New courses by UO professors in program to help schools

A special University of Oregon program sponsored by UO Academic Extension will offer a pair of courses for high school students during winter term, augmenting the offerings of local school districts by holding classes on furlough days and other non-instructional days.

The UO program allows high school students to take four-credit courses for $60. During the upcoming term, which runs from early January through late April, high school students may take two courses through the program: Advanced Topics in Chemistry 1 (taught by Marina Guenza and Andrew Marcus); and Modern U.S. History (taught by Michael Dreiling and Tom Lininger).

The classes will meet on furlough days, holidays and other days when the local high schools are not in session. The instructors are volunteers, but are tenured UO faculty.

The program is in response to budget problems facing local schools. A group of UO professors initiated the program last year, offering a variety of courses that were open to high school and home-schooled students throughout Lane County. The program is a partnership between the UO's Robert D. Clark Honors College, UO Academic Extension and Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.

The courses are not Advanced Placement courses, but syllabi align closely with AP courses so that students who enroll in the UO program are able to take relevant AP tests to earn college credit.

Students must have maintained at least a 3.0 grade point average over the prior two years to qualify for the program. Home‐schooled students must demonstrate that their achievement level has been equivalent to at least a 3.0 grade point average.

The application deadline for winter term courses is Friday, Dec. 7. If applications exceed the available slots in each course, a lottery will determine enrollment. Half the slots in each course are reserved for students who want to take the course on a pass/no pass basis.

For more information, contact Tom Lininger at lininger@uoregon.edu.