Gas Prices Make Hybrid Classes
Attractive Continuing Education Choice

July 8, 2008

By Henry DeVries

Fuel prices are causing Americans to change more than their automobile preferences.  With gas approaching $5 a gallon, interest in another type of hybrid is soaring as fast as prices at the pump.

Continuing education students at UC San Diego Extension can choose from increased offerings of hybrid courses, which are taught partly in the classroom and partly over the Internet. Hybrid courses allow the student to benefit from both methods of teaching: online and face-to-face.

“If we are to assure a globally competitive talent pool for the region, then we need to be innovative in how we deliver continuing education during these days of accelerating energy costs,” says Extension Dean Mary Walshok. “All of our academic units are being strongly encouraged to transition traditional courses to the hybrid, online and intensive formats.”

In a nine-week hybrid course, students interact with their instructor and classmates both in person—during the on-campus meetings for a majority of the course—and online for up to four classes, via Web discussion forums, e-mail, chat sessions, and phone calls.

This can be a big savings in fuel costs for students, since typical courses require nine trips to a classroom. Cutting down on classroom time also reduces the energy used to run campus facilities, such as lights, heating and air conditioning.

While interest in classes that are totally online also continues to climb, many students prefer hybrid courses because they offer the convenience of online learning along with networking opportunities of being face-to-face. Some hybrid courses being offered this summer are:

• Budget and Fund Management for Research Support Professionals
• Real Estate Principles
• Real Estate Law
• Real Estate Appraisal
• Playwriting in a Flash
• Architectural History of San Diego

While most continuing education courses still take place over the course of a quarter, UC San Diego Extension offers intensive and short courses that allow students to finish a course in a month or even a few days. The courses are the same number of instruction hours but less commutes to campus, which translates to lower transportation costs.

Students can complete a course in just a few days or a month with these condensed versions of regular classes:

• Communication Skills for Professionals (3 Fridays)
• Conducting Capital Campaigns (4 Wednesdays)
• Financial Accounting for Non-Accountants (Monday and Thursday evenings)
• Getting to Know Your Customers:
  Practical Market Research (Monday and Wednesday evenings)
• HR for Emerging Companies (Friday, Saturday)
• Introduction to Environment and Sustainability (four Saturdays)
• Interest-based Negotiation (Fridays and Saturdays)
• Managing for Maximum Performance (Monday and Wednesday evenings)
• Oral Communication Skills for Professionals (three Fridays)
• Project Management Bootcamp (Wednesday through Saturday)

Overall, UC San Diego Extension enrolls about 20,000 students per year in university-level professional and enrichment courses, including about 80 certificate programs and 12 specialized study programs. Another 20,000 are reached through Extension’s educational outreach programs, public lectures and UCSD-TV.

Students can also save gas by taking courses at an off-site center that is located closer to where they work or live. For the convenience of working adults, most courses are held evenings and weekends on the UC San Diego main campus and three other locations: the Extension Sorrento Mesa Center, the Extension Rancho Bernardo Center and the Extension Mission Valley Center.

Media Contact: Henry DeVries, 619-540-3031 or 858-534-9955