Computer Training For Mature Adults
Corrections or additions?
These articles were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on July 14,
1999. All rights reserved.
Back to School, Yes
Tread carefully on the continuing education path,
because what seems like an obvious bargain may prove expensive in
aggravation, and vice versa. For instance, both Rutgers and Mercer
County College offer the nationally known leadership certificate for
managers, supervisors, and potential leaders. It includes such workshops
as coaching, influencing for win-win outcomes, proactive listening,
and expressing yourself. Rutgers refers to it as Leadership 2000 and
Mercer’s program uses the full title, Zenger-Miller Leadership 2000.
Though not subsidized by government funds, as are the 15-week courses,
Mercer’s modules cost half as much as Rutgers. It offers the course
only on Thursday nights. Taking six workshops earns a Mercer certificate
worth three credits at a cost of $425 or about $70 per module; call
Nunzio Cernero at 609-587-1461 (E-mail: ctd@mccc.edu).
Rutgers does not use the Zenger-Miller name and schedules the workshops
on Fridays during the day. This program includes six modules that
Mercer has, plus four more. The 10-module series starts Friday, October
1, with one module in the morning and another in the afternoon. Cost:
$150 per half-day module or $1,000 for 10 to earn the certificate.
Call the Center for Continuing Professional Development (CCPD) at
the University Inn and Conference Center on Ryders Lane, 732-932-8274
or E-mail: univinn@rci.rutgers.edu.
Which to choose? You could let your schedule decide. But don’t settle
for the first certificate or course you encounter. The best one for
you may be where you least expect it. What follows is not an exhaustive
list, but it indicates just how many choices are available.
DeVry Institute, 630 Route 1 North, North Brunswick08902. Bob Bocchino, president. 732-435-4880; fax, 732-435-4856. Homepage: https://www.nj.devry.edu.DeVry Institute, a for-profit academic institution with campuses throughoutthe U.S. and Canada, offers night and weekend courses in its associate-degreeprograms: business administration, computer information systems, electronicstechnician, and telecommunications management.More important, perhaps, to some prospective students, the New Jerseycampus just received approval for a bachelors degree program in electronicsengineering technology. See separate story in Life in the Fast Lane,beginning on page 44.Top Of PageMCCC: MedicalOffice CertificateMercer County Community College, 1200 Old TrentonRoad, Box B, Trenton 08690. Thomas D. Sepe, president. 609-586-4800;fax, 609-587-4666. Home page: https://www.mccc.edu.In cooperation with the Medical Society of New Jersey, MCCC is offeringa certificate in medical practice management for the first time thisfall. It is intended for those who manage a medical office as wellas for those who want to become managers. “Some of these managersstarted out as secretaries and nurses and have seen their officesgrow to become multimillion dollar businesses,” says Rose Nini,dean of corporate and community programs. “Now it is so complexthat they need the skills of a CEO.”The certificate requires four courses: computers and medical technology,management issues and strategies, financial tools for office management,and the medical environment. They have been scheduled for what usedto be known as the physician’s golf day: Wednesdays. They start September15, 3 to 9:30 p.m. Cost: $360 for 24 classroom hours.The instructors include John LaCarruba, Julie Lynch ofthe Medical Society of New Jersey, and Rosalie Fox, whom manywill remember as the former manager of Princeton Medical Group at419 North Harrison Street.If your goal is to be a medical office assistant, you can take coursestoward a certificate either parttime or full-time. For parttime, call609-586-0505. For a full-time one-year program, starting in late August,call Virginia Clevenger at Mercer County Technical Schools at609-587-7640.Last year MCCC partnered with Covance to launch a certificate programin clinical research and drug development for those with four-yeardegrees in nursing, chemistry, pharmacy, or related areas. “Itis going extraordinarily well, and we will start a new cycle thisfall,” says Nini. The certificate requires four 10-session courses:Foundation of Clinical Research and Drug Development, Data ManagementInformation Sciences, Auditing and Monitoring, and Site Management.Each course is given on alternate weekends: Friday night and all daySaturday. Cost: $900. For more information, call Nini at 609-890-9624or E-mail: nini@mccc.edu.New credit offerings include an additions counseling certificate program,an associate degree in the fine arts, and an associate degree in appliedscience in network engineering technology. First-year students canapply for dual admission for easy transfer to such four-year collegesas Rutgers, College of New Jersey, Rider, and NJIT. Fall classes startAugust 30; call 609-586-4800, extension 3564 or register online athttps://www.mccc.edu.Top Of PageNJIT: DistanceLearningNew Jersey Institute of Technology, 240 Dr. MartinLuther King Boulevard, Newark 07102. Saul Fenster, president. 