Courses are designed with exact skills requested by workforce; programs available to enhance quality of life.
There are areas within colleges that offer noncredit course options; and then, there is the Continuing and Professional Development division at San Jacinto College.
The CPD division delivers the exact skills a person needs to fit right into positions that are in high demand across the Gulf Coast region through courses in maritime, applied technologies and trades, health occupations, business and professions, and computers/IT training. The division also delivers educational and enrichment activities for the community through education/languages, life long learning, and the Aerospace Academy.
“The Continuing and Professional Development division at San Jacinto College is where education meets industry,” said Dr. Sarah Janes, vice president of the CPD division at San Jacinto College. “The specific training areas in which we offer courses in are ones that are constantly identified for high-demand job growth and for increased economic development to this region. Whether it is to find a career, transition into another industry, or enhance one’s life, we’re here to help an individual reach his or her educational and career goals.”
Through partnerships with employers and training directors, the CPD division is able to move the underemployed up to where they need to be and move the unemployed into high-demand careers. It is teamwork at its finest, where former space shuttle engineers transition into the oil and gas industry and where military veterans find their skills appreciated and utilized in other sectors.
In addition, the division assists in grant funded training for eligible individuals through such grants as Texas Public Education Grants (TPEG), Department of Labor grants, and Texas Workforce Commission grants.
Applied Technologies and Trades
The applied technologies and trades program in the CPD division offers a wealth of courses in the areas of welding, machining, electrical, non-destructive testing, pipefitting, engineering design graphics, commercial truck driving, diesel technology, automotive technology, and air conditioning repair.
In other words, this area of the CPD division is home to vital training that can move a person into the workforce quickly in any one of the craft trades.
Companies look to applied technologies and trades for training of employees to keep up with the ever increasing workforce demands. In fact, the Texas Workforce Commission projects a 29 percent job growth for pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in the coming years. Other occupations, such as electricians, welders, and contractor laborers, will also experience a significant increase.
The CPD division is also home to one of the most affordable and successful truck driving programs in the region. This program boasts a near 100 percent job placement rate.
Business and Professions
The business and professions program through CPD offers a variety of courses that allow participants to gain certifications for their resumes and careers.
Courses include payroll specialist, bank teller fundamentals, accounting for small business, human resources, mid-level management, and certified administrative professional. Two of the most popular certifications sought after include Lean Six Sigma, a process improvement methodology course that shows how data analysis improves efficiencies within a company, and project management.
An example of how San Jacinto College helps a jobseeker get his or her foot in the door is the partnership between the CPD business and professions program, The Frontline Group in Houston, and Workforce Solutions. After a person is referred by Workforce Solutions to San Jacinto College, The Frontline Group begins assisting the College in the delivery of project management professional (commonly referred to as PMP) and Lean Six Sigma courses and giving each student an internship to showcase his or her skills to companies like Shell, Chevron Phillips, Baker Hughes, and a variety of other major oil and gas companies throughout the region.
Health Occupations
Everyone is looking for the best health care professionals, especially in the Houston region, home of the some of the world’s finest medical facilities. The health occupations program through the San Jacinto College CPD division helps clinics and hospitals find the right talent through certification training in a variety of high-demand health fields.
Programs like the certified nurse aide (CNA) are offered nearly free for students who qualify for financial assistance as job training through the Texas Public Education Grant (TPEG). Through the TPEG/CNA program, students not only receive the standard CNA training for working with residents in long-term care facilities plus 40 hours of clinical rotations, but also receive job readiness training prior to beginning their nursing training. Many students begin their job search before taking the State of Texas Certified Nurse Aide Certification Exam.
Other courses that help individuals become job-ready in the health care industry include certified medication aide, medical office professional, and emergency medical technician.
Computers/IT Training
One of the fastest growing industries in today’s job market is computer information technology (CIT). This is why the CPD division delivers IT certifications courses, as many positions in the industry only require an associate degree or certificate with some earning average annual salaries of more than $62,000.
“Employers will give you a chance with these types of certifications,” said Michael Jones, who completed the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) course and the certified ethical hacker course through the CPD division. “This is how I first entered the workforce, with my certifications.”
Also, many IT course participants are eligible for free training thanks to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration’s Information Technology Training for Tomorrow (IT3) grant. The grant allows professionals who are long-termed unemployed or underemployed to receive free certification training in a number of information technology, cyber security, and business and professions courses including SAP and SharePoint.
Mostly recently, CPD received another Department of Labor grant as part of the Ready to Work Partnership initiative to support and scale innovative collaborations between employers, nonprofit organizations and federal job training programs to help connect ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.
Maritime
It’s no secret that if a mariner wants to stay on the job and move up the career ladder, he or she will need to keep up with training to meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements.
The CPD division offers a wide range of maritime courses to upgrade certificates for operational and management-level mariners; in result, strengthening maritime companies and crew to become more competitive. Courses include Seamanship, Basic Safety, Marine Cargo Operations, Engineering Familiarization, and Maritime Regulation and Management, and more. All are taught at the College’s maritime training center in Pasadena, Texas, which is guided and supported by an advisory committee of industry leaders and houses three interactive, full-mission, ship bridge simulators, thanks to a collaborative agreement with the Houston Pilots.
A new 45,000-square-foot Maritime Technology and Training Center will be built along the Port of Houston in the near future and will house multiple classrooms, engineering labs, RADAR, Automatic Radar Positioning Aid, Electronic Chart Display and Information System, Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, and advanced navigation labs together with the industry’s newest interactive, full mission ship, towboat, and tugboat simulators.
Community outreach and life long learning
In line with the mission of Continuing and Professional Development, the Aerospace Academy, and life long learning and education/languages courses all serve to enhance community education and deliver initiatives that strength the P-16 pipeline.
The Aerospace Academy works closely with education, industry, government, economic development and community groups to advance education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Academy has been partnering with NASA-Johnson Space Center Office of Education for over 10 years on various projects that include the successful Robotics, Ocean, Microgravity, Explorers (ROME) Cooperative Agreement.
Life long learning through CPD offers affordable courses designed to enhance a person’s life. Whether it is a New Year’s resolution or a desire to become an active community member, the life long learning area holds a large variety of course options.
A new membership program will be introduced in the near future to provide life long learning participants with events and exclusive activities on campus and in the community. For a nominal annual membership fee, members will be able to attend monthly Interchange events, will receive notice of upcoming activities and learning opportunities, invites to weekly “hot-spot” business promotions in the communities San Jacinto College serves, and will receive a discount on one life long learning class during their membership year.
Just a few examples of life long learning courses available include the popular motorcycle class, ballroom dance, scuba diving, cake decorating, and fencing.
The CPD division also offers courses in education and languages for those who seek to pursue their educational goals to the fullest. Education and language courses include English as a Second Language (ESL), conversation Spanish, paraeducator, GED, adult basic education, and child development training.
The CPD division also offers summer camps for K-12 students that are designed to get them thinking about their future careers. This year, the division hosted the very popular EnergyVenture camp, a summer camp supported by industry sponsors for 12-15 year old students focused on the energy industry and the career opportunities in the field. Other CPD camps included Kids Under Construction, Staying Alive health care camp, Lost in Space geocaching camp, Maritime Youth Camp, Water-Bot underwater robotics camp, and Keyboarding on the PC camp.
Jeannie Peng-Armao