Community Education
and Economic Development

Continuing Education

The economic development of the Midlands through training individuals and organizations -- business, industrial, governmental, professional and civic -- is central to Continuing Education. Short courses, seminars, workshops and conferences are offered to the general public and business and industry throughout the year to upgrade job skills, enhance professional development and promote personal interests. In addition, in-house training programs can be developed quickly and presented expertly in response to requests from business and industry.

As more manufacturing, industrial and service firms locate or expand in the SC Central Midlands, the college is responding with an increasingly complex array of specially designed courses to meet the needs of local employers. The division is a rapid-response educational facility through which the college can pair economic development needs with local expertise to deliver necessary training. The courses also include training in a wide variety of areas in the field of environmental concerns and safety.

The Continuing Education division delivers training and creates learning opportunities for area professionals who want to increase their skills level or meet specific state requirements for professional licensure. One-day seminars are offered each month of the year in such business-related areas as general office and personnel management, written and oral communications, and interpersonal communications. In addition, seminars are offered monthly for social workers, counselors, nurses, nursing home administrators, activity professionals and insurance agents to help them satisfy training requirements dictated by state boards. Training is also offered in the medical and health field through entry-level courses in a variety of job opportunities. Continuing Education also offers review courses to help individuals successfully pass state and national licensing exams such as real estate and property management exams, emergency medical technician (EMT) exams, and electrical, gas, and plumbing codes exams.

The Center for Leadership and Employment Development delivers specialized industrial and manufacturing technology training in such areas as manufacturing technology, trade skills, machine tool, code and license reviews, and maintenance. They also provide training relevant to human resources and workplace issues including organizational and management development, quality, purchasing, interpersonal skills and Command Spanish for job-specific occupations.

Health, Human Services, Environmental Training and Safety provide training in the area of allied health and human services classes for counselors and social workers. They also provide a variety of classes in environmental and safety training and have added several on-line classes in the safety area.

The Computer Training Center provides microcomputer training to individuals and companies using state-of-the-art equipment to offer the latest software packages, ranging from introduction to personal computers to network training, programming, and high-end classes such as Oracle and Microsoft Certified Professional Engineer certification. The Computer Training Center is a Microsoft Solutions Provider.

The Center for Special Programs and Community Education delivers a variety of classes in real estate, interior decorating, photography and numerous personal interest courses.

Through these centers, programs are offered at the Harbison, Airport and Beltline campuses and off-site locations including businesses, industries, government entities and public and private organizations. The Continuing Education division has access to facilities and laboratories throughout the college. By working closely with other units of the college, Continuing Education obtains assistance in providing and delivering its various programs.

The Continuing Education division offers a variety of noncredit certificate programs to provide individuals knowledge of theory or hands-on-skills in the following areas: certified nursing assistant, medical business, supervision, occupational safety, interior decorating, bookkeeping, information processing, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Certified Engineer, A+, Oracle, networking, and horticulture.

Most of our course offerings can be customized to meet specific in-house training needs in subject matter, presentation, format and length.

The division also provides a variety of personal interest courses that cover the spectrum of fun and entertainment. These offerings develop desired skills in cooking, photography, painting, sewing and many other areas of interest.