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In This Issue:

• CALL Opens New Offices
• Northwestern State Staff Pursue Degrees Through CALL
• Southeastern Promotes Online Bachelor's Degree For Nurses
• BPCC 2008 CALL Graduates Celebrate

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CALL Opens New Offices

Alexandria – On August 25, 2008 the newly titled Center for Adult Learning in Louisiana officially opened offices. The offices are located at the Learning Center for Rapides Parish in Alexandria, LA.

CALL, a statewide initiative, is now located centrally within the borders of Louisiana. The offices will help to further coordinate programs and resources at state colleges such as McNeese State University and the University of Louisiana -Monroe, which are separated by 200 miles.

Students can call the office at 318-484-2184 ext. 132 during the day and receive information about the CALL program.

For more information on CALL, go to http://www.yourcallla.org.

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Northwestern State Staff Pursues Degrees Through CALL

Natchitoches – Some of NSU's staff are taking advantage of the Center for Adult Learning in Louisiana (CALL) program to complete their degrees through the innovative adult learning program. CALL helps working adults take online courses in an accelerated or "fast track" model at their own convenience and provides college credit for prior education, work and life experiences. This allows adults to more quickly complete an associate or bachelor's degree.

Jennifer Danos, administrative assistant for Electronic and Continuing Education, worked very closely with the CALL program, attending almost all the CALL faculty workshops.

"I was excited about the new fast track classes begin offered to adult students," she said. "I wanted to wait until after the first semester of classes offered to see how students liked them before I committed to my first course. Once I started getting calls about how great they were I knew I was ready to start."

CALL uses a Prior Learning Assessment process to determine what students know and what they need to learn through coursework. Credit may be awarded for knowledge gained through life or work experiences, seminars, non-credit courses, in-service training programs or military service.

Jennifer graduated from high school in 1991 and attended a community college in New York in pursuit of an accounting degree. After relocating to Many from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she came to work at NSU and began to focus on finishing her degree. She now has 60 credits towards degrees in business and accounting and anticipates 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 more years of study before she reaches her goal.

"Jumping back into the school atmosphere after 13 years has been a little difficult. Trying to remember algebra after so many years was difficult. You lose a lot of what you learned in high school when you don't apply it every day," she said. "I am also working full-time and a mother of three children and very involved with their sports and school activities, so finding time to study has proved to be a challenge."

Jennifer said she had already helped some students get started, so enrolling was easy and the faculty has been just as helpful. "The faculty teaching CALL courses have been terrific," she said. "They have all been very understanding about the extra demands an adult learner is faced with."

The CALL program at NSU is offered on-line, which makes learning more convenient for busy adults. Jennifer loves the flexibility of on-line classes as opposed to sitting in a tradition classroom for 16 weeks and notes that the mentality of adult learners is completely different than the incoming freshmen, so working on-line with other adult learners has been very different from sitting in a biology class with 100 other students. "Overall my experience with the CALL program has been a very rewarding and satisfying one."

To find out if the CALL program is right for you, contact CALL coordinators Carl Henry or Katy Hall at 6503. More information about the program is available at http://www.yourcallla.org or http://www.nsula.edu/call.

- David West

NSU News Bureau

For more information on CALL, go to http://www.yourcallla.org.

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Southeastern Promotes Online Bachelor's Degree For Nurses

Hammond – Last spring and over the summer, Southeastern Louisiana University launched its marketing campaign to promote its new online bachelor’s degree for registered nurses who are graduates of diploma or associate degree programs.

The initial launch involved an announcement in the news media followed by paid advertising in selected publications aimed at Louisiana nurses.

The campaign also included distribution of specially made posters and pushcards that were distributed to area hospitals and intended to solicit interest among registered nurses looking to take the next step in their educational careers. Materials emphasized fast track, online courses, supportive faculty and prior learning assessment.

The university added a special Web site to its nursing pages and used the Web address in all its promotions. Future marketing will include feature stories in area media, direct mail to registered nurses, and additional advertising.

-SLU News Bureau

For more information on CALL, go to http://www.yourcallla.org.

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BPCC 2008 CALL Graduates Celebrate

Bossier City – This semester our students enrolled in the CALL program experienced tremendous success and this success can translate to you. Most of our CALL students at BPCC have been to college before. They have left their mark on higher education and college has sometimes left its mark them.

CALL provides adult learners an opportunity for success at college the second and even third time around. This summer marked the second time our CALL students became graduates. Graduation, held July 31st, marked a major milestone for our students, some of whom had been pursuing their degree for over 20 years. While the roads they will take after graduation differ, they shared the same vision in finishing their degree.

Some will move on to achieve their bachelor’s degree, some will use their new degree as leverage for a raise or new position at work and still others will bask in the knowledge that they are college graduates. Perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned from BPCC’s graduates is that it does not matter how many times you started college, how long it has been since you have been in school or even how old you are. Earning a degree is within everyone’s grasp.

If being a part of this exciting program interests you, our CALL team is here to help. E-mail a CALL team member at call [at] bpcc [dot] edu or by phone at 318-678-6050. What are you waiting for? Answer the CALL.

For more information on CALL, go to http://www.yourcallla.org.