WSU Classes Will Be Offered on Lakeview’s Campus This Fall

Lakeview High School students looking to get a jump-start on their college education will have a most convenient option in the fall: university courses right on their school campus.

Lakeview Public Schools has entered into a dual-enrollment partnership with Wayne State University for the 2011-12 school year. Under the agreement, a total of four university courses will be offered on Lakeview’s campus next year. The classes, taught by WSU professors, will take place during the school day, as opposed to after school.

During first semester, the district will offer computer science and world civilization courses. In the second semester, introductory psychology and philosophy courses will be offered.

The classes carry either three or four credit hours, and they are relevant to any major for a four-year college degree, district officials said.

Lakeview has assumed some of the administrative duties of recruiting and registering students for the classes. Also, the district will pay a portion of its state per-pupil funding to WSU to cover the cost of the courses. Students will pay for their textbooks and a small portion of the cost if it’s a four-credit class.

The district has seen significant student response to the courses. At this point, class size ranges between 16 and 33 students for each course.

Providing this unique opportunity to students is directly related to Lakeview’s mission, said Superintendent Karl Paulson.

“Our district strategic plan has specific student-achievement goals,” Paulson said. “This is about individualizing opportunities for students.”

Lakeview High School’s block scheduling makes it possible for students to earn eight credits per year, while in a traditional high school schedule students earn six credits per year.

“If we have two more credits a year available, what do we do with them? Well, I would argue that if you have top-end students, they ought to have top-end opportunities,” Paulson said.

Lakeview has some students who dual-enroll in colleges, but they have to commute to those campuses, Paulson said. With this new arrangement, the courses are offered right on their high school campus.

Having courses during the school day was a priority for Paulson as he worked out the agreement details with WSU officials. High-achieving students most likely have extracurricular activities after school, so having the courses after the school day was not convenient for them, he said.

The WSU courses do not duplicate Lakeview’s current selection of advanced-placement classes, which also give students an opportunity to earn college credit if they pass the AP exam.

Paulson began pursing the idea of bringing university courses to Lakeview last year.

“All universities are running off-campus locations. Why wouldn’t they run one on our campus if we offer enough kids to fill the classes?” he asked rhetorically.

Paulson’s opportunity to realize his idea came last November, when he was one of several superintendents invited to WSU to provide information regarding the university’s teacher education program.

After the meeting, Paulson approached the WSU officials and suggested his idea.

“I immediately noted a collaborative, interested and flexible attitude,” he said. “Most of Wayne State’s offerings are after school. I said I need this to be during the day, and that was an appealing idea to them.”

“We have a longstanding commitment in Macomb County,” said Terry Margolis, director of educational outreach at WSU. “We have three locations in Macomb County, and this is just an extension of bringing the resources of a research university to the county.”

WSU currently has an agreement with L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, offering after-school courses at the Pankow Center, Margolis said.

Paulson said he is not aware of any other high school in the county that has daytime university courses on its campus. He added that this partnership will be a win-win situation for both Lakeview students and WSU.

Lakeview currently has one other college offering classes on its campus. In the 2010-11 school year, Kendall College of Art and Design began offering after-school courses. Lakeview art teacher Katie Burkardt taught the two Kendall courses offered last year.