UNC Wilmington plans to offer students a proposal for new revamped summer course ideas.

The possible changes include a balanced number of face-to-face classes and online classes, offering more upper-level classes, weekend and night classes, not-for-credit classes such as high school bridge programs, and increasing faculty’s pay for teaching summer classes.

Increased pay for teachers is a big focusing point for the revamp of summer courses. The increased salaries will give instructors the opportunity to teach more classes, but funding the increased pay is a problem.

The state of North Carolina provides universities with two sets of funding during the academic school year: tuition or tax dollars. However, universities have to rely on tuition alone during the summer months.

In order to pay for the increased salary, the university will have to raise student tuition. Steve McFarland, chair of the University Innovation Council’s Technical Support Team, says the increased tuition is necessary, but it will not be a huge burden on the students.

“If we are going to offer more courses in the summer, we have to find more revenue to support those courses,” McFarland said. “One way to do that is to raise tuition, but we are still at the very bottom end.”

Kristen Ross, an upcoming senior who plans on taking summer courses, believes raising tuition is necessary to get the extra classes that she needs for her major.

“I feel like raising tuition should go to classes,” Ross said. “The reason we go to college is to pursue our degree, and I wouldn’t mind paying a little extra during the summer if it gets me closer to graduation.”

Revamping the summer courses is all about better servicing the students.

“What can we do to better meet student demands?” McFarland said. “That’s why this institution is here, to make sure that we are meeting student needs.”

In previous years, the salary was based off a prorated pay dependent upon the amount of students enrolled in a class. If at least seven students were not enrolled in a class, it was cancelled all together.

Jeff Neely, English associate professor, thinks the new idea of increased pay will be an advantage for everyone involved.

“Certainly from a professor’s standpoint it’s better,” Neely said. “The arrangement of having prorated pay based on enrollment is sort of awkward, but I guess the alternative is not getting a course at all if it doesn’t meet the minimum of 15, which was a possibility at one point as I understand.”

Though the increased faculty pay is the only thing set in stone, McFarland believes the possible changes to the summer program could benefit the students, faculty and Wilmington’s community.

“One of the requirements that is being placed on universities now is a realization that it’s not just about earning a student credit hour or taking a course towards a degree,” McFarland said. “It’s about providing entertainment, life-long learning or enhancement. By expanding what we do in the summer, we are better serving the community, which is part of our mission.”