Individuals interested in careers as food writers, cookbook authors and restaurant critics are the target audience for a course in the spring term at Johnson & Wales University.

Students who take the 11-week course will be asked to write personal essays about food, biographies of chefs, restaurant reviews and proposals for a cookbook. Newspaper food sections will be analyzed and recipe writing will be explored. This writing-intensive class was created for students interested in writing for cookbooks, magazines, newspapers and the Internet.

The course, which carries 4.5-quarter hours of credit, will be taught Mondays from 6 to 9:30 p.m. beginning March 10. The cost is $657. For more information, call Joanne McQuesten at (401) 598-2342.

Looking ahead to the fall semester, Johnson & Wales will offer a new four-year degree program in graphic design and digital media. Created by the university’s school of technology, the program will give students a solid foundation for all aspects of digital media and visualization during the first two years of study. In their third year, students choose a concentration from one of five specific areas: digital video, digital media animation, digital media print, Web applications development and Web 2.0 technologies. Enrollment is under way. For more information, call (401) 598-2500.

The Department of Computer Studies and Information Processing at the Community College of Rhode Island is offering two classes at the Liston Campus in Providence this spring to help students whose native language is Spanish increase their computer skills.

Computer Basics is for students with no familiarity with computers. It covers topics such as working with Windows and its desktop, file handling, e-mail and Internet browsing and searching. The class will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays from Feb. 28 to April 2.

Introduction to Word Processing will include word processing features such as creating, printing and editing a document. The course will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays from April 11 to May 9.

Instruction for the one-credit courses will be in Spanish. According to department chairwoman Karen Allen, many Spanish-speaking students at the college are working to improve their English language skills, but they will benefit even more if they improve computer skills at the same time. She said she has seen many job descriptions seeking skilled, bilingual workers. “But they need those computer skills,” she said. Another new weekend college course in Providence this spring will be Fundamentals of Web Site Development, a three-credit class in English that will run Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. beginning Jan. 24. Students will build and publish Web sites containing text, graphics, tables, forms, frames, scripting and site navigation using Dreamweaver. For more information, visit www.ccri.edu/comp/spring2009.shtml.

Adults often have significant learning experiences outside a college classroom. URI’s Feinstein Providence Campus can help translate those experiences into college credits and save money in the process. The Prior Learning Assessment class, a one-credit course offered every semester, provides a way for students to translate job responsibilities, training programs, volunteerism, community activities and other significant life experiences into college-level course equivalents.

Advisers work with students to determine credit opportunities and an experienced instructor helps compile those experiences into a portfolio demonstrating the student’s achievements. Portfolios are usually in written form, but might also be in pictures or another format that best demonstrates the student’s achievements.

Costs include course tuition and fees, plus $30 per extra credit awarded. Credits earn can be applied toward a degree. For more information about this and other continuing education opportunities, call the URI Providence Campus at (401) 277-5162 or visit www.Thinkbiginprov.com. The college is enrolling for the spring semester, which begins Jan. 21.