VGCC Offers Seventeen Mini-Semester Classes’

Vance-Granville Community College has scheduled 17 mini-semester classes during the Spring 2007 semester, including 11 that will be offered online and one that will be a “hybrid” course, in which students attend classes but also complete some course work online. Mini-semester classes are classes that are held within a semester, but do not last the entire 16 weeks of the semester. If the term is half that length, for example, students attend each on-campus class twice as long to get the same number of contact hours. This spring, the second eight-week mini-semester will begin on March 6 and end on May 11, while a ten-week mini-semester will begin on Feb. 19 and end on May 11. Registration for students interested in mini-semester classes during either term will be held on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16.Marsha Nelson, VGCC’s Vice President of Instruction, said that mini-semester classes are offered so that students will be able to take classes that were filled when they registered at the beginning of the semester. They can help students get prerequisites out of the way and have proven very popular since the first mini-semester courses were offered in 1999, Nelson added. Online mini-semester classes have proven to be attractive to working people, stay-at-home mothers and others who like the convenience of working in their own homes and getting college credit. Of the 11 online (also known as “distance learning”) mini-semester courses, three are being offered during the second eight-week term: Law Enforcement Operations ( CJC 121 -M92), Substance Abuse ( CJC 213 -M92) and Internet/Web Fundamentals ( WEB 110 -M92). There is also one hybrid course during the second eight-week mini-semester: Curriculum Planning ( EDU 259 -M92). This will require students to meet in room 6116 on the main campus in Vance County on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. until 12:50 p.m. Students interested in this class must contact Jennifer M. Johnson at (252) 738-3408 for further details.Eight online courses are offered during the ten-week mini-semester. These include Business Income Taxes ( ACC 130 -M91), Introduction to Business ( BUS 110 -M91), Business Law ( BUS 115 -M91), Employment Law and Regulations ( BUS 217 -M91), Introduction to Computers ( CIS 110 -M91), Expository Writing ( ENG 111 -M91), Southern Culture ( HUM 122 -M93) and General Psychology ( PSY 150 -M91). The online Southern Culture class requires students to take a final exam on Main Campus.Five on-campus classes complete the ten-week mini-semester lineup at VGCC. A Spreadsheet class ( CTS 130 -M4) is scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday mornings on South Campus in Granville County. The same campus will host an Advocacy course ( MHA 240 -M4) in the mental health program, also on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Study Skills ( ACA 090 -M7) will be taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the college’s Franklin County Campus in Louisburg. The Warren County Campus in Warrenton will offer a class on College Student Success ( ACA 111 -M6) on Tuesday evenings. Introduction to Sociology ( SOC 210 -M1) will be taught on the college’s main campus in Vance County on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.For more information or to apply for the spring mini-semester classes, interested persons may visit the campus on which they are being offered or call VGCC Student Services at (252) 492-2061.