Programs offered outside academics
CE Express
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News
By Martin Castaneda
EP Staff Reporter
Midland College offers hundreds of academic courses that lead to associate or bachelor's degrees. What some people may not know is that MC also offers many continuing educations courses for those looking for something outside the "academic" area. The spring CE Express, the continuing ed class schedule, outlines the class offerings.
"CE is continuing education with courses designed to get one a career in the workforce," according to Gary Hires, business systems training instructor for the continuing education department.
Unlike college courses taken to earn a degree, continuing education courses are not associated with any type of degree.
"Courses taken through the continuing education program are designed to be direct and to the point," Hires said. If one wants to work in a certain field, there's a course in that field.
"Aside from training for a career, we also provide training for those who are already employed and maybe want to better their performance," Hires said. "On some occasions, we've even provided on-site training for companies that want to train their employees to be better."
The CE department has worked with restaurants that wanted their employees to be more customer friendly, for instance.
Apart from being the business systems training instructor, Hire is in charge of putting together the class schedule and web site for the continuing education department. A self-proclaimed IT nerd, Hires seems to really enjoy his job.
"We provide people who might have recently been laid-off a chance to learn a new skill or brush up on skills they may already have, but wan a refresher," Hires said. One of the goals of continuing education is to provide one with better skills to improve their career development, according to Hires.
Continuing education provides an array of courses that aren't job related. If one is already finished with school or college isn't a factor, the community side of things has a number of programs such as Kids' College, a summer program that offers a variety of classes.
EP Staff Reporter
Midland College offers hundreds of academic courses that lead to associate or bachelor's degrees. What some people may not know is that MC also offers many continuing educations courses for those looking for something outside the "academic" area. The spring CE Express, the continuing ed class schedule, outlines the class offerings.
"CE is continuing education with courses designed to get one a career in the workforce," according to Gary Hires, business systems training instructor for the continuing education department.
Unlike college courses taken to earn a degree, continuing education courses are not associated with any type of degree.
"Courses taken through the continuing education program are designed to be direct and to the point," Hires said. If one wants to work in a certain field, there's a course in that field.
"Aside from training for a career, we also provide training for those who are already employed and maybe want to better their performance," Hires said. "On some occasions, we've even provided on-site training for companies that want to train their employees to be better."
The CE department has worked with restaurants that wanted their employees to be more customer friendly, for instance.
Apart from being the business systems training instructor, Hire is in charge of putting together the class schedule and web site for the continuing education department. A self-proclaimed IT nerd, Hires seems to really enjoy his job.
"We provide people who might have recently been laid-off a chance to learn a new skill or brush up on skills they may already have, but wan a refresher," Hires said. One of the goals of continuing education is to provide one with better skills to improve their career development, according to Hires.
Continuing education provides an array of courses that aren't job related. If one is already finished with school or college isn't a factor, the community side of things has a number of programs such as Kids' College, a summer program that offers a variety of classes.
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