Losing noncredit courses saves time and money.
For some students the biggest barrier to success when entering college is having to go through the refresher programs that eat away at students’ time and money.
With a national push to accelerate refresher courses, this college’s integrated reading and writing program, in just a couple of years, has become an amazing success.
The fact that the program focuses on moving students on to their English core as soon as four weeks rather than wasting a semester on hammering away at concepts students could have already wrapped their head around is a god-send.
There are students who are working and putting themselves through community college who want to move on as quickly as possible and being stuck in a 16-week, noncredit refresher course could deter them from continuing.
Perhaps the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board should take notes from the INRW program as students have exceeded the testing level.
English Chair Mike Burton said, “Students need human interaction. Writing is an interpersonal. We don’t want computer programs to baby sit students.”
This approach has led to the great success of this college’s integrated writing and reading program.
