Starting today, the Communication Department and Continuing Education will offer a Professional Transferable Skills Course Series on the Brownsville campus.
The series consists of 10 2-hour modules that have been designed to provide training in soft-skills competence that is expected in higher education and employment settings but rarely taught directly, according to the UTRGV website. Each module is available separately and each costs $25.
“What the [courses] are is trainings to help someone be able to go from being a student to becoming a professional,” said Nikkie Saldivar Hodgson, an assistant professor for communication studies. “Simple skills like public speaking, building relationships, networking, how to introduce yourself, persuasive speaking. We got things about resiliency, all these different topics.”
Hodgson is one of the professors and community partners who will impart the courses. Faculty members Andreas Holzenburg, Selma Yznaga, Janet Martinez, Juan Andres Rodriguez-Nieto, Jesus Gonzalez and community partner Kai Wulff will offer courses, such as Research Paper Design, Resilience and Growth Mindset, Self-Transformation, Persuasive Public Speaking and Organizational Leadership, among others.
“We hope they do it because it is not too often that you get seven faculty members who want to do this for free,” Hodgson said. “It would be a lot cheaper than to sit in a class and take interviewing for a whole semester. It is a great opportunity for our students and our community.”
The courses are open to the public and participants may register the day of the course or before.
“I teach communication studies and see it in the classroom. I see that students need that extra practice,” Hodgson said. “We’re going to launch not only for students, but for everyone in the community.”
Attendees will receive a certificate of completion and can attend as many courses as they wish to.
“They’re at night [6-8] during the week for two hours,” Hodgson said. “They get the lecture part and a hands-on practice.”
To register for these courses, visit http://www.utrgv.edu/ce/programs/professional-development/professional-transferable-skills-course-series-brownsville/index.htm. For more information on the professional training series, contact Rodriguez-Nieto at juan.rodrigueznieto@utrgv.edu or 882-5627.
