San José State University Summer Session Program

Organizational History

In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minns' Normal school is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.

San José Normal School principal James McNaughton foresaw the advantage of a summer session during his administrative tenure (1899-1900). However, it was McNaughton's successor, Morris Elmer Dailey (1900-1918), who was responsible for the inception of a summer program at the Normal School. Under Dailey's direction, the first summer session occurred in 1903 and 107 students enrolled for a 12-week semester. President William Kemp (1920-1923) further improved the summer session program by adding new courses such as library methods. Today, SJSU's summer session program is now widely recognized as a major contributor to the continuing education program, with such diverse course offerings as art history, English composition, elementary physics, and international relations.