The 2015 Summer Session now gives students’ friends the opportunity to experience Colorado College through more than just their Facebook posts.
The new Buddy Pass program allows CC students to invite their friends from home and from afar to join them in diverse and engaging summer study, earning free meals in the process.
The Buddy Pass program provides both CC students and their buddy with a free “meal plan two,” or half off the cost of the full summer meal plan. Such an offer is unprecedented in the history of the college’s Summer Sessions.
All CC students already receive free tuition on one summer block, and CC has always provided need-based financial aid for enrolled and visiting students during its Summer Sessions. The Buddy Pass program, however, is the first of its kind to provide incentive and aid for everyone across the board, regardless of need.
“The intention of the Buddy Pass program is to recruit really well-qualified visiting undergraduate students studying with their friend,” said Ann Van Horn, the Director of Summer Session.
She continued, “The Summer Session is the perfect environment for the Buddy Pass program because campus is a lot quieter in the summer, leaving time to focus on a course and spend time with a friend.”
The idea of the Buddy Pass program originated while the Summer Session Office was brainstorming how to market to the most elusive category of students: visiting undergraduates from different colleges and universities.
“We figured the best way to recruit other students was through our own students,” said Van Horn. “CC students know this is a great place to be, and now they can show it off to their friends.”
During the nascent planning stages of the Buddy Pass program, the Summer Session Office ran the premise by a student. The student eagerly agreed that his friends at home frequently ask about CC and seem jealous of his experience here, from the unique academic style to the beautiful backdrop of the mountains.
“I think it’s almost a secret that we allow other undergraduates to study here,” said Van Horn. “We hope [the Buddy Pass program] will get CC students to consider that maybe their friend would want to come here, too.”
The Summer Session Office wanted to make sure the program didn’t sound too much like a sales pitch; all visiting undergraduates attending the summer sessions must be well-qualified and attending a rigorous college or university, buddy or not.
Van Horn and her team ran the Buddy Pass program by the Summer Session Committee, a group of faculty and administrators who oversee the curricular decisions for the summer. Many of the committee’s faculty had taught during the summer before, and expressed the many positives of having visiting undergraduates on campus.
Van Horn believes that visiting undergraduates bring widely diverse perspectives and experiences, originating both from their background and their time at a different college or university.
Their academic experience is unique from CC, in subject and most certainly in structure of study.
There is always a period of adjustment associated with the Block Plan, whether for an enrolled CC first-year or a visiting junior.
The Summer Session Office considered, however, that if a visiting student had a friend that attended CC, they have in all likelihood heard about the rigor and pace of the Block Plan and is more familiar with what it’s like to cover a semester’s worth of material in three and a half weeks.
Most summer courses that colleges and universities offer are shorter and more condensed than semester-long courses; in this aspect, CC has a leg up.
“Our faculty is accustomed to teaching a class in three-and-a-half weeks, so they’re good at it,” said Van Horn. “Visiting students can be assured of a quality course in a short amount of time.”