More evening courses will be offered at the Austin Community College Pinnacle campus on Hwy. 290 starting in the fall semester, increasing the total number of courses offered in the evening from 13 to 16.

The new evening courses include an introduction to anatomy and physiology as well as an introduction to U.S. government.

ACC Pinnacle also added four more continuing education classes for the fall semester: Crowns and Tiaras, Stringing Beads—the Basics and Beyond, Fiber Optics and IT Project Management. The tech-related continuing education classes are for working professionals, and the bead-making classes are for people in the community who want to learn something for fun, ACC history professor Terry Thomas said.

“We want to do some outreach to the working professionals in our community and offer them courses they may want for career advancement; they may not be degree-seeking,” Thomas said. “They may want to take programming courses or [information technology] management courses.”

The programming for the Austin workforce, including the fiber-optics continuing education course, came about because employers have told ACC they want to hire people who are well-trained and well-positioned to go right into the workforce, Thomas said. 

But the degree-pursuing student is not excluded from the evening classes and continuing education scheduling. Core classes are also offered in the evening for students needing to fulfill general education requirements, Thomas said, adding that the scheduling provides flexibility to a student who may want to attend daytime classes on some days and evening classes on other days.

“We have such a wide variety of students that come to ACC, and we’re looking for ways to provide the opportunities for them, whether they’re working moms or they’re in a professional field and trying to get additional education,” ACC Pinnacle Campus Manager David Tucker said.

Thomas said staffers like to think of ACC Pinnacle as “the heart of Oak Hill,” not just because of its physical location, but also for providing services to the community.

“There’s a lot of industry and a lot of growth going on [in Southwest Austin],” said Wade Bradfute, ACC Pinnacle campus dean of student services. “Seton [Southwest Hospital] is right across from us, Freescale [Semiconductor] is nearby and it is my understanding a large apartment complex is going in next door, so we need to provide what people need locally rather than them having to drive across town.”