just didn’t have the capacity to be able to do it in the rural centres. So we are just so thrilled that we can bring this type of programming to the Moosomin area that we haven’t been able to reach before.
“The first year is always the most difficult ant it gets easier after that. I envision it to growing into something phenomenal.”
