Classes resume at Dalton State

Published 12:44 am Sunday, August 15, 2010

Registration for the fall semester at Dalton State College continues through Wednesday, but officials already are expecting about 300 students more than this time last year.

“(Enrollment will) be somewhere around 6,000,” said Jodi Johnson, vice president for enrollment and student services. “I think we’ll have about 1,600 students in our freshman class. That’s not a final number.”

The college has added several bachelor degree programs during the past few years, but the program schedule this year remains the same. That’s despite a state funding shortfall that earlier this year had students and college officials concerned about the ability of being able to fund some programs.

Even the campus at the Whitfield Career Academy, which was slated not to open until January because of budget concerns, will have a few classes there this year. That’s due mostly to the enrollment increase, Johnson said. She said there will be about six core classes offered at the Academy campus this fall, and it will likely be staffed with three or four instructors who will be there on a part-time basis.

“We are just out of space (at the main campus),” Johnson said.

Several students said they’re looking forward to starting back. For Yessica Guerrero and Edith Sanchez, the fall semester will be a welcome break from the fast-paced schedule of summer school.

Gabriel Villafuerte, a junior education major, said he’s especially looking forward to this fall because he’ll get some hands-on experience in his field of study.

“This coming semester, I get to go to different schools to help out teachers, and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.