Webster offers facilities to OTC

by Jan K. Allen

SBJ Contributing Writer

Fall and graduate classes have begun at the Springfield campus of Webster University. The university, with more than 70 campuses worldwide, has a new Springfield location in the Missouri State Bank building on the corner of Battlefield and Campbell.

The university offers seven graduate programs with evening-only classes that meet once a week, John LaNear, campus director, said.

These are accelerated nine-week courses held 5:30-9:30 p.m. in one-night-a-week sessions.

The school occupies the second floor of the bank building, maintaining six classrooms and a computer lab, along with administrative offices.

Webster has 25 students enrolled, including several who have transferred from the Rolla and Fort Leonard Wood campuses to shorten their commute, LaNear said.

Webster has a reserve pool of qualified instructors in the fields of study it offers, and the school expects to expand the courses available as more people become aware of the opportunity and demand increases, LaNear said.

Meanwhile, the university has offered the use of its classroom and computer facilities to Ozarks Technical Community College, rent free, so space and equipment does not sit dormant while not in use for Webster's scheduled classes.

"OTC has been a wonderful resource in southwest Missouri and we feel privileged to aid in their efforts," LaNear said.

Sue Moore, assistant dean for noncredit courses at OTC, said OTC plans to offer 10 classes at the Webster facility in the spring.

"It's a good location with easy access," Moore said.

Of the 455 OTC noncredit classes available to the general public, two one-day classes will be at Webster: Interpersonal Business Skills Feb. 9 and De-Clutter Your Day & Your Life Feb 16. Class times will be 6-9 p.m.

A series of seminars will be conducted by James Allen, a human resources consultant and educator from Iowa.

Allen has a master's degree in psychology and 20 years of experience. The seminars are: Building Leadership Skills, March 15; Motivated People Work, March 15; High Performance Teamwork, April 12; and Solving Performance Problems, April 12.

These classes are arranged so participants can take advantage of one or both sessions. The first session runs 9 a.m.-noon and the second 1-4 p.m. on each of the dates indicated.

For those who want to learn basic computer skills or strengthen existing computer skills, The Basic Series and Power User Series for beginning and intermediate users will be offered as daytime classes in February.

To upgrade skills or add new skills, Outlook 97 will be offered in the evening in February and again in March. The evening class will include several sessions.

Long-running evening classes will also be offered in Excel and Access. All of these courses require some computer background.

Especially for seniors are two, two-day sessions titled Overview of Computers. These full-day classes will be offered 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 8 and 9 and again May 6 and 7.

Webster offers masters degrees in business administration, management, business, human resources development, human resources management, health services management and computer resource information management.

LaNear said he feels positive about the acceptance the university has received from local businesses and individuals.

The founding of the Springfield campus brings the total to nine Webster University campuses located in the state of Missouri.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Webster University student Debbie Smith works on a paper in the school's computer lab. This lab, along with other educational facilities, will also be used by OTC students.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Chris Dunham, community relations coordinator for Webster University, shows one of the classrooms that will be used by OTC students and faculty.[[In-content Ad]]