The H. Dale Williams Center for Extended Learning, the new headquarters of Coastal Carolina University's Division of Extended Learning and Public Services, will open May 15.

The 9,600-square-foot facility, located on the second floor of the new University Hall on the Coastal campus, will house the Lifelong Learning Society, two computer labs, five classrooms, office space, and the Senior Resource Center, a new service for senior adults created by H. Dale Williams.

The Senior Resource Center will offer free computer access, Internet, e-mail, fax and copy machine services to senior adults as well as a reading area which will be supplied with books and magazines. All classrooms and the Senior Resource Center will be connected to the Internet. In addition to the Division of Extended Learning's many programs for seniors, the Resource Center will offer workshops on healthcare, retirement, financial planning and other topics of interest to senior adults.

Coastal has been recognized as a national leader in providing educational programs for seniors. Coastal's Lifelong Learning Society received the Exemplary Model Program award from the Network for Older Adult Learners of the Association for Continuing Higher Education in 1999. In the last three years membership in the Lifelong Learning Society grew from 112 people to almost 1,000. From three computer courses each semester the program has grown to offer more than 45, according to Peter Balsamo, dean of Coastal's Division of Extended Learning and Public Services. Coastal is one of the few universities in the nation with dedicated facilities for older adult learning on their campuses.

Coastal's Division of Extended Learning and Public Services is a comprehensive continuing education operation, managing programs such as the Lifelong Learning Society, Bachelor's of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (BAIS), professional development workshops and seminars, specialized technologies certification, contract training, travel and study, Coastal Youth Academy, leisure learning, Command Spanish, credit and non-credit distance learning, high school dual credit, and the SuperSonic Summer Youth Program for children.

For more information on Coastal's Division of Extended Learning and Public Services, contact Balsamo at 349-2648 or visit www.coastal.edu/learn on the Internet.