2015

WEEK OF_\~~~~~~~

DECATUR ECCC students return to campus Monday

gram will allow themto find employment even if they are not able to complete the re– quired 60 hours for an asso-

ciate's deg1·ee. "We created exit points for our students so they could come for a year and complete

30 hou-s, and if life hap then tl.!ey could lea,·e u

By DemetriusThompson dthompson@newlonc:ountyappeaJ oom

Sff ECCC,

When returning sopho– mores and incoming fresh– men started classes at East Central Community College on Monday, they were greeted by a host of new pro– grams, academic choices and facility upgrades on the cam- pus in Decatur. One of the first improve– ments students will notice, especially those who are liv– ingon campus, is the renova– tions to two male dorms, , Todd and Newsome Halls, but the improvements at the college for the 2015-16 school year go more than skin deep. Incoming students who may need a little help adjust– ing to college level courses will get to start earning cred– its toward graduation earlier than before with the school's redesign of its developmental course program. 'We decided to redesign

' Houston and East Central President Billy Stewart said the reduced cour e load Will allow the students more time to focus on the gateway courses, English Composition • I ~d College Algebra and , Which they think will be ben– e~cial for students long-term. ' In the Past, you couldhave taken anywhere from nine to 21 hours of classes that WOuldn 't count towards grad– uation just simply preparing • you !or colle~ algebra and Engiis_h composition I," Stew- ' art srud. '1'he quicker ome– body starts ('8rning credit toward graduation, the mo t !lkely theyare to sta, and fin- ish." · :v1IDe.Stewart and Houston srud theu- ideal scenario is for every student to lea,·e East Central with an associate's degree, they know that some students Will have to leave early due to personal set– backs. The school's 30-45-60 workforce eduPation pro-

• our developmental course program to reduce the amount of time students ' spent in developmental courses and provide them with the resources that they need," said Teresa Houston, East Central vice president for instruction. ''What we did is reduce the amount of de– velopmental courses to only one developmental English course and one developmen– tal math co "'se but we added APPEARE a lab component which used to be optional."

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