Columbia State's Center for Economic and Workforce Development is offering several non-credit courses during the month of March, covering a variety of topics from computer training to real estate and investing.

"Conquering Your Fear of Investing" - Would you like to conquer your fear of investing, better understand the stock market and learn how it can work for you? Columbia State Community College has just the training course for you! It is a two hour course which focuses on the mechanics of investing, understanding risk and how to manage it, the various investment options and how they can help prepare you for retirement. The class will be held on March 18, from 6:00 - 8:30 pm in the Hickman building, room 123, at the Columbia campus of Columbia State. The class fee, $30, covers all materials. If you are interested, please call 931-540-2659 for more information or to register.

"Introduction to Word 2007" teaches the student to create and edit documents in Word 2007, format text and paragraphs and format documents and tables. This class will be held on the Columbia campus on Friday, March 12 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The fee for the class is $129, and includes the text.

"Introduction to Excel 2007" teaches the student how to get started with Excel 2007 and work with formulas and functions. This class will be held on the Columbia campus on Friday, March 5 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Fee: $129 includes text.

"Introduction to Quickbooks 2008" covers banking and billing activities, working with reports and budgets, and protecting and backing up data. This class will be held on the Columbia campus on Friday, March 19 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Fee: $129 includes text.

"Word 2007 for Seniors" covers the topics of developing and editing documents, formatting text and paragraphs, formatting documents, and creating and formatting tables. This class will be held on the Columbia campus on Friday, March 26 from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The cost of attendance is $84 and includes the text.

The "Online Medical Transcription" program involves an intense curriculum that prepares individuals to be employable and achieve their financial goals. The program consists of six consecutive blocks. Each block contains four to five courses and will take about six weeks to complete. A student will complete 950 cumulative hours of study during the program. Oak Horizons regularly networks with various employers to document skill needs and program value. This class will begin on Monday, March 8. The fee of $1,999 does not include books.

Among the other courses offered, Columbia State will be offering an "Essential Interviewing Skills for the Employer" course during March. Interviewers make the best hiring decision when they gather meaningful, job-related information from applicants. The class teaches participants how to interview for the behaviors, knowledge and motivations that are needed to be successful in a job. This class will be offered on Wednesday, March 10 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The fee of $169 includes the text and other materials.

"Essentials of Leadership" teaches students to evaluate the use of important leadership behaviors and identify leadership strengths and areas for development, assess communication skills and develop particular skills the student wants to develop further, use the interaction process, key principles, interaction guidelines and process skills to achieve critical business objectives while enhancing working relationships, and how to use technique to provide meaningful, supportive feedback. The fee of $99 includes the text and all class materials. This class will be held on Wednesday, March 24 from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Columbia State will also be offering a "Fundamentals of Real Estate" class which will cover a large portion of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission's pre-license course requirements. Topics include the real estate business, agency relationship, contracts, valuation and finance. This class is scheduled for 15 Mondays beginning March 1 thru May 31 from 5:30 p.m. until 9:40 p.m. The cost of the class is $330 and includes text and 6.0 continuing education units.

For more information on continuing education classes call (931) 540-2660.

Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth largest higher education system in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.