Summer Field Session

Yes! Students can register for one, two, or all three courses.

Registration begins Monday, March 18, 2024 via myOswego.

Registration steps for individuals who are not current students at SUNY Oswego are available on the Summer Session webpage.

For questions, please contact Caitlin Rioux, the Winter/Summer Program Manager, at summer@oswego.edu or 315-312-2270.

Yes! Although each case is different, many students qualify for aid over the summer. Below are some general rules.

• All students who register for at least 6 credits over the summer will be prompted to apply for financial aid. This doesn't guarantee that aid will be available for every student, but all students have the opportunity to apply.
• Students who are eligible for the Pell Grant can often receive this aid over the summer. It may not cover the full bill, so students may have to use a loan or pay for the difference.
• Financial Aid allocated for the academic year can be used to cover summer courses. Although the total aid package for a student using this option would not increase, this can be a great option for students who may want to use summer courses to graduate a semester early. For example, spring 2025 aid could be used to cover the summer 2024 term, allowing a student to graduate in December 2024 with no net increase in loans or payments.
• Students who are not matriculated at SUNY Oswego may not be eligible for aid through SUNY Oswego.
• Many students use loans to supplement aid or pay for summer coursework in full.

Because each case is different, students interested in summer courses are highly encouraged to make an appointment to speak with Financial Aid, either remotely or in person, by emailing financial.aid@oswego.edu. Financial Aid staff can help students understand their aid availability over the summer. Completing the 2024-2025 FAFSA at studentaid.gov is a great way to start the conversation.

Unfortunately, no. However, summer courses (taken at your own expense) can help you fulfill the required 30 credits in 365 days needed to receive your full award. Otherwise, those who drop below 30 credits will only receive the scholarship for their first term. 

For more Excelsior Scholarship information, please visit their FAQ page.

Housing

Students currently living on campus can continue living on campus during the RCFS Summer Session. Because the first course, Ecology of Invasive Plants, begins right after finals week, students remaining on campus will not have to move off-campus between the spring and summer terms. They may have to move to a different building, however, as typically a single building is designated for summer term students. Students can sign up for housing by logging in to their myhousing.oswego.edu account and filling out the summer housing application. 

Dining

Students living on campus over the summer are required to purchase a meal plan. Unused Dining Dollars will roll over to the fall semester, provided a fall academic meal plan is purchased.

• From May until mid-June, residential dining centers are not open. Students are allocated $35 Laker Dining Dollars per day for use in retail dining locations (Crossroads) and Get Food off-campus partners: Oswego SubShop, The Pies Guys (both offer delivery) and Fajita Grill (pick-up or dine-in only).
• Starting June 10, one residential dining center will be open. Students are allocated 14 swipe meals per week plus $25 per week in Laker Dining Dollars, which can be used at retail locations or Get Food off-campus partners (see above).

Students sign up for their meal plan when signing up for summer housing.

Yes, we will run a van shuttle from campus to Rice Creek for those who need transportation. The Green Route shuttle does not run during the summer term.

The Summer Field Session courses are immersive. Most class time is spent with hands-on learning in the field or examining samples or data back in the laboratory. Some class time will be spent with lectures, discussions, and quizzes. Some courses also include field trips to local natural areas.

Summer Field Session courses are scheduled for 6.25 - 7 hours of class time per day, so you will spend the majority of your day with your instructor and other class members. As is common with laboratory sections, you may, however, finish your fieldwork early on any given day. Your class will either break for lunch or your instructor will advise you ahead of time to bring a lunch (for example, on field trip days).

Course-Specific Details:

• In Ecology of Invasive Plants, students can expect to spend time learning to identify invasive plants, survey for their presence, and evaluate their impacts.
• In Field Ornithology, students will spend time learning to identify birds by sight and sound; participate in running the MAPS banding station while learning how to safely capture, measure, and release birds; and learn field survey techniques.
• In Trees and Shrubs, students will go on many plant walks, learning how to identify common CNY woody plant species. Students will complete additional laboratory exercises including a quantitative vegetation assessment. This course includes several field trips to natural areas in the region.

For more information on the day-to-day activities of each course, please reach out to the instructors.

These courses fill the "free elective requirement" for Biology and Zoology majors and the "elective requirements" for Biology minors. 

Carrying a full course load over the summer could help students graduate a semester early. There are several options for achieving 12 or 15 credits, building from the RCFS Summer Field Session.

• 9 credits - RCFS Summer Field Session: May 13 - June 21 (6 weeks, overlapping SUNY Oswego's traditional Summer Session I and II)
• 3+ credits - Take an online BIO course. BIO 341 Plants and Society is an asynchronous online course (3 weeks, June 10-28, during SUNY Oswego's Summer Session II). This course can be taken at the same time as Trees and Shrubs, and fulfills a general education requirement (World Awareness) or a free elective. Other typical summer BIO courses include BIO 309 Cellular Physiology, an asynchronous online course that fulfills an Area 3 Molecular/Cellular/Physiology elective requirement. Browse online BIO courses beginning Feb 12 on myOswego.
• 4+ credits - Fulfill Chemistry, Physics, or Mathematics requirements with an online course (3 weeks, timing varies, synchronous or asynchronous). Browse availability on myOswego beginning on Feb 12.
• 1-3+ credits - Internship in Biology or Zoology (BIO or ZOO 498). If you already have a summer work or volunteer experience lined up after the Summer Field Session, this is a great option for gaining additional credits. Students can register for as little as 1 or as many as 12 internship credits over the summer. 40 field hours must be completed for each credit. A limited number of BIO/ZOO summer internships are available at Rice Creek Field Station and the Oswego Herbarium. Please contact kristen.haynes@oswego.edu for more information. Please see https://ww1.oswego.edu/excel/internships-and-co-ops for more information about internships.
• 3+ credits - Take an online course that fulfills your general education requirements. The full list of approved courses is available at https://www.oswego.edu/general-education/approved-courses.

As you can see, there are many ways to make degree progress over the summer! Please contact your advisor to discuss the options that would best work for you.