Lourdes College will drop many enrichment classes

4/30/2001

Many of the personal enrichment programs Lourdes College offers through its continuing education program will be terminated after May 31.

The decision, which will not affect the Sylvania college's Eldervision program for adults over 50, was a matter of resources, college officials said.

“We're beginning to embark on many new directions,” said Dr. Robert Helmer, vice president for academic affairs. “It seemed like a time to begin looking at all our existing programs to just see where they stood with resources and viability.”

The college spends more than $70,000 annually on continuing education, mostly in wages. Some employees will be shifted to other areas of the college, freeing resources for other initiatives, such as budding honors and master's degree programs, said Michael Killian, vice president for finance and administration.

The discontinued services include art and computer classes and similar enrichment activities. “We have so many entities [elsewhere in the community] that do that type of thing,” Dr. Helmer said.

Eldervision, on the other hand, is considered to have more of a niche, he said.

Eldervision has about 300 members and involves non-credit classes on a variety of topics. Classes have covered literature, philosophy, and Ohio history.

About 2,000 people take part in the Catholic college's continuing education offerings each year. That figure includes Eldervision and repeat participants, officials said.

Ms. Drummer, 37, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree at Lourdes, took a writing class about family history in the fall at a cost of $69.

“I wish I could have taken more,” she said. “I looked at the list every time it came out, and there were a few that caught my eye.”