College choices in the Memphis area

The Commercial Appeal highlights some of the outreach efforts of the University of Memphis.  The story includes comments from our continuing education friends Dan Lattimore and Sam Brackstone.

College choices are moving closer to home

But, just as in secondary education, there are far more choices in higher education around the Memphis area today and thousands of students are finding satellite campuses near their homes or jobs better suited to their needs. 

The University of Memphis, for example, offers classes at its Lambuth campus in Jackson and has a growing presence in Collierville. Ole Miss has a satellite campus in Southaven with nearly 1,000 students. Jackson-based Union University offers courses in Germantown. There are numerous other examples and most often, administrators say, these locations are attractive to students returning to college — so called nontraditional students. 

The University of Memphis' satellite campuses in Jackson, with enrollment of nearly 1,800, and at the Carrier Center in Collierville, with nearly 1,300 students, offer a wide array of classes in majors varying from business to nursing. For the most part, the Lambuth and Carrier sites serve students returning to college with a year or two already completed. 

Dr. Dan Lattimore, dean of the University College and vice provost for extended programs, said choosing which classes to offer is a simple case of supply and demand; it's based on what students want to study.

From the latest LERN Magazine

Sneak peak at the top continuing education topics and what top programs will be working on this year:

1. Social networking
2. Brochures for Generation Y
3. Viral marketing
4. Hybrid and web-enhanced courses
5. Better data on course and topic trends
6. Podcasting and multimedia
7. Economic downturn
8. Institutions in trouble, crisis, and support
9. Web sites improve

Money quote: “Leading c.e. program executives will be looking for ways to enter the dialogue with institutional administrators about the role of continuing education and the importance of their programs to the institutions as institutions continue to move through a time of trouble and transition.”

LERN Magazine, January 2008. Visit their website at http://www.lern.org/