02.13.08 
Southeastern to serve non-traditional, adult students in new way; more majors to be offered through Evenings and Weekends and online programs

By Southeastern University

This fall, non-traditional, adult students at Southeastern will be able to enter bachelor's programs in marketing, management, Christian ministries, the university's general education core curriculum, and other fields that only had been available to traditional, day students. The offerings are part of the university's new Evenings and Weekends program, which will enable older, non-traditional students to major in many more of Southeastern's 44 bachelor's programs.

Southeastern is orchestrating a similar increase in the online programs it offers. Eventually, the virtual wall that had separated students enrolled in evening, traditional, or online courses will disappear; any student will be able to choose how he or she takes a Southeastern course: during the day, during evenings and Saturdays, or online.

Many evening degree--and online-- programs have a stigma of providing non-traditional students with less prestigious credentials upon graduation, said vice president John Kautz. The extension of traditional programs to evening and online students equips them with degrees in universally recognized and highly marketable concentrations, he said.

This fall, students can enter new Evenings and Weekends programs in Marketing, Management, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. Administrators anticipate that most of the current 44 majors offered to traditional students will be available through its Evenings & Weekends program within three and a half years.

In addition to the Evenings and Weekends program, Southeastern has created a new, online education department that will help professors deliver their traditional courses in an online format. The new department will be headed by Georgia Dodd of Lakeland; Dodd served as the faculty and staff training and development specialist at Southeastern from 2006 until her recent appointment as the Director of Online Learning.