Each year, more students are finding it harder to fit all of their classes into their busy schedules. However, online classes are making enrollment a little easier for some students at UW-Eau Claire.

“In the spring semester of my sophomore year, I was taking 17 credits and it was a very busy time for me,” senior Andrea Boh said. “I needed to take a wellness class, so I looked for a Food for Fitness class online.”

The number of classes being offered online has slowly increased in Eau Claire over the past year.

In the spring and summer of 2005, there were 48 and 37 courses, respectively. This year, 50 spring and 39 summer courses are taught online.

One benefit of taking a class online is the different options it gives someone with no time, Boh said.

“Students are able to take an online course anytime and anywhere,” Vice Chancellor Andy Soll said. “Having a course offered online gives students the opportunity to be flexible with their schedule.”

“The program isn’t growing in leaps and bounds, but it is a pretty stable growth,” registrar Sue Moore said. “It takes a faculty member a lot of time to convert a class curriculum into an online format fit for teaching.”

There are two types of online courses – synchronous and asynchronous.

Synchronous courses are put in session at specific times like a normal class, and asynchronous courses allow students to pick anytime during the day or night they want to begin a class session.

“The classes fill up depending on the department they are in,” Soll said. “But overall, asynchronous classes are more popular because of their flexibility.”

Barbara Mac Briar, a veteran of teaching online courses in the School of Nursing, said online classes are never at a loss for students.

“Every course I teach is almost always full,” she said. “There have been requests for overloads in many different classes I’ve taught online and very few students drop out.”

Karen Kremer, chair of the department of communication and journalism, echoed Mac Briar’s feelings on enrollment.

“There are a large number of students who want to take mass media ethics, but there are only 20 seats available in the class,” she said. “Online courses are a great fit into the curriculum.”

The university does not financially benefit from having online courses because of the cost to develop the courses, the online maintenance and professors’ salaries, Soll said.

With the steady increase in class availability, other schools in the UW System have teamed up to give students even more opportunities.

“We’re starting to collaborate with UW-Madison and other campuses to share classes online,” Soll said. “This gives students the chance to take elective courses that may not be offered at their current school.”