Connie Elrod, director of the Little Rock Professional Center in Little Rock, assists students with a computer assignment. The graduate program in education, which offers a Masters of Arts in Teaching, opened last year and has already seen enrollment double. Newgraduate program offered North Little Rock Professional Center doubles in enrollment • • • • • • • • • • • • • •bydondaburright Harding University's Graduate Studies in • program gives educators an opportunity to enEducation offered a new graduate program at : gage in graduate course work, workshops and the university's Professional Center in North • seminars that will allow them to attain higher Little Rock. This Harding branch offers a Mas- • standards of learning and development. ters of Arts in Teaching. : The MAT program is designed to enhance Kit is well underway and is projected to in- • 12 classroom teachers' skills and knowledge, crease in enrollment every semester, according • using the finest practices in curriculum and to Patti Jo White, assistant to the director at the : instruction and giving teachers more groundProfessional Center. • work for their profession. After the professional center opened a year • Because of the growth of knowledge in each ago, the enrollment has : academicteachingfield, itindoubled, White said. creasingly difficult for stu- "We started with24students "We started with )ft dents to attain the compeenrolled and now we have had tency required in the teachclose to 400 students who have students enrolled and ing profession in a four-year takenclassesattheProfessional now we have had close to undergraduatecourse schedCenter," White said. ule She said that word of mouth 400 students who have This graduate program has been the most effective ad- taken classes at the fulfillsthedesiresofbothnew vertisement. Professional Center." and experienced teachers The MAT program is also who know the professional offered in Helena, Ark. at - Patti Jo White and personal benefits to be Phillips Community College. gained from further educaWith Harding's excellent • ti on in academic, professional faculty and solid reputation, graduates finish • and cultural fields. the MAT program ready to excel in their ca- • The MAT program consists of 34 graduate reers, White said. • hours and can be completed in 15 months, White She also said the branch campus has several : said. benefits. Tuition at the professional center is • Courses are offered year-round so that they the same amount as graduate classes taken in • are convenient to educators who teach full-time Searcy. • and to nontraditional students who are married Financial aid is also available through the : and have children. University's financial aid office. The Brackett • "What makes this program so attractive to Library can be accessed online by students en- • teachers are the weekend classes that are ofrolled at the Little Rock location. : fered," said Dr. Jim Nichols, director of graduAccording to the College of Education, this • ate studies in the College of Education. 172 academics Dr. Linda Thornton, associate professor of educatioi teaches a research methods class. The course was quired for all students in the graduate education progr
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