Have you ever looked around the room in Art History 101 and seen a speckling of grey hair? Or have you ever sat next to an eager-eyed classmate rushing to make fifth period at their high school right after class? These students are auditors from the surrounding community and Mount Greylock Regional School who satisfy their intellectual curiosity by auditing or dual-enrolling in free courses at the College.
Getting to audit a course at the College is not a guarantee — prospective auditors must reach out to professors for permission, and even when “enrolled” cannot recieve academic credit.
Retired Town residents Stephen Danker and Andrew Danyluk have both audited classes at the College. Some years ago, following retirement and the death of his wife, Danyluk began searching for new intellectual outlets. “I needed to find purpose in life, and learning is a purposeful activity,” he said.
Danker, who taught music at the College from 1973–1979, echoed Danyluk. “[My wife] urged me, as I became older, to get out of the house and start exercising my mind so I don’t start dribbling on the floor,” he said. Danker and Danyluk are currently auditing “History of Ancient Greek Philosophy” and “American Art and Architecture, 1600 to Present.”
In the past, Danyluk has taken Spanish language and literature classes at the College. He finds active course engagement to be helpful to his learning. “I’ve found it most enjoyable when I’m able to participate and actually do the assignments and take the tests,” he said. “It forces me to learn the material more thoroughly.”
Danyluk noted that professors take vastly different approaches to auditor participation. “Some professors do not want you to participate at all,” he said. “It’s like I am a body sitting there.” Danker said that it’s hard to know when participation is appropriate. “It’s kind of a difficult balancing act to know if you could actually ask a question,” he said.
Both auditors said that their desire to participate in class also serves the students’ learning. “We bring our life experiences,” Danyluk said. “[The students] have a more limited life experience, and I think that if we could participate more, it would be of value.”
In addition to the material, Danker loves meeting students. “Everyone’s got these amazing backgrounds,” he said. “That, to me, is as much a motivation as the class itself.”
Some auditors are decades younger than Danker and Danyluk. Many high school students at Mount Greylock Regional School with lofty academic aspirations apply to take courses at the College for credit. Dual enrollment, which allows seniors to take one class per term at the College, is free and has a relatively simple application process. Students must first be endorsed by their school counselor before selecting a course. They then submit an enrollment request form and speak with the professor for final approval.
Jack Uhas, a local Mount Greylock senior with an interest in political science, said he was grateful to be able to take “Mass Media and American Politics” in the political science department.
“Greylock, as great as it can be, has only about 550 students, with middle school included, so they don’t have a super expansive course catalog,” he said. “Sometimes, there won’t be a class for [your interests] at Greylock. To be able to go somewhere that’s so close to you and have a lot more options to choose from, is something that I’m grateful for.”
Ruby Dufour, a Greylock senior taking “Oceanography” at the College, agreed that academic freedom — in both course selection and managing workload — is one of the biggest benefits of dual enrollment. “In high school, I find that teachers really try to control our learning and get us to follow a common path,” she said. “In my Williams class, it was much more up to us to choose our own study methods and our homework schedules, as long as it was turned in at the right time.”
Another perk of the dual enrollment program, both Uhas and Dufour agreed, was getting a feel for college life. “What are some norms inside a college classroom? Things like that have been helpful to learn,” Uhas said.
Dufour, similarly, appreciated previewing a college environment “It showed me a good look into my future,” she said.
For Dufour, the rigorous coursework of the College contrasts her high school workload. “I don’t personally feel that our high school gives a lot of homework, so even though that’s helpful in [having more] study time, I also found it a bit unhelpful in preparing me for my course,” she said.
While dual enrollment offers numerous advantages for Mount Greylock students, some barriers prevent students from accessing classes at the College. In particular, lack of access to transportation can pose a challenge, according to Uhas. “[Greylock] doesn’t provide transportation, so if you want to take one of the classes, you need to own a car,” he said.
For students with the time and resources, however, Uhas and Dufour agreed that the courses are rewarding and worthwhile. “I think if it is — and it often is for people who are taking a class at Williams — a course that’s really of interest to you, then you want to make the time for it, because you probably have not had the opportunity to learn so specifically about it,” Uhas said.
