Continuing Ed
teams with Hispano Chamber
Helps
young and old finish high school, earn GED
The UNM
Division of Continuing Education has teamed with the Albuquerque
Hispano Chamber of Commerce and Sandia National Laboratories
to help young people who want the credits necessary to return
to school or earn a GED as well as working and non-working adults
who have specific career development needs.
UNM Continuing
Education recently became the fiscal agent for the $250,000
that was legislated to equip and furnish a computer laboratory
at the Hispano Chambers offices to create the Barelas
Job Opportunity Center (BJOC). UNM Continuing Education also
assisted the BJOC with the technology planning and installation.The
lab has 20 state-of-the-art computers and a staff of three.
Short-term
workshops or classes are offered on flexible schedules, including
evenings and weekends, to help the business community, students
and others meet a variety of needs.
A free
monthly series of Business and Technology classes will be held
at the BJOC beginning this month. Each two-hour seminar, taught
by UNM Continuing Education instructors, will focus on topics
such as database techniques for your business, web page design
and promotion, and mail merge features.
Because
our goal is to provide the client with the specific course needed
at a convenient time, we are highly flexible and will schedule
courses in the evening and on the weekends when necessary,
says Chamber President Loretta Armenta.
The
center is located in the heart of Barelas and is uniquely positioned
to respond directly to the neighborhood, she says. For
example, we have an on-going partnership with UNM Continuing
Education that affords Career Works studentsstudents funded
through the Temporary Assistance to Need Families (TANF) programwho
live in and around Barelas the opportunity to take the classes
they need in the chambers BJOC classroom or computer lab.
The BJOC
is expected to provide significant help in revitalizing the
neighborhood. In fact, the UNM Continuing Education Career
Works program has a case manager on-site at the BJOC to assist
the small business oriented TANF client with specialized training
using the computer lab, said UNM Continuing Education
Associate Dean Eduardo Rodriquez.
Rodriguez
provided guidance and technical assistance on curriculum and
business concepts to be used for the small business member and
other BJOC clients.
Our
future plans include providing additional training by the division
in leadership and management skills as the need arises, especially
when the impact is on economic development, he said.