As summer is quickly approaching, students are working hard on finishing their semesters with good grades under their belt so they can begin enjoying their long break from school. While some students are busy planning vacations, study abroad trips or internships, others are focused on completing more classes during the summer to benefit them when they return to Trinity in the fall. As the time for students to seek transfer credit approval has begun, a variety of students pursue the additional credits for a variety of reasons.

By pursuing transfer credit at other universities, students lessen the amount of courses they need to take at Trinity, allowing them to pursue an earlier graduation date than previously expected.

“I wanted to graduate in three years, so taking summer classes was important for me to reach my goal,” said Olivier Dardant, a senior finance major.

By spending several summers taking several classes, he was able to decrease the amount of classes he’d have to take at Trinity, which enabled him to complete his major and common curriculum requirements a full year before he was expected to graduate. However, the process to getting classes approved proved to be difficult as there were several steps in the process just to gain approval for a course even before enrolling.

“While the process wasn’t too bad overall, it’s definitely more taxing than it should’ve been. Getting the teachers and department head to approve one class seems a bit ridiculous. The fact that you can’t take an online class for the most part also seems ridiculous and outdated to me,” Dardant said.

Some students are applying to have classes offered at other universities for their major approved.  Others find that taking courses not necessary for their major but that satisfy the common curriculum requirements would give them more room to take classes they enjoy more at Trinity.

“I’m hoping to get some English classes out of the way this summer, but I really want to get Calculus II approved for my math credit,” said Karina Duran, a junior English major.

The process begins by seeking approval from the department head of the course you’re interested in based on the description of the class provided online; after that, students submit their forms to the registrar and wait to hear about the course’s approval.

“I still haven’t gotten my courses approved; it takes a while, but hopefully I’ll be able to take some over the summer,” Duran said.

Earning approval would allow Duran to graduate on time, making the approval of these summer classes  imperative.

Other students are currently in the process of seeking approval of courses too, and they are finding the procedure to be arduous.

“I’m not really sure how well the process is going. I’m working on it currently. I know credits transfer because I have credits from Tarrant Community College I got from high school, so basically I just think I have to apply to the community college again and ask for classes during the summer,” said Tripp Wright, a sophomore history major.

Determined to get more common curriculum classes out of the way, Wright is hoping he’ll be able to narrow in on his degree following the completion of summer courses. “I want to take British Literature so it can count as part of common curriculum. It’s cheaper and shorter to take it at Tarrant Community College than it is as Trinity, and if I’m not doing anything else over the summer, my parents will think I’m being lazy, so why not try?” Wright said.

Students can seek approval for transfer credits by speaking to the department head of the course they’re interested in, then completing the transfer credit approval form found outside the Registrar’s office at Northrup 118. Classes may be taken for major, minor or common curriculum/pathways purposes from a long list of colleges and universities. Those interested in earning transfer credit are encouraged to reach out to Sheryl Tynes or the Office of the Registrar before the semester ends.