One of the benefits of the Block Plan is the versatility it offers, including in the summer. CC under- graduates and visiting undergraduates from other schools have the opportunity to participate in courses during summer blocks A, B, and/or C. Because of the upheaval caused by the pandemic during the 2020-21 academic year, CC undergraduate students were offered the opportunity to earn 10 blocks instead of the usual eight.
Director of Summer Session Jim Burke says this summer the program is absorbing multiple academic-year courses that couldn’t be taught in the fall or were moved — in hopes of having fewer COVID restrictions — to the summer. This year Summer Session is offering 68 courses, more than double the 33 courses offered last year, with nearly 1,100 students enrolled. The classes offered are a combination of in-person, hybrid, flex, and fully remote.
Students in the Block A Printmaking class share their work and lead creative activities for the CC community. Photo by Chidera Ikpeamarom ’22
Additionally, the summer pre-college program is vibrant, with a 20% increase in enrollment from 2019. “CC is one of the few institutions offering in-person pre-college programming this summer, which our students are definitely excited for. Many have been in remote learning all academic year, so they are eager to engage with their peers and experience everything the Block Plan has to offer,” says Burke.
The program draws students from all over the country, with many coming from California, Washington, Oregon, New York, and Texas, he says, to take classes such as Biology of Epidemics, Marketing for Entrepreneurs, and Freedom and Empire: The Drama of Ancient Politics.
And while it’s academic, it’s not all academics. Summer Session partners with Student Life and the Colorado College Student Government Association to provide a range of activities for students in the summer term, including:
- 4 outdoor movie nights
- 6 Switchbacks games (soccer) at Weidner Field
- 13 Bemis art classes
- 18 concerts open to the public
- 3 outdoor performances through the Fine Arts Center
- 3 First Friday barbecues to kick off each summer block
