Saturday, July 26, 2008

CNM To Offer Fall Semester Courses

By Elaine D. BriseñO
Journal Staff Writer
      Central New Mexico Community College plans to start offering courses in Rio Rancho for the fall semester.
    The classes will be held at the Rio Rancho Mid-High in the late afternoon and early evening after Rio Rancho Public Schools students have gone home for the day.
    CNM spokesman Brad Moore said the school plans to continue adding new course offerings in Rio Rancho in preparation for the opening of its Rio Rancho campus in 2010.
    The Rio Rancho campus is scheduled to open in early 2010 near the City Center. Voters last year approved expanding the CNM district to include the northern half of Rio Rancho.
    Jane Bradley, CNM's director of education partnerships, said the school has offered a few courses in Rio Rancho over the years but never on this scale.
    "This is an endeavor to be in Rio Rancho sooner than our building is built," she said. "We will be offering a full range of classes."
    She said the goal is to offer core courses students need for most four-year bachelor's degrees. Students can obtain an associate's degree in general studies with the courses being offered at the mid-high.
    "They basically will have the first two years of a bachelor's degree out of the way," Moore said.
    Bradley said the course offerings will expand in the spring as the school adds the second-semester courses.
    Some core courses being offered in Rio Rancho include English, biology, economics, public speaking, Spanish, math and sociology. There will be some fun courses as well. Students can take a salsa dancing class.
    Bradley said that most of the credits will transfer to four-year universities in New Mexico including the University of New Mexico, which also plans to build a Rio Rancho campus.
    The fall semester for CNM runs from Sept. 22 through Dec. 13.
    To find a complete list of course offerings and for information about registration, visit www.cnm.edu.
   

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