Since the fall semester, Missouri Southern has offered delayed-start classes to students needing to start classes after the normal date.

“This is only the second time we’ve done this,” said Dr. Jerry Williams, director of Lifelong Learning. “Because of the response we got last semester we’ve increased both the 12-week session and the eight-week session by two courses.”

Williams said the courses are traditional college courses only the material is condensed into 12 or eight weeks.

“Primarily they’re offered because we get so many calls from individuals who, because of family or work problems, couldn’t get started in August or January when the traditional course starts,” he said. “And a lot of people are just not familiar with the calendar the University has for the start of classes. So what we’ve done here is try to essentially provide them with that opportunity to get in if they missed it.”

Williams said the classes can also be picked up if someone dropped a course and needs to pick another up for financial aid or scholarship reasons.

If this is done the fees must still paid for the delayed-start course.

“What we’re trying to do is further meet the needs of the community,” Williams said. “I think that’s what we try to do with most all the offerings that we have is try to meet the needs of the community and be flexible in meeting those needs because we realize people’s work schedules change, their jobs change and their family situations change. So we just want to try to be in tune with the community and be able to provide what the community needs in terms of education.”

The cost for the courses are the same cost as the normal 16-week courses.

The four 12-week courses began Jan. 31, but the eight-week courses do not begin until March 7.

The eight-week course offered this semester are ECON 180: American Economic System, ART 110: Art Appreciation, CJAD 301: International Justice Systems and PSY 105: Career and Life Planning.

“Some courses have gone a little better than the others have,” Williams said. “It’s kind of hard to predict which ones will. They’ve done pretty well for starting out, so they’re probably meeting or maybe exceeding our initial expectation.”

He said the courses typically have between eight and twenty students enrolled, depending on the course, and the courses carry the same prerequisites as their 16-week counterparts, if any prerequisites apply.

Williams said students’ grades in the delayed-start classes average about the same as the traditional classes, but it is too early to tell if there is a any difference in the grades from the two types of courses.

For more information on the delayed-start courses, contact Lifelong Learning at 625-9577.