Survey says: More leisure courses, please

With suggestions ranging from gourmet cooking to hypnosis classes, College officials report to Historic City News that they now have a better idea of which type of courses to offer next semester.

Beginning in January, St. Johns River Community College will introduce its new line of non-credit courses.

According to Meghan Deputy, SJRCC’s director of continuing and community education, hundreds of community members participated in a recent online survey that revealed a demand for additional community-type courses. “The biggest interest was in the areas of art and leisure, followed by computer training, personal development and languages,” Deputy said. “While many of the survey comments were diverse and unique, the College will begin offering the most requested classes first, with the intent to increase those offerings depending on participation.”

The survey was the result of President Joe Pickens’ effort to extend the College as a resource to all segments of the community. “One of my first objectives as president was to listen closely to what the community wanted from its College. While residents have shared their need for bachelor’s degrees in a previous survey, I’ve also learned there is a huge interest in leisure courses,” Pickens said.

The following is a sample of the courses to be offered beginning January through April on each of the College’s three campuses: aerobics, American Sign Language, diabetes basics, dog training for beginners, home staging in a tough real estate market, interior decorating, introduction to computers for seniors, landscape and gardening, mommy & me, scrapbooking, small business management and finance, photography, watercolor and yoga.

The College will continue to offer its traditional non-credit courses such as its introduction to Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint, CPR and the child care training courses. The College also plans to introduce a lecture series beginning in February with a selection of topics from local government to real estate.

Additional information regarding courses, dates and times will be announced soon. Fees will range from $19 to $125 per course. There are no requirements or prerequisites for community and continuing education courses. Community members can contact the SJRCC Office of Open Campus at (386) 312-4211