Seward County Community College
Liberal residents who want to earn an associate degree can start with one small step in a new, convenient location thanks to a late-start class offered at the Liberal Recreation Center at 950 S. Grant Ave. Interpersonal Communications, a first-year class for full credit, will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday nights at the Rec Center, with SCCC communications instructor Amy Thompson.
“This is an actual, real college class we are offering to people in the community, and we’re so excited,” Humanities Division Chair Dr. Magda Silva said. “It’s perfect for people who started a degree and for one reason or another, stopped. This gets them closer to a degree by taking a first step.” Silva said she hopes the class will appeal to working parents who have put their personal goals on hold as they raise children, or people contemplating a career change or job promotion.
The class is designed to align with degree requirements for many of the career and technical education associates’ degrees offered at SCCC, in place of the standard public speaking class required by traditional academic transfer-focused associate degrees.
“We know public speaking intimidates a lot of people, and sometimes it’s the class they leave until the very end, and then it beomes a barrier to graduation,” Silva said. “This offers another way to complete that degree. Interpersonal Communications gets into real-life skills and approaches that are useful to anyone in the work force whether they are learning to manage other employees or wanting to advance their careers.”
The location is a first for SCCC, and was chosen, Silva said, for the convenience of students.
“We know Liberal is not a huge city, but the nice thing about this is that it’s an option for people on that end of town, who maybe worked all day or just got home from picking up kids, and don’t want to drive all the way across town for a class,” Silva said. “We are trying to reach out with a class that will be useful and fit into people’s lives.”
The collaboration with the City of Liberal makes it possible.
The 12-week class begins Feb. 9, and continues through May 13. Regular SCCC tuition applies, and the registration process is the same as classes on the main campus. People interested in the class can visit the admissions office at the Hobble Academic Building, 1801 N. Kansas Ave., or call (620) 417-1100 to set up an appointment. Silva encouraged potential students of all ages and stages in life to consider the class.
“My own dad told me after he was laid off that he was ‘too old to go back to college’ and I said, ‘Look, in four years you will be four years older, but whether you are older with a degree or without one is up to you. He went back to college and became a second-grade teacher until he retired,” Silva said. “Once you’ve taken that first class, you’re on your way.”
For more information, contact the SCCC Office Admissions at 620-417-1101, or explore classes at sccc.edu. When enrolling, the Interpersonal Communications class number is 10852.
