Have you been thrown a new challenge at work? Or are you looking to grow your skill set? The Professional Education team in the Collat School of Business offers focused training with non-academic courses designed to help individuals meet their personal, professional and organizational goals.
New courses on offer include The Art and Science of Data Visualization (a live-online short course beginning Feb. 20), and two self-paced courses that you can start anytime: Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Professionals and Grant Writing Skills Suite.
“We make enrolling easy,” said Cori Perdue, Ph.D., director of Professional Education. “There is no application process, you can sign up in five minutes, and with many courses, you can get started immediately and finish at your own pace. We are a perfect option for people who want to jump right in and earn a tangible industry certification.”
Collat Professional Education’s live-online short courses use a cohort model led by Collat faculty and industry experts.
UAB discount
Professional Education courses do not fall under UAB’s Educational Assistance benefit. But UAB employees receive a 20 percent discount for asynchronous courses. (See prices, estimated course lengths, and applicable continuing education/professional development units for all Professional Development programs here.) Employees can often use professional development funds from their units to pay course tuition, Perdue adds.
“Students like that our courses are taught by instructors who bring both academic and industry expertise,” Perdue said. And because workforce needs are constantly changing, new courses are always being added to the catalog, she adds.
The Professional Education catalog includes a suite of self-paced, 100 percent online classes, with topics chosen based on “market trends, conversations with companies about their needs and skills gaps, and a great amount of research,” Perdue said.
Available courses
The courses, all taught by industry experts, fall under the following categories:
- Project Management
- Accounting and Finance
- Business Technologies
- Data Visualization
- Leadership
- Communication
- Human Resource Management
- Management
- Operations
“If an individual or unit on campus has professional business training needs, we would be excited to talk with them to design new courses,” Perdue added.
See a list of all Collat Professional Education courses.Leadership programs
The Professional Education team also operates leadership programs for groups and departments across campus, such as the UAB Healthcare Leadership Academy, Elevate Leadership Academy and Catalyst Leadership Academy for Scientists.
