SCOOBA — Students looking to pick up additional classes or drop one course and add another have a chance to do so under a new Late Start term implemented at East Mississippi Community College’s Scooba and Golden Triangle campuses.

The term begins Sept. 11 and ends on Dec. 8, concluding at the same time as the regular fall term. Each class will last one hour and 45 minutes, a half hour longer than traditional fall term classes. All Late Start classes will be offered in the afternoons.

Registration for the Late Start term is under way now.

“We have some classes in the fall term that were full and hopefully the Late Start term will accommodate those students who did not get a seat in a class for whatever reason,” EMCC Associate Dean of Instruction Gina Thompson said.

This marks the inaugural run of EMCC’s Late Start term, which could prove beneficial for many students.

“This will give students a lot more options,” EMCC sophomore Josh Brown said. “I think this will be popular with students who prefer afternoon classes or for those who didn’t sign up for the full fall term because they wanted a longer summer break.”

Others may like having the ability to drop and add one or more classes.

“You might have students who signed up for trigonometry for example and realized it is over their head and they need to go back and take college algebra first,” Thompson said. “Now, they can drop that class and pick up a Late Start class and finish it by the end of the fall term.

“We also have a lot of students come over here from Mississippi State University to take math and science classes who might benefit from the Late Start term. They can come to EMCC and get more individualized attention with our smaller class sizes and take advantage of the free tutoring we have available.”

Students taking 14 or fewer credit hours might want to consider picking up additional Late Start classes as a cost-saving measure. EMCC is now offering a “block price” of $1,500 for students taking 15-19 hours, which is $530 less than the standard $2,030 tuition cost for 14 credit hours.

Incoming freshmen and transfer students who will attend school full-time will need to participate in a JourneyEAST orientation session. Students will be assigned an advisor who will walk them through the orientation process and assist them with registration.

For information, call the Scooba Counseling and Advising Center at (662) 476-5085 or the Golden Triangle campus Counseling and Advising Center at (662) 243-1925 or (662) 243-1900.

Available Late Start classes for Scooba Campus are:

• College Algebra, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:30-4:15 p.m.

• English Comp 1, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:30-4:15 p.m.

• General Psychology, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1 p.m.-2:45 p.m.