973-596-3433;Home page:https://www.njit.edu.Yahoo! called it America’s “most wired public university.”The New Jersey Institute of Technology has a substantial distance-learningprogram that helps facilitate its continuing professional educationprogram. Electronic classrooms make it easy for the business professionalto get training anytime, anywhere, and night and weekend classes at”extension” campuses in several counties make it easy to getreal classroom experience as well.An MBA in Management of Technology and Masters in Public Health arethe latest additions to the school’s graduate curriculum, and bothare available this fall on campuses at Raritan Valley Community Collegeor Bergen Community College.Graduate certificates, either as stand-alone credentials or a springboardto MS degrees, are also an option for those who have day jobs. Theone-year, 12 credit, program is offered in the following categories:Environmental Infrastructure and Management, Health Care InformationSystems, Information Systems Design and Development, Internet ApplicationDevelopment, Managing Human Resources, Practice of Technical Communications,Project Management, Telecommunications Networking, Programming EnvironmentTools, Object-Oriented Design. The school just added Computer Networkingand Electronic Media Design to that list.You need an undergraduate degree to qualify. Courses begin each semester,and typically involve two 3-hour classes per week. If you choose togo on to the full Master’s program, your 12 credits will transfer,but you have to follow the normal procedure for entering as a matriculatedstudent. You can apply online at https://www.njit.edu, E-Mail:certificate@njit.eduThe school also offers a Webmaster Certificate, a three-part, 90-hourprogram that teaches authoring, development and management of websites.Cost: $2,495. E-Mail: cpe@njit.eduNon-credit refresher or training courses in everything from computerscience to hazardous materials are also available, but some cost asmuch as $2,000 — a large investment for no credit.Certificate programs are offered in both the electronic classroom,and at NJIT’s University Heights campus or at off-campus extensionlocations in Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Mercer, Morris and Somersetcounties.Top Of PagePrinceton University:Engineering MastersPrinceton University School of Engineering and AppliedScience, Olden Street, Princeton 08544. Stuart Schwartz, directorof master’s engineering program. 609-258-2890. E-mail: meng@princeton.edu.Until a year ago this Ivy League school never wouldhave made the pages of U.S. 1’s continuing education survey. Now theMaster of Engineering program is designed for engineers for advancedtraining in applied technology — for manufacture, design, andprototype. The hope is that entrepreneurial engineers will get theirdegrees here and start a business in Central Jersey rather than takeit elsewhere. They will also learn how to analyze their options astheir companies grow.A candidate can specialize in any of the five engineering departments– electrical, computer science, chemical, mechanical and aerospace,and civil engineering and operations research — taking six technicalcourses in that discipline, with two non-technical courses. Withindepartments, more topical curricula can be structured for financialengineering, telecommunications and information networks, structuralengineering, and photonics.Seven people graduated from the first edition of this program in June.But for the privilege of taking just two courses per semester, theiremployers must pay full tuition — $25,500 — each year. Forthose not subsidized, stipends may be available.Top Of PageRider: Liberal Arts BARider School for Continuing Studies, 2083 LawrencevilleRoad, Lawrenceville 08648. John Carpenter, dean. 609-896-5033; fax,609-896-8029. Home page: https://www.rider.edu. Cost: $270per credit, plus $10 per course tech fee and initial $35 application.If you already have some credits, enroll in Rider’s continuing studiesprogram to finish your associate’s and bachelor’s degree. “Wedevelop ways to put courses together in a way that is appropriatefor adult students,” says John Carpenter, dean of this division.”We emphasize face to face classroom instruction.”About 1,000 students enroll each semester in the School for ContinuingStudies, and 200 of them are enrolled in the bachelor of arts in liberalstudies program, available only through this school. Instead of atraditional major, a student can focus on related disciplines, suchas management plus sociology and psychology. “It provides a wayfor us to relate what adults have learned in their lives and the intereststhey have developed,” says Carpenter.Top Of PageRutgersTwenty-nine different academic units at Rutgers offerundergraduate and postgraduate professional development courses. Someare in Newark and Camden, but most are on one of the New Brunswickcampuses. Just to peruse the list will give you some ideas about coursesyou might like to take (https://ce1766.rutgers.edu).On the Livingston campus: The Center for Management Development(732-445-1169), School of Business (732-445-3600), School of Managementand Labor Relations (732-445-5995), English as a Second Language/AmericanLanguage Studies (732-445-7422), and School of Social Work (732-445-3173,extension 11).The National Transit Institute (732-932-1700) is on the Douglasscampus.On the Busch Campus: Center for Math, Science and Computer Education(732-445-4850), Center for Applied Psychology (732-445-7795, extension11), Center of Alcohol Studies (732-445-4317), and College of Pharmacy(732-445-2664).On the Cook Campus, the center for agriculture: Labor Studiesand Employment Relations (732-932-1749), Cooperative Extension (732-932-9306),and Cook College (732-932-9271).College Avenue Campus: Youth Sports Research Council (732-932-6537),Center for Government Services (732-932-3640), Graduate School ofEducation (732-932-7496, extension 205), and School of Communications,Information, and Library Studies (732-445-7169).The newest unit is the Center for Continuing Professional Development.”The CCPD creates courses that fill needs in niche areas, suchas small business, technology, insurance and banking, that are notbeing addressed by other continuing education programs within theuniversity,” says Richard J. Novak , CCPD director. In additionto Leadership 2000 (see above), CCPD has two-day courses in processmapping or process value analysis (each $995), facilitating meetings($575), and team leadership (two days for $500). Call CCPD at 732-932-8274,E-mail: ccpd@rci.rutgers.edu or visit the CCPD websiteat https://www.univinn.rutgers.edu.Top Of PageRutgers:E-Commerce MBARutgers University Graduate School of Management,11 Washington Street, Newark 07102-1895. Howard Tuckman, dean. 973-353-5177;fax, 973-353-1345. Home page: https://business.rutgers.edu. Cost:$388.80 per credit plus some fees.The latest options at the Rutgers Graduate School of Management areMBAs with concentrations in E-commerce and Arts Management. The concentrationin E-commerce requires course work in Internet technology, and electroniccommerce and marketing. A new course will be offered next fall inthe development of a virtual business. The 12-credit arts managementconcentration, the first of its kind in the state, is for personsinterested in a management career in the not-for-profit sector ofthe performing and fine arts.Other MBA concentrations include computers and information systems,entrepreneurial management, finance, human resources management, internationalbusiness, marketing, professional accounting, and strategic management.Call 973-353-5656.Students can take courses here for two semesters without matriculating.Classes start September 1; register in early August. Most coursesare given in both New Brunswick and Newark.Top Of PageStevens Institute:E-Business BSStevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point onHudson, Hoboken 07030. Linda Habermann, off-campus programs administrator.201-216-5622; fax, 201-216-8044. Home page: https://attila.stevens-tech.edu/gradschool/ext.99f.html.Cost: $695 per credit or $1,738 per 2.5 credit course, plus fees of$125.A bachelor of science degree in E-Business focuses on the integrationof technology and business and exposes students to a broad array ofreal-life and work experiences. The institute also offers other off-campusgraduate programs at such locations as Rider University and BrookdaleCommunity College. Lucent Technologies, AT&T, and other firms offerStevens courses only to their employees. Call 201-216-5234.Top Of PageThomas Edison:Online MSMThomas Edison State College, 101 West State Street,Trenton 08608-1176. George A. Pruitt, president. 