Southern Union kicks off fall semester

Fall classes resume at Southern Union Community College on Monday with a few changes and about 5,000 students enrolled.

“We registered just over 1,200 freshmen during our pre-college orientation sessions in June and July,” said Shondae Brown, coordinator of college relations at SUSCC.

As for changes, one is a scale back on Friday classes that will offer students some gas relief this fall.

“Rising gas prices have directly affected the students’ wallets ... A majority of our students do commute, and no Friday classes will help students save some gas money, and for those students who have jobs, it will give them an extra day to work,” she said.

The Wadley campus also has a new residence hall and two new professors: Dr. Michael Marcades, the new director of music, and Matthew Hamner, the new director of theatre. Marcades is taking over for Ann Caldwell, who retired in May.

The college will also offer a new robotics and automation controls certificate, she said.

“Classes are taught in the evenings, and the 29-credit hour certificate may be completed in three semesters,” she said. “An increased number of industries that are moving into the East Central Alabama area use high-speed automation and robotics in production operations. This is particularly true in the automotive manufacturing industry.”