For a little over 34 years, Professor Eva Hefner has been teaching for St. Petersburg College (SPC). For 23 of those years, she has taught CGS 1100 Computer Applications, a dynamically-dated skills-based course that uses several search engines and computer applications such as windows, word processing, spreadsheets, database programs and slide presentations. Prior to teaching at the St. Petersburg\/Gibbs campus, Hefner first taught for 13 years at the Tarpon Springs campus. Since the start of her career at SPC, Hefner has seen many changes in technology. She went from teaching keyboarding, shorthand, and Business Math courses in face-to-face format to teaching online classes. This required her to adapt her teaching methods and change teaching strategies. She stated that it is important for faculty in the technology field to be flexible and periodically update their skills.<\/p>\n
Apart from teaching, Hefner started the Phi Beta Lamda (PBL) Chapter, a student business organization, on the Tarpon Springs campus. She then continued as faculty advisor for PBL for 5 years on the St. Pete\/Gibbs campus. Hefner and the PBL students attended statewide competitions, held fundraisers and organized monthly meetings. This gave students the opportunity to interact with each other as well as students and faculty from other colleges.\u00a0 Hefner also launched the Tarpon Springs campus newsletter, handled student job placement and was the lead instructor for the Weekend Computer Institute. Hefner said that engaging in extracurricular activities such as these helped her to build a good rapport with her students.<\/p>\n
Commenting on her tenure at SPC, Hefner said, \u201cI learned a lot from my students. That is why I always appreciated face-to-face classes since I could interact with my students and exchange ideas. It is a great social network.\u201d Hefner further stated that she gained a sense of fulfillment knowing that she \u201cprepared students for future careers.\u201d The students have \u201ckept me feeling young, kept me active and helped me stay alert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Hefner has accomplished what she set out to do through her involvement in meetings, various committees, conferences, and workshops, she said that \u201cthere was always a feeling that you can do more, but that is not always possible due to time constraints, teaching responsibilities, and personal commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hefner is due to retire at the end of the fall 2011 semester.<\/p>\n
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For a little over 34 years, Professor Eva Hefner has been teaching for St. Petersburg College (SPC). For 23 of those years, she has taught CGS 1100 Computer Applications, a dynamically-dated skills-based course that uses several search engines and computer applications such as windows, word processing, spreadsheets, database programs and slide presentations. Prior to teaching … Continue reading Eva Hefner Retires from St. Petersburg College<\/span>