Can't cook? Can't tell a Chippendale antique from an art deco chair? Want to learn how to be your own private investigator? The University of Memphis can help.
The Continuing Education program at The U of M offers non-credit courses to over 20,000 students a year.
Phyllis Cline, owner of Forty Carrots, teaches cooking classes through the Continuing Education program.
Cline said the program has been a great way to get students enrolled in her classes.
"My personal mailing list is over 3,000 names," she said. "That would be so expensive for a small business to do ourselves."
Cline offers classes in French, Italian, Greek, Spanish and North-African cooking. "I also do the 'how to boil water' type of class."
Nancy Tompkins, senior administrative secretary to the vice president of Extended Programs, has taken a tailoring and an interior decorating class.
"The classes helped me be more creative -- I really enjoyed it." Tompkins said.
Dr. Dan Lattimore, vice provost of Extended Programs, said The University doesn't do this for the profits -- it breaks even financially on Continuing Education courses.
"We do it as a public service for the community," Lattimore said.
Lattimore said the program gets a tremendous response from the community, and most people learn about the program from the catalogs placed in The Commercial Appeal.
"The instructors are helpful and friendly," Tompkins said. "It was worth the money."
Maryanne Macdonald, director of Continuing Education, coordinates the program and teaches seven organizational classes. She has been the subject of several news articles, with one featuring her home for one of her classes.
Melissa Fischer, who works at The U of M, said she and her husband try to take at least one class together each semester. They are currently learning how to kayak.
"It's a lot of fun," Fischer said.
The kayaking course is being taught in the pool at the recreation center, and Fischer is very impressed with her instructors.
"They are very professional -- they do a great job." Fischer said.
Macdonald said the program offers 380 classes during each semester and distributes over 275,000 catalogs in The Commercial Appeal three times a year. The next catalog will be in the April 22 paper.
"We feel people should learn through their entire life," Macdonald said. "From birth to grave."
Macdonald said the courses are approved by the academic departments before being offered. She said they want their instructors to bring expertise to the table.
"We want to have classes that have validity," Macdonald said.
Macdonald said the baby boomers are their biggest clients, and self-improvement classes are the biggest interest. She also said the focus is on quality of life.
Macdonald said the program surveys people to find out what type of classes they are interested in, and they also evaluate the instructors.
Macdonald said she finds that people don't hesitate to call if they don't like a class.
"We hear from our students," she said. "We want to hear from them."
