With passion and sincere enthusiasm for contributing to Flagler College and the surrounding community, Dr. Jorge Herrera and his colleagues have worked diligently to organize the continuing education program at Flagler College. Herrera, the director of Adult and Continuing Education, is also an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the college.

Although modest when discussing his role, the impact that the continuing education program has had on the community reflects positively on Herrera and his efforts. This program is designed to provide working professionals corporate training and development opportunities, and offers adults opportunities to engage in stimulating and meaningful activities.

Currently consisting of three curricula, the program offers courses in Corporate Training and Professional Development, Lifelong Learning, and Test Preparation. The first continuing education course started in September 2016.

“Before we started the program, I conducted research for about a year. We held focus groups to bring the community on board and were overwhelmed by the community response,” Herrera said.

Northeast Florida businesses of any size can benefit by participating in the Corporate Training and Professional Development course offered at Flagler College. This program offers training and certification classes such as Project Management and Project Management Professional Preparation, Lean Six Sigma Certification and other training opportunities as needed. Flagler College contributes to the training and development needs of local organizations and corporations. The Corporate Training and Professional Development curriculum utilizes skilled instructors with a goal of efficiently training employees who have the capacity for improving business processes, reducing errors and are interested in achieving the highest productivity possible.

“Companies do want their employees to stay current and this program will cater to the needs of each individual business. I will develop a course that is tailored to what is needed. If we see that companies are requiring certain things, we can update our curriculum,” Herrera said.

Differentiating their offering from mass online training, the college strives for each employee in the program to be better and more confident when they have completed their personal training.

“We are very careful in seeking out passionate instructors that share the same philosophy. Many large and small business have already benefited from and appreciated what the program has to offer their employees,” Herrera said.

Lifelong Learning at Flagler College continues to expand and is becoming a popular force for education in the community. Classes include a wide range of subjects that captivate learners while nurturing a need for continued learning. Politics, history, music, foreign languages, creative writing, computer and new technology basics, as well as an array of other courses, offer outstanding opportunities for adults seeking new knowledge or opportunities. These non-credited courses are generally scheduled for 90 minutes, once a week, for a six week period. Courses are typically $49 and new classes are being routinely added.

“The Lifelong Learning program is labor intensive, but also very rewarding. The people love it. It’s good for the community and for the college,” Herrera said.

These courses are intended to foster new interests or to support learning related to a familiar subject matter.

After determining what else Flagler College could do to fulfill its potential in the community, the Test Preparation program came to fruition. The instructors are professional educators who make it a priority to help students prepare and improve their scores.

“Before, residents in St. Johns County would need to drive to Jacksonville, or even Orlando, to take an SAT preparation course,” Herrera said.

Standardized tests are typically a crucial component of college and graduate school application processes. Flagler College offers prep courses for the SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE and the LSAT. Each course gives a comprehensive review of tested subjects, as well as a preparation plan and testing tips to help each student achieve their goal.

Visit www.flagler.edu/adulted for more information on the Flagler College Continuing Education program.

Photo by Angela Higginbotham

Dr. Jorge Herrera, director of Adult and Continuing Education at Flagler College.