[November 19, 2008]

Lifestyle courses reappear in University of Memphis continuing ed program

(Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 19--John Zacharias massages headaches away. This spring the certified neuro-muscular masseur will show students how to knead away their pain in a University of Memphis Continuing Education class.

With little notice or fanfare, leisure, lifestyle, health and cultural enrichment classes have crept back into the U of M's continuing education catalog.

In 2006, the university dropped most continuing education classes except those devoted to professional development and foreign languages.

Churches and other groups were offering similar courses, officials said, and the program was losing too much money.

But in fall 2007, wine tasting and garden design reappeared. Soon calligraphy, genealogy and photography returned. There was even Chinese tea tasting. This fall there were at least 90 courses oriented toward leisure or lifestyles.

"It's had a soft comeback. We're testing to see if it's working," said Vicki Murrell, program director for what she calls "a lean, mean little group."

Continuing ed, which once had a staff of 15, is now run by three full-time and three part-time workers.

"We've tried to steer away from things community centers and churches can do," said Dan Lattimore, U of M vice provost for extended programs.

So jazzercise, yoga and defensive driving courses are out. Sophisticated leisure and skills also useful in business are favored.

Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between leisure and career courses. A local grocery store, for example, used continuing ed's cake decorating course to train its staff.

The program, with a budget of $550,000, lost $50,000 last fiscal year. But that's less than the $80,000 it lost the previous fiscal year.

The goal is to break even. Lattimore called continuing ed a public service for the community.

"People were very unhappy the classes left," said Murrell. "Photography, wine and beer tasting, and cooking were very popular. Challenging your mind and body by learning something new is one of the best ways to preserve agility and mental function."

In 2008, continuing ed served about 9,000 people: 4,000 kids in county schools and some private schools who took its Alive at 25 driving safety course, and 5,000 in open enrollment.

Courses such as Anna Kelly's photography classes had 12 active students in October and 20 this month. Most students, who range in age from about 30 to 50, own more advanced cameras and simply want to learn to take better photos. "They want to shoot pictures of their kids and sports pictures," she said. "Some want to shoot pictures of the moon."

Twelve people signed up for Chinese tea tasting, taught by a visiting Chinese professor, said Hsiang-Te Kung, founder of the Confucius Institute at the U of M. Tea is important in Chinese culture, he said, and serves multiple purposes from treating ailments to creating a relaxing social environment.

The spring catalog, which will be distributed Jan. 4 as an insert in The Commercial Appeal, will have at least 20 new lifestyle courses and two additional off-campus locations. Retirement planning courses will be held at The Jewish Community Center, and cooking classes at Memphis Botanic Garden.

Head massage will be perhaps the quintessential leisure skill offered since, once learned, you never have to leave your recliner to do it. In fact, it's best performed there or in bed, said Zacharias.

To see more of The Commercial Appeal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.commercialappeal.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]

Discussions: