More than 10 different certificate program courses are available through the Continuing Education program this month at the McAllen Teaching Site and on the Brownsville campus.
In addition to offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the university has developed noncredit courses for people looking for professional development in the Rio Grande Valley.
“The primary goal for UTRGV Continuing Education is to extend the educational resources of the university to meet the learning needs of the community,” said Jayshree Bhat, director of Continuing Education.
Bhat spoke about the gamut of people who need professional development but are not interested in a credit program, such as professionals and people from all age groups.
“Technology has made it a necessity for people in any type of profession to continue … learning to be able to update their skills and knowledge base so they can stay above the flow in the workforce,” Bhat said. “Whether it’s in the form of something that makes somebody a lot more marketable, or if it is something that a working professional needs to be able to do their job better, that’s where we come in.”
As well as providing noncredit learning experiences, the McAllen Teaching Site offers graduate-level courses in business administration, public administration and educational leadership. It also provides test preparation for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Law School Admission Test (LSAT), among others.
“Essentially, we are looking to just extend the resources of the university and give them to the public; we want everybody to be able to have an opportunity to develop their skills and to grow professionally,” said Marco Carbajal, program coordinator of Continuing Education. “They could explore a hobby, they could boost their résumé if they want to, or they could actually change careers with some of our programs.”
Carbajal explained that someone who may not be in a specific field can take a class and get into a completely different one.
“There’s also a lot of other people who maybe started working in a certain industry and they’re bored or they want to earn more money, and so, they’ll sign up for one of our health care courses, like our phlebotomy program … or our pharmacy program,” Carbajal said, “Again, it’s just a few months and once they are out they can make a really good income, and a steady living and they did it on a Saturday for a few months.”
This is the case of Juan Sanchez, a Continuing Education student who thinks it was a real opportunity to reinvent himself.
“I had just finished my bachelor’s degree and I wasn’t completely ready to commit to a master’s program, and in order to gain new skills, I really took a wide range of classes–IT project management, finance, human resources, creativity and innovation–just a lot of different things that would be able to help with my skills and my career,” Sanchez said.
He recommends taking classes in the Continuing Education program because it offers the opportunity find what interests you and perhaps commit to a program.
Some of the entry-level certificate programs prepare students for the technological aspects of a job and provide them with a certificate of completion that shows they have met the requirements that are necessary for that job.
“As long as they can read and write English at a 10th-grade level, they can benefit from many of our programs,” Bhat said.
Besides phlebotomy and pharmacy technician, the McAllen Teaching Site offers a medical billing and coding certificate.
“Some of our health care certificate programs are taken by UTRGV students that are looking for a second income while they are in school,” Bhat said. “It really gives them that exposure that they need to understand what that profession requires of them.”
Due to its noncredit nature, there are no prerequisites to enroll in the certificate and professional development courses. Registration is done through the website (http://www.utrgv.edu/ce/) and there is no application deadline as the programs are offered throughout the year and are not necessarily tied to a semester.
The McAllen Teaching Site offers programs in web development, digital marketing, video animation, video editing, social media management and animation, the last two of which are being offered this month.
Tuition is based on the duration of each course.
Most of the courses are held in the McAllen Teaching Site, which is the main office of UTRGV Continuing Education program, and is located at 1800 S. Main St., Suite 1100. Courses are also held on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses.
The facility’s classrooms are available for UTRGV students to use for group studies, student organization meetings and other university-related activities. Computer labs with printers are also available.
For more information, call 665-2071 in McAllen, or 882-7711 in Brownsville.
