Apr 20, 2018

When Sydney Poccia signed up for an intersession class last winter, she looked at it like a time machine that would catapult her forward into the future. Instead of waiting an entire term to complete a class, she could get one done in just a couple weeks.

“It was like magically skipping ahead,” she says. “I thought it would be overwhelming, but it was actually totally manageable.”

Sydney, 20, chose to take the College Success course (CSE 1101) online because it knocked out an elective for her Psychology associate degree and will likely count toward a bachelor’s at UNM.

While the accelerated class required constant attention, Sydney says she was able to complete the requirements by spending a few hours each day online. She works full-time and says it was no problem squeezing the classes in around her job. When she fell a little behind a time or two, she said she was able to quickly catch up. And if she had questions, her instructor Judith Tomasson would often reply online in just a couple of minutes.

“Judith was awesome,” Sydney says.

Sydney Poccia, center, working on a class project in Smith Brasher Hall.

As an Intersession instructor, Judith has seen the ways an accelerated class can benefit the CNM community.

“It’s a great way for students to get ahead if they can take the intensity,” she says.

It can be challenging for faculty, she says, to translate a normal course and make it fit a three-week time period, but if done right, it’s a huge benefit for students.

“The challenge of designing an Intersession course from the faculty perspective is keeping the balance between the academic integrity and changing the course to fit the timeframe of an accelerated course,” she says. But for the right students, “they love the opportunity.”

Sydney says she’ll likely take another Intersession class when it fits her schedule. She wants to make sure she has time, but the idea of jumping ahead again and again is hugely appealing.

“If I can get my degree done that much faster, why not?!”

CNM began offering Intersession courses in 2014. And students in Intersession courses have a higher success rate than students in non-Intersession courses.

Summer Intersession courses are open for registration and begin April 30.