NE Campus offering rocky course for summer credit
by Javier Garcia Jr., reporter

    Summer is a time when some students look forward to a break from courses. Others look forward to enrolling in summer classes to receive credits in a short period of time.

   Instead of going to classes daily, some students imagine themselves in a classroom surrounded by wilderness while studying one of America’s beautiful regions.

   The NE Campus will offer a Central Rocky Mountains mini-course May 9-June 3. The three courses will provide eight credit hours in Geology of the Central Rockies (GEOL 2462), Environmental Geology (GEOL 2361) and Camping (PHED 1174).

   Students can participate in a series of short hikes in the mountains and national parks of Colorado and Utah. Dr. Clair Ossian, professor, and Hayden Chasteen, assistant professor, will direct the trip.

   Total field course cost is $750 plus tuition and fees. Field trip expenses include air transportation to and from Denver, ground transportation in passenger vans, three group meals per day and state and national access fees and campsite costs.

   Students must pay half of the fee in order to reserve a space. The capacity is 14 students, so seating is limited.

   Students will be required to write their experiences in daily journals and participate in sharing duties in camps for their grades.

   Ossian, who will be directing his ninth and final year of the trip, says the program is an enjoyment for all.

   “Many students who have attended before experienced the outdoors for the first time on the trip,” he said. “It’s really beautiful.”

   The classes require no prerequisites and can lead into other areas of interest, Ossian said.

   “I’ve had students return from the trip so excited about the experience that they changed their majors to the geology field,” he said.

   Chasteen says the experience will help students as a unit.

   “I like to see the students work together as a group,” he said. “They will experience a lot of give-and-take information.”

   Before the trip, students will attend mandatory classroom seminar sessions that provide basic information necessary for the trip.

   Fifty percent of the course cost is due by April 14 to reserve a space.

   For additional information on the mini-course, call 817-515-6565.