with John Leffler
Education:
B.A., M.A., Montclair State University
Ed.D., Rutgers University
Born and raised:
Haledon
Resides:
Lake Mohawk (Sparta)
Family:
Wife, Doris; children, Janine, John and Jason
Favorite summer activities: Biking and kayaking
Favorite winter activity: Cross-country skiing
Hobbies:
Traveling and reading
financial publications
The leaves are falling from the trees, it's getting colder
and the days are getting shorter. For most, summer seems far away, but
not to John Leffler. He's already making plans for the thousands of students
who will participate in the 2003 Summer Sessions program.
Director of Summer Sessions for the past 24 years, John is responsible
for coordinating everything from scheduling classes to producing marketing
materials. He's already in the thick of things and it's only November.
"What we're working on at the moment is the scheduling, the catalog
and the Web site," he explained. "I would say right now we have
85 to 90 percent of our scheduling into the SIS."
Leffler began working on next summer's offerings months ago--before the
2002 session was even over. "We already have publications out that
we printed in August, including our early brochure," he said. The
brochure outlines some key details for people who might be thinking about
taking some courses over the summer, and is one of the important initiatives
in increasing enrollment. "We do a lot of marketing and promotional
materials to keep Montclair State University Summer Sessions visible in
the public eye, year-round," he said.
But John isn't the only one with summer on his mind early in the calendar.
He says the demand for an early schedule has increased over the years.
"At the end of a summer session, we already have inquiries for next
summer," he said. "Many schools don't get their schedules out
until January or February. Our goal always has been to get the information
out before then. By utilizing our Web site, we've been able to get our
information out much earlier."
In addition to the traditional six- and eight-week sessions, there are
shorter sessions that are popular, John said. "There are a lot of
choices so students can work their schedules around other summer activities,"
he said.
John knowswhat that's like. "When I was doing my graduate work here--we're
going way back now--I drove an ice cream truck in the summer to pay for
my tuition for the next year," he recalled with a laugh. "I
remember coming for an 8 a.m class and by 11 o'clock I was able to get
back to the plant, load up my truck and deliver ice cream."
Getting creative in scheduling courses is something John sees as "a
big part of what makes this program successful." He recently spoke
about the subject at the annual conference of the North American Association
of Summer Sessions (NAASS), which represents more than 450 public and
private colleges and universities throughout the 50 states and other countries.
John provided background on common scheduling options, particularly for
short sessions, using Montclair State as an example.
The summer program is becoming more popular. "This past summer we
had a big growth in our graduate program--a 20-percent increase with 1,500
graduate students, and about a 5-percent increase in undergraduate enrollment
with about 5,000 students at that level."
Even after more than two decades John admits he still enjoys it. "Summer
Sessions is fun. It's a gathering together of all the information from
square one and putting together all the pieces," he said. "Seeing
it come to fruition, seeing it become a success, seeing the enrollment
grow, that's very rewarding."