609-984-1100; fax,609-984-1193. Home page: https://www.tesc.edu.Designed for working adults with professional experience in management,a three-year-old Master of Science in Management program is conductedalmost entirely in distance learning mode. The 36-credit program aimsto build skills — analytical, problem solving, and decision making– and apply them to actual situations.Almost all of the course is conducted online, through E-mail and discussionswhich students can join any time of the day or night, but it doesrequire students to come to the campus twice, to meet their cohortsand attend workshops on the first weekend, and to present their researchprojects on the second weekend. Applicants do not need to take admissionstests, and they may transfer up to six semester hours toward the degree.A group of managers from AT&T started the “beta test” forthis degree in 1996; a new class starts every four months. For informationcall 888-442-8372.Thomas Edison State College also has 12 two-year and four-year degreesfor adult students in 120 areas of study.Top Of PageOut of StateFor convenience or sub-specialties, broaden your searchto New York and Pennsylvania. New this year: LaSalle University islaunching a degree in organizational dynamics with classes offeredonly in the evenings and on weekends at its Silver Lake ExecutiveCampus in Newtown. Call 215-951-1500.Among the multitudinous programs for those who trek to New York isNew York University’s master of science in direct marketing communications(212-790-3221), or its a certificate in sports, entertainment, andevents marketing (212-790-3212).Meanwhile NYU’s Sloan School of Business (212-998-0270 or E-mail:exec-dev@stern.nyu.edu) lures executives away from their deskswith three-day and two-week intensive programs, taught by celebrityprofessors, on such topics as competition and innovation. Some fewamong us can teach ourselves how to be competitive and how to innovate,but the rest of us can use a little help.Top Of PageInternet SkillsAccreditationThe Association of Internet Professionals (https://www.aip.org),an international networking and advocacy group, is trying to buildindustry standards and add-value to Internet-related professions byestablishing its own accrediting standards. Take any of the skill-leveltests issued by Novell, Microsoft, Penn State University, ProsoftTraining.com,HyCurve, or Sysoft, and AIP will certify and rank you within its three-tiersystem. It may not be an academic institution per se, but with 8,500individual and 126 corporate members throughout the world, it is quicklybecoming a powerful networking group. It is also the only organizationoffering accreditation.Annual dues of $90 per person or $1,000 to $10,000 for a company qualifymembers for these perks: a personal health plan designed for freelancers,small-business owners, and independent contractors; discounts on computersoftware and other services; and access to the organization’s “Compensationand Benefits Report,” a detailed breakdown of salaries, benefits,and other compensation within the Internet industry. The survey costs$400 for members, and $500 for non-members. It is for sale at https://store.association.org.The Princeton area chapter of AIP meets at Sarnoff Corporation twicea month for a networking meeting. Their website is https://www.princeton.us.association.org.Top Of PageTraining for ThoseWith DisabilitiesTen people with disabilities have successfully completeda free computer training program, and their future employers may beable to get funding for purchasing adaptive software.Pass It On is designed to “challenge conventional thinking bydeveloping new job opportunities for people with disabilities,”says Robert Stack, president and CEO of Community Options, whowill speak at graduation ceremonies on Thursday, July 15, at 4:30p.m. at NJIT’s Mount Laurel campus. The program was co-sponsored byFarber Road-based Community Options Inc., Microsoft, the New JerseyInstitute of Technology, and the New Jersey Technology Council.The graduates — with disabilities that range from problems withvision and dyslexia to cerebral palsy — completed 18 weeks offree full-time study of computer fundamentals, local area networksand Internet environments, relational databases, and C++ programming.They are eligible to take information technology jobs worth averagesalaries of $30,000. An identical program is operating in Newark,and similar courses are being taught in Colorado, Texas, and Virginia.Microsoft has contributed a total of $312,000.Most students in the program are referred by agencies, but to findout how to qualify, call Belinda Mangle at Community Optionsat 609-298-1981. For information, go to https://www.cybernics/com/njitcpor https://www.comop.org.Top Of PageQuality NJ SeminarsQuality New Jersey will host a self-assessment seminaron Tuesday, July 20, at 9 a.m. at the IEEE Operations