Pitt cancels some summer classes

Many Pitt students found holes in their summer class schedules in early May after a string of… Many Pitt students found holes in their summer class schedules in early May after a string of class cancellations by various department chairs.

Sam Conte, the University registrar, said students were notified of their class cancellations through e-mail in the past several weeks.

The Office of the Registrar handles registration, enrollment and academic records for all of the students on Pitt’s campus.

“If a class is canceled, any students who may be registered for that class will receive an e-mail message the next day,” Conte said in an e-mail. “You would have to check with the Student Accounting Office and the Bookstore regarding refund policy.”

It might be an inconvenience to students, but summer classes often get canceled, Conte said.

The fact is, every college and university, Pitt included, has to cancel classes every semester, not just during summer, he said. They also add classes every semester.

“Approximately 45 classes have been canceled,” Conte said.

Conte said summer registration numbers for this summer are comparable to the same time last summer.

He also said there is not a website that lists all canceled classes, and there is no way to know in advance which classes are in danger of cancellation.

There are many reasons a class can be canceled, including lack of student interest, budgetary reasons and lack of a suitable instructor, Conte said.

The ultimate decision, he said, lies with each individual department’s dean’s office.

So if a student was really depending on a class that was canceled, he or she might try going to the chair’s office to see if there was anything the student could do to change the chair’s mind, Conte said.

Students can be proactive in the scheduling process for future summer sessions and can monitor the number of open seats for a class through their my.pitt.edu account. They can also call the dean’s office with questions about enrollment numbers.

But the news is not all bad for students with canceled classes.

John Burns, the Book Center’s textbook manager, said students can receive refunds for books they purchased for canceled classes — as long as they can show a receipt and proof that the class was canceled.