This content was published: May 18, 2010. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC non-credit program gets trendy
Photos and story by James Hill
In a tough economy, it’s a hard sell to have the public sign up for fun non-credit classes at the local community college. But at Portland Community College, leaders have made its program trend what the community wants while keeping the fun.
From the fun (surfing classes on the Oregon coast) to courses on aging and networking for a successful career to dog training and beer making, zeroing in on what the community wants rather than guessing has energized PCC’s Community Education program. They even offer travel tours to Costa Rica and Italy as well as offer language classes for Swahili or specialized education courses for the Portland Winterhawks.
Doug Duncan works with a Great Dane pup during a recent Saturday training session. His class is trendy thanks to the Community Education program at PCC.
One of the largest of its kind in the United States, Community Education employs 365 part-time instructors that teach more than 30,000 students every year. To put that in perspective that enrollment is greater than any of the state’s four-year universities. In addition to trending the latest fads, it has cultivated 80 local partnerships with businesses, community centers, schools and libraries and offers 1,100 courses per term at more than 100 locations.
Director Tonya Booker said her non-credit program has responded to help people in the downturned economy by offering many classes for under $50. They have also partnered with libraries to offer free lunchtime classes and with a local company to offer personal enrichment classes to their employees to boost morale. She said Community Education is able to develop and offer new classes within a fairly short time frame and has recently seen good community response to new cooking, green living and meditation classes.
“Our staff is very creative and they pay close attention to trends,” Booker said. “Along with our hardworking staff, our success is greatly due to hundreds of passionate instructors that are excited to engage community members in learning.”
Doug Duncan, owner of Northeast Portland’s Doggy Business, is one of those talents that have been recruited by PCC. He’s the instructor of the class “Canine Good Citizen,” where people learn how to train their pooches to behave in any situation. He has become a popular instructor because he said that he makes them fun for the dogs and the people, and teaches the dog owners how to effectively change their dog’s behavior for the better, even after the class is over.
“Public demand certainly was a part of the interest by PCC,” Duncan said. “The classes fill up every quarter and we do typically have a waiting list. The PCC classes are a big mix of everybody. Ages range from people in their twenties to those into their 60s. That’s one thing I really like about teaching people to train their dogs. All ages love dogs.”
Duncan uses a water dish – which he'll drop to the floor – to test the owners' dogs ability to deal with loud noises.
On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, neighborhood dog owners convened in front of his business on Northeast 42nd Avenue to wait for their class to begin. It was a diverse mix of canines, from Great Danes to Labradors to smaller toy dogs. Inside, Duncan, always with a smile, directed them through training exercises, from having their dog behave when approached by a stranger to keeping them still as the owner walked away, were just a few.
Before he could move on, though, an issue arose when one of the labs had a barking problem. Duncan quickly addressed it by advising the owner to ignore the barks, while moving a wood barrier in between the offending lab and the neighboring Great Dane.
His startup business and techniques caught the eye of Community Education manager Carol Martin, who had heard about his fun style and effective techniques from the owners of Green Dog Pet Supply. Martin had been looking to have her area offer dog training classes that promoted positive, fun techniques, which people had asked for – a trend in preference by the community.
“The owner there said that there was this great new doggy day care training center nearby,” she said. “So I followed up with the lead. The reason he’s so good is that his class is positive-based training, very supportive and shows students a lot of tricks. When I first talked to Doug he was real positive and wonderful. As a result, we had a lot of success with his classes. They are always full with wait lists.”
Community Education is also making a push into promoting itself at local events with booths at the Washington County Fair or the Senior Resources Fair in Scappoose. The program has developed a dynamic online presence with regular video blog updates at www.pcccommunityed.blogspot.com, YouTube and Facebook.
For more information on the Community Education program, visit its Web site.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »