Continuing Education, Distance Learning and Workforce Development

Continuing education is the term applied to organized postsecondary educational experiences specifically provided for citizens who desire to improve their vocational, professional, cultural or social learning beyond their present level of education.

South Plains College provides educational opportunities to persons at convenient times and places and at a reasonable cost. Included are evening courses for regular academic and vocational credit, community service short courses, employee upgrading, job-entry training, online courses, workforce development programs and off-campus classes.

South Plains College maintains an evening program for persons who wish to pursue college-level courses of an academic, cultural or technical nature. Classes may be organized for any group of 10 or more students who wish to study during the evening hours.

Academic courses are provided in variouis departments of the college. These courses are taught by members of the regular college faculty and other instructors with the required academic credentials. In general, classes are scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and may be taken for college credit, for technical purposes or for cultural enrichment and enjoyment.

Tuition and fees for evening college courses are payable at registration.

As a service to the community, South Plains College offers a number of continuing education short courses. These short courses allow persons to develop their cultural interests and avocational skills in a wide variety of topic areas. Continuing education short courses are offered on the Levelland Campus, at the Reese Center, the Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center, the Plainview Extension Center, the Muleshoe Learning Center and the Denver City Learning Center. Bulletins detailing short course offerings are available during the fall, spring and summer semesters.

The Dean of Continuing and Distance Education coordinates the community service offerings for the Levelland Campus. Similar courses offered at the Lubbock, Reese and Plainview locations are coordinated by the Associate Dean of Workforce Development. Inquiries about these programs should be directed to the Continuing Education Division offices on either campus.

The Workforce Development Program not only serves the community with courses for personal development, but also schedules a wide variety of courses in many areas of professional development as well. Business and industry training needs can be met with a rapid response in such areas as computer software training, electronics, allied health, mechanics, machining and others. This tailored instruction can be at your convenience and is always provided at competitive prices.

South Plains College cooperates with business and industry to develop workforce training classes and programs for the upgrading of technical skills of present employees and for teaching job-entry skills to potential employees. Courses can be conducted at the industrial site. The college offers a wide variety of workforce training courses at its Levelland, Lubbock and Plainview locations in order to meet the needs of business and industry.

Another service available to business and industry is an extensive library of more than 3,000 high-quality on-line workforce development courses from ACT, Education2Go, and Gatlin Education Services. Call the Workforce Development Office at (806) 716-4921 for additional information.

In an effort to provide opportunities for higher education, South Plains College can offer college-level credit courses in area towns within the college’s defined service area. Generally, a minimum of 10 persons is needed to offer a course off-campus, provided the location is approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Adequate facilities are provided by the local community where the courses are taught. Tuition and fees appropriate to the courses offered will be charged.

The Distance Education Program at SPC is committed to providing quality non-traditional alternatives in the delivery of instruction to students regardless of geographical location. Many of the instructional departments at South Plains College offer courses through distance education.

Distance education courses differ from traditionally taught courses only by their methods of delivery. Distance education courses are made available to students via the Internet and interactive television (two-way audio and video).

Online Courses

An online course is one in which instructors deliver lectures and assignments via the Internet. Communication with the instructor and classmates is done by electronic mail and/or electronic discussion groups, as well as various other forms of communication. Internet access and e-mail are required for all online courses. Additionally, students should be very familiar with sending attachments via e-mail. Depending on the course, knowledge of particular computer software packages may also be required. Students should consult their academic advisor for proper choice of online courses.

Blackboard

South Plains College uses Blackboard for the delivery of online courses. The Blackboard site is located at http://southplainscollege.blackboard.com.  Students will not be able to access their online courses until the first official class day. For more information about Blackboard, contact the nstructional Technology Office, (806) 716-2180.

Interactive (Two-Way) Video

This type of distance education course enables students to receive instruction at remote locations by two-way audio and video. At the present time, connection to these courses is available only at locations that are in South Plains College’s service area and that have interactive television classrooms. High school students who are accepted as early admission students may enroll in certain college classes and attend those classes via interactive television without leaving their high school campuses. For more information about interactive television classes, contact the Instructional Technology Office, (806) 716-2243.

Technical Support

Technical support is available to all students enrolled in Internet-based courses. Technical support is available during the Fall and Spring semesters from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Phone support is available during other sessions from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Student support is available by e-mailing blackboard@southplainscollege.edu or calling (806) 716-2180. When e-mailing a request for help, include your full name, course enrolled, name of instructor and a phone number where you can be reached.

Textbooks

Textbooks for distance education courses taught by SPC instructors are available at the South Plains College Bookstore. However, if a student is enrolled in a distance education course and does not reside in proximity to the bookstore, books can be ordered online at http://www.splevbookstore.com. For more information about ordering textbooks, contact the SPC Bookstore, (806) 716-2397.

The Continuing Education Unit (C.E.U.) is a nationally recognized measure of the amount of organized study a person has completed in a non-credit course. One C.E.U. is granted for every 10 clock hours of successful participation in an organized continuing education experience under responsible sponsorship, capable direction and qualified instruction.

Tuition and fees for continuing education short courses are set by the Board of Regents of the college in accordance with the provisions of Texas statutes. Tuition and fee rates are subject to change without notice by action of either the Texas State Legislature or the South Plains College Board of Regents.

The tuition rate for continuing education short courses is $3 per contact hour, with a minimum charge of $15. The tuition rate for law enforcement continuing education short courses is $1.50 per contact hour, with a minimum charge of $20.

The out-of-district fee for law enforcement short courses is $1.00 per contact hour.

All continuing education short courses less than 7 hours in length are assessed a minimum $30 fee. All non-computer short courses are assessed an additional general instructional support fee of $4.00 per contact hour. Computer courses are assessed a $6.00 per contract hour instructional support fee to cover specific, uncommon expenses.

Allied Health courses may be assessed additional fees to cover the cost of supplies,insurance and state exams. Any student who re-tests for the Certified Nurse Aide Exam will be assessed a $25 administrative fee.

The tuition and fee rates described above prevail for most continuing education courses EXCEPT the following special courses:

Other exceptions to the above policy may be made with the approval of the Board of Regents.

Refund Policy

Full refunds are made if notification to drop the class is made prior to the first class day or if a class is cancelled due to insufficient enrollment or other circumstances.  For classes dropped during the first two class days a 70% refund will be given.  No refund will be given after the second class day.