Registration Day

Spartanburg Community College held registration Wednesday at the Union County Advanced Technology Center (UCATC) – a campus shared by Spartanburg Community College, USC Union and Union County.

SCC offers a variety of transition level courses at the UCATC for students who need to build foundation skills in areas such as reading, English/language arts and mathematics.

SCC also offers foundation courses within the health and human services division at UCATC covering subjects such as anatomy, medical terminology and early childhood development.

“Those courses are geared toward students interested in nursing or working in a medical lab,” said SCC Admissions Director Kathy Lancaster.

Lancaster also mentioned the school’s awareness of the fact that current and potential businesses of Union are looking for a trained workforce.

“We want to bring citizens into this facility and send them back out into the workforce,” Lancaster said. “We are looking to expand course offerings in the next year to better serve business and industry of Union County.”

Welding instructor Joe Richards discussed the progress of the SCC welding department and the welding lab at UCATC in particular. Lancaster mentioned dual credit with Union County High School has become an area of focus. Welding courses are taught to eight high school students at the UCATC welding lab Monday-Thursday from 2:30-4:30 p.m. The courses were made possible through a grant received by UCHS for $15,000.

Richards said the SCC welding department has already placed 60 people in the workforce this year, with the average pay starting at $16-$18 per hour.

Pay can range up to $32 per hour.

“We could have evening classes if enough people are interested,” Richards said. “If people in Union got serious about taking classes here, this could really be what Union has needed for a long time.”

For more information about SCC registration contact Kathy Lancaster at (864) 592-4815.

NETBOOK

CHECKOUT:

HP Mini Netbooks are now available for checkout at all five Spartanburg Community College campuses – including the Union County Advanced Technology Center.

As a part of the South Carolina State Technical College System’s “South Carolina Reach for Success” initiative, SCC applied for and received a federal grant for which SCC was one of the grant writers. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Stimulus Grant —from the US Department of Commerce — totaled $363,955, which was divided among the schools involved. SCC used its share to establish Public Computer Centers which are now open to the public. The centers provide free onsite wireless Internet use and free checkout of the netbook computers, which are available to students, faculty, staff and local residents.

“These grant funds have allowed SCC to set up the infrastructure needed to establish a public wireless network on each campus and the purchase of 125 netbook computers,” said Pete Gallen, SCC’s director of information technologies. “Now anyone in the community can come to one of our campuses in Spartanburg, Duncan, Gaffney and Union to use the wireless Internet or borrow a laptop to take home with them.”

Netbook checkout is ideal for those who need to work on computer skills, type papers, create a resume or simply need Internet access.

“Everything is done online now,” Lancaster said. “You really can’t survive without those computer skills.” Both UCATC and USC Union campuses offer free Wi-fi Internet access.

By Derik Vanderford, Staff Reporter with The Union Daily Times