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April 5, 2006

Alternative Scheduling Offers Options
for Students Pursuing Healthcare Careers

Through its federally funded Alternate Health Education Asynchronous Delivery (AHEAD) project, Calhoun Community College is now offering scheduling options for students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. AHEAD focuses on healthcare professional training in Nursing, Surgical Technology, Radiography, and Clinical Lab Technology through a partnership with Central Alabama Community College and Southern Union State Community College.

Project AHEAD is a result of a $2.5M federal grant to Calhoun Community through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The grant is designed to serve the community in job-training efforts and is particularly interested in serving veterans, displaced workers, rural students, second career, and English as a second language students.

Calhoun is currently developing a Delayed Progression Associates Degree Nursing program using video streaming and live teleconferencing technology to provide nursing education to nontraditional students with a more flexible schedule than the traditional program. The delayed progression curriculum is stretched out over seven semesters instead of the traditional five semester program, allowing students to work on their nursing degree while maintaining a relatively normal routine in life and current job. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by April 14, 2006, for summer semester admission.

The Surgical Technology program will increase its enrollment this year, with special emphasis being placed on recruiting students from more rural and underserved areas of Northwest Alabama . Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by May 30, 2006, for fall admission.

Radiography Technology will be offered through a partnership with SOUTHERN UNION STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE in Opelika , Alabama . Students in Calhoun's service area will attend classes on Calhoun's Decatur campus. Clinical sites in Calhoun's service area are facilitated by a full-time radiography instructor located on the Decatur campus as well. Travel to Opelika will be required on a monthly basis in order to complete radiography lab instruction. The Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree will be awarded from Southern Union for this five semester program. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by June 15, 2006, for fall admission.

The Clinical Laboratory Technology program is under development with a projected start for the Fall 2007. This program offer a Career Pathway with flexible exit and re-entry points on the way to obtaining an AAS degree in five semesters. Phlebotomy Certification can be completed in one semester; a Clinical Lab Assistant Certificate can be completed in three semesters; and the Clinical Lab Technologist Program is five semesters in length.

For more information about Project AHEAD contact Calhoun at 256-306 2804, or visit www.calhoun.edu/grants/AHEAD/index.html.

Coverage of this release:

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Janet Kincherlow-Martin
Director of Public Relations
(256) 306-2561

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