While educational institutions throughout the country are adjusting to online learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Zane State College is expanding its course offerings so students don’t have to put their education on hold.

“As we’ve progressed through recent weeks, we’ve felt the need to respond and really serve our community in a way that suits the needs of education,” said Molly Dunn, Senior Director for Outreach and Recruitment. “So we went back to the drawing board with our summer semester.”

Dunn said the faculty and staff came together in a great team effort to respond to the pandemic’s impact on education and reshape the summer semester.

“They’ve really thought in a creative and an innovative way to make all classes available online,” said Dunn. “In addition to that, we’ve expanded our course offerings. What that means is instead of having just a limited number of courses in the areas of math, science and English like we normally do, we’ve expanded our electives.”

Courses such as theatre, philosophy, psychology and American Sign Language will now be offered.

“The reason we’ve done that is so we can really support students who are home for the summer from other colleges and universities,” said Dunn.

Dunn said credits can be transferred to a student’s university if they are not typically enrolled at Zane State College.

“Zane State College is a wonderful, local higher education resource that everyone, all students in our region should take advantage of,” said Dunn. “Our tuition is affordable. We have outstanding faculty and staff to ensure student success, and we are very rich with our technology. We have a technology solution center dedicated to students to ensure they have everything they need to be successful online. ”

Zane State has also its counseling and tutoring services to ensure students are getting the help they need.

Additionally, a COVID-19 helpline has also been established for students to have questions answered and find the assistance they need during this time. The phone number is (740)-588-1224.

“The culture at Zane State is all about helping students and providing a promising future for everyone. That means every student matters, and our staff and our faculty provide the most superb customer service you can imagine,” said Dunn. “We want every single student to be successful, and if we don’t have the answer, we will find an answer to ensure that student is successful.”

Summer courses begin on May 18 with the second session beginning June 15.

To register for courses, Dunn said to call (740) 588-5000 or send an email to hello@zanestate.edu.

Financial aid and grants are available to assist students with payments.

“In addition to summer course offerings, we are also offering some math and chemistry camps that are free this summer,” said Dunn.

Through a grant, Zane State College is able to offer a free, two-week camp in July to anyone interested, not just Zane State students.

“It’s really just to allow students to sharpen their math and their chemistry skills over the summer in preparation for fall,” said Dunn.

More information can be found online at www.zanestate.edu/events.

The camp is still planned to be held on campus in a face-to-face setting.