Overseas Travel

Over the last couple of months, two SCC co-workers enjoyed vacations of a lifetime to destinations at different parts of the globe.

In November and December, Connie Haire toured New Zealand and Australia with her husband, Phil.

For almost as long as they have been together, the Haire’s have wanted to visit “The Land Down Under.” Connie said the trip was everything they hoped it would be.

“We decided that we were going to stay long enough to see everything we wanted to, so we did,” she said. “We enjoyed it so much that we want to go back. In fact, if we didn’t have family obligations and the like, we would seriously consider living there.”

The Haire’s visited the Great Barrier Reef, the outback, Ayers Rock and much, much more. Connie said the seafood was wonderful.
“In New Zealand, seeing the mountains and the sea, and all the lush green growth was just beautiful,” she said. “What we both liked the most in Australia was getting out into the country and the smaller communities. We got to see a sheep station where they shear the sheep. We enjoyed the people, and we loved their accents!”

Also in December, Liz Guertin went to Europe with her sister, Ann. During her three-week stay, Liz was able to fulfill a lifelong dream by visiting the grave of her brother Ted in Luxembourg. A member of the US Army’s 276th Division, Ted was killed during the capture of Trier on Feb. 14, 1945. Liz said the white crosses and Stars of David took her breath away.

“The cemetery was beautifully maintained,” said Liz. “General Patton is buried at the front of the cemetery, and there are 5,000 soldiers buried in a semi-circle facing him. It was absolutely beautiful.”

Also during her trip, Liz visited her daughter in Naples, Italy, where her husband is stationed at a naval air force base. She also saw castles, churches and museums and had an “absolutely wonderful” time. Liz is the Administrative Assistant for Instructional Services.

Update on Distance Learning

Over the past three years, the Distance Learning program overseen by Dennis Keough has experienced exponential growth. Two specific areas that have seen substantial growth are Web-Centered and
Web-Enhanced classes.

In Spring of 2000, SCC offered one Web-Centered class that enrolled 12 students. This spring, 31 “Web-Centered” classes were offered serving 334 students. And though no Web-Enhanced classes were offered in 2000, 19 were offered this spring serving 200 students.

SCC’s Division of Continuing Education is also serving students with web-based delivery options. New for the spring quarter are “First Responders to the Digital Crime Scene,” and a “Medical Billing” class. A Web-Centered “EMT-basics” course will again be offered this spring. Students who completed this course when it was last offered in the fall had 100% pass rate on the state exam. Moreover, Continuing Education will continue to offer many more “Web-Centered” courses via the Ed2Go initiative.

This spring, SCC is offering both “Critical Thinking” and “Introduction to Computers” to local area high school students in “Web-Centered” formats through the Collegiate Connections program.

In addition to the web-based delivery options, the Distance Learning program will be enhancing services over the “Community-Link” ITV system. PCs and networked printers will soon be installed at the SCC site. A grant is also underway to enable SCC to download “PBS/Adult Learning System” content from satellite and distribute that content on our ITV network.

For more information about Distance Learning options for teaching and learning, visit the www.southwesterncc.edu/distlearn/index.htm on the Internet or contact Dennis at dkeough@southwesterncc.edu via e-mail.