Center, Piscataway.This program is for organizations beginning a management program basedon the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence/Baldrige criteria.Cost: $300. Call 609-777-0940.A seven-step process for conducting an organizational quality self-assessmentwill be presented. A quality assessment is an evaluation of an organization’sperformance, policies, processes, and practices using criteria thatrepresent performance excellence. The seminar will be held again onWednesday, September 22.Quality New Jersey will also host a free awareness seminar to introducethe Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence improvement processon Wednesday, September 15, at the IEEE offices in Piscataway. Formore information, visit https://www.qnj.org.Given annually, the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence isthe highest recognition for quality and performance in New Jersey.The award process assesses the effectiveness of an organization’smanagement system at varying levels of maturity.Top Of PageFort Dix MastersEarn a masters of science degree in quality systemsmanagement at Fort Dix. The National Graduate School of Quality Management,based on Cape Cod, offers a 12-month program that can be completedin two weekends per month, starting in September. Call 800-838-2580or go to https://www.falmouth.org.The program is designed for a “cohort group,” meaning thatall students start and finish together in the accelerated format.They take 12 courses and earn 36 credits — all in quality administration.Cost: $23,000 or $1,880 per course, but virtually all students gettwo-thirds to all of their tuition paid by employers.The school was founded in 1993, and is accredited by the New EnglandAssociation of Schools and Colleges.Top Of PageComputer Training For Mature AdultsMost temporary agencies test applicants on various softwarepackages, and some have computer training rooms for brushing up onyour software smarts. But Experience Works! is dedicating a trainingroom with three terminals just for helping mature adults hone theircomputer skills, and they don’t care if you are starting from scratch.Experience Works!, located at 2137 Route 33 in Lexington Square Commons,is the staffing agency division for Green Thumb Inc., a national nonprofitthat helps disadvantaged and older adults find jobs.”We are especially focused on folks who are computer illiterate.We will help you to learn how to turn it on,” says MikeToth, project manager. On some afternoons, particularly when rankbeginners are working, he staffs the three-terminal center with aninstructor. At other times, learners can use the CD-ROM “VideoProfessor,” which has an audio component that talks you throughsuch packages as Word, Word Perfect, Excel, and an introduction tothe Internet. “Not all people learn best by reading and clicking,”says Toth. The center will also be a satellite of the state’s OneStop job finding program.Another free training program, this one sponsored by InternationalSoftware Consulting at 100 Thanet Circle, has had mixed results. Lastyear Ananth Raman and his partner, Naru Narayanan, setup a computer training center to provide free training for those inlow-wage jobs (U.S. 1, March 3). Revenues of this firm were $18 millionlast year and projected for $30 million in the current year, and thepartners wanted to “give back” to the community (https://www.softwareisc.com.)”Green Thumb and Experience Works read the article in U.S. 1 andpartnered with us,” says Anita Giacone, project assistant,”and we had good cooperation from the Department of Labor.”All the participants had to do was promise to attend and then followthrough. Two full-time professional trainers, plus 12 computers setup in a 400-square foot room, plus textbooks and all the softwareprograms were scheduled to cost $200,000 in the first year. Classeswere to be offered during regular work day, evenings, and on Saturdays.The project started out well. Six courses were given to rave reviews,and participants in the first four courses lived up to their end ofthe commitment bargain. But those in the next two courses did not,and the firm has, at least temporarily, pulled the plug on its freeoffer. “If people are not committed to it, we were not going tofight to continue it,” says Giacone. “And we can use our trainingroom for other things.”Just as ISC’s free offer came with a commitment obligation, so doesthe free training at Experience Works imply a minimal promise. Tosign up to practice on these computers, you must be looking for ajob and planning to let this nonprofit agency help you. Call Tothat 609-689-0298; fax, 609-689-1738.– Barbara FoxNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
