Instead of heading to the beach this spring break, a group of 39 students signed up for three new micro-courses offered for the first time.

Taught in a completely online format but at the same time each day, the courses titled “Personal Finance and YOU!” led by Oglethorpe Senior Vice President and CFO Pete Stobie, “Conquering College: Academic Success and Learning Strategies” taught by senior director of Student Success Dr. Vivian Medrano and “Exploring the Legal Profession” taught by Regina Mincberg, Oglethorpe general counsel and chief of staff, all ran during Oglethorpe’s Spring Break, March 10-14.

“This was an experiment, and it proved our hypothesis that there was interest in special topic courses offered at this time and in this format,” said Dr. Gabriel Barreneche, Oglethorpe’s provost. “We were very pleased with the number of students who signed up and the level of engagement in the courses.”

One student’s feedback reflected the overall input from the students taking the courses.

“I was contemplating whether or not to take this course, as I worried it could interfere with the time that I could have spent on doing work for my other courses. But what I gained from this course was more than I could ever hope for, as it allowed me to actually be truthful with myself, a task that got harder as I continued my time here at Oglethorpe, and gave me the chance to figure out the next steps that I need to take in order to continue my success in this university.”

Because of the success of this pilot project, Oglethorpe will look to offer these and other topics in the synchronous format in the future.

“I think we achieved proof of concept,” Barreneche said. “We hope to continue offering more of these engaging one-credit courses again in the future.”