Kirkwood to offer new course option this fall

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Kirkwood Community College this fall will pilot "dual-listed" classes in several course areas, an option aimed at people who want to try out a college course that they could use for academic credit later.

Under the new option, people can take college credit classes without going through the admission process. Classes in art, specifically drawing and painting, and in industrial technology were chosen to pilot the program this fall and next spring, said Kim Johnson, vice president of Kirkwood's Continuing Education and Training Services.

Kirkwood officials hear from time to time from people who want access to some of the expert faculty or who want the opportunity to take a college course in an area they might be interested in, but who don't want to be admitted as a student, Johnson said.

This option allows them to test those courses out, and they could get academic credit later if they decide they want it, she said.

"Some of our sister community colleges across the nation do this and have quite good success with it," Johnson said.

The dual-listed courses are academic credit classes listed in the Kirkwood Continuing Education catalog. Anyone can sign up without going through the admissions process or taking a required course load.

Students taking a dual-listed class attend alongside the Kirkwood students who are receiving academic credit, but the dual-listed students would not go through the admission process. The coursework and grading would be the same for all students in the class, Johnson said.

If, after the class is done, the continuing education student wants to receive academic credit, they can covert the continuing ed hours to academic credit hours.

One upside for Kirkwood: some courses have the capacity to add more students, so this option can help fill seats, Johnson said.

Officials are unsure how many students to expect under the new option, but they are open to adding other course offerings if there is demand, she said.

"We thought we'd start small and see if there was interest in the community," she said.