November 11, 2010
NETC’s ‘Friday College’ accommodates busy lifestyles

Northeastern Technical College will offer “Friday College” this spring semester in order to meet the needs of students whose lives are busy with work and family obligations that may prevent them from coming to campus repeatedly during the week.

Students taking advantage of Friday College will attend classes one day a week on Fridays and still receive regular credit hours.
 
“We tested the concept of ‘Friday Only’ classes during summer term, and we were very excited to have 24 students enroll in our pilot microbiology class,” said Heath Milligan, dean of instruction. “The Friday schedule allowed students to have both lecture and lab on one day – instead of having the traditional two day per week lecture and one afternoon lab for day students, or one night of lecture and one night of lab for evening students.”

Instead of three or two days a week, these students were only required to be on campus one day a week, which was a benefit to students traveling from greater distances, Milligan added.

NETC pursued the Friday class scheduling to accommodate students who may only have time to commit one day a week to pursuing a college education.  It will also allow students more flexibility to carry a full course load that will satisfy some financial aid guidelines.
 
“Friday College at NETC will allow any student – especially the working adult learner – greater flexibility in scheduling classes.  If paired with our online courses, a student potentially can be full-time and may only have to commit to one day a week on our campus,” said Dr. Forest Mahan, vice president for Academic Affairs and Student Services.

Courses that will be offered include:
·    Art History and Appreciation

·    Film as Art

·    Business Law II

·    Introduction to Computers

·    Microcomputer Spreadsheets

·    Developmental English

·    Introduction to Composition

·    English Composition I

·    Communications I

·    Technology and Society

·    College Algebra

·    General Psychology

·    Introduction to Religion

“A couple of years ago, we reduced our regular schedule to four days in a week because of high gasoline prices. This left open the possibility of offering additional classes on Friday or Saturday. As our enrollment has grown since then and grows, so has the diversity of the students we are serving,” Dr. Ron Bartley, president of NETC, said. “We continually work to meet the needs of current students and prospective students by discovering new ways to offer our programs and courses that will better meet their needs. We think Friday College is a step in this direction.”

A complete list of oncampus and online course offerings is available at each of the college campuses in Pageland, Cheraw, Bennettsville and Dillon or by visiting www.netc.edu and clicking on the “Course Schedule – Spring 2011” link located below the photo.  
 
Admission applications for new or returning students are due by Wednesday, December 8. Spring semester classes start on January 10.
 
NETC admission applications may be picked up and submitted at the main campus in Cheraw, or at one of the college campuses in Bennettsville, Pageland or Dillon.  Students who wish to submit applications in person should do so at the campus where they intend to take classes.  

An NETC admission application may also be filled out and submitted online by going to the Admissions page and clicking on “Apply Online Now” in the box on the right side of the page.  
 
Financial aid applications may also be completed and submitted online by visiting WWW.FAFSA.ED.GOV. Paper applications are available by calling 1-800-4Fed-Aid (1-800-433-3243).
 
For more information, call NETC’s Admissions Office at 921-6933 or 1-800-921-7399.