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The UA's professional development unit has made a number of additions and enhancements to aid the workforce.

By University Communications
August 7, 2008

As the unemployment rate slowly increases each month across the country, one unit at The University of Arizona is focusing more keenly on improving offerings to people looking for work and making career changes.

The UA’s professional development division, which is run out of the newly reorganized Outreach College – has introduced this summer, or will introduce in the coming year, a number of programs and courses.

Such additions came after professional development was integrated with the Outreach College. Professional development, formerly known as the Center for Computing and Professional Education, has taken a new and more pointed focus on professional development.

It’s an important time for such changes to happen, said Robin Allen, the division’s interim director.

"The Outreach College connects with all populations of people who might otherwise not come to the campus," Allen said.

The professional development office, Allen added, is focusing its attention on small and medium-sized businesses.

The nation’s unemployment rate hit 5.7 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The agency also noted that within a 12-month period, 1.6 million people had become unemployed.

Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 4.8 percent, which is up from 3.6 percent at the same time last year, according to agency figures.

New this year in professional development are online course offerings, new certificate programs for project management, what are called “green courses.” One offering is the “professional essentials certification,” which specifically trains people to move into managerial and supervisory positions.

A major effort in the department is also informing the public about its offerings.

"The University does offer more than just courses aimed at the traditional 18- to 24-year-old student," Allen said.

The green courses, offered through collaboration between the professional development unit and industry partner ProTrain, LLC, helps builders, contractors and others to become qualified indoor environmentalists, air quality managers and microbial investigators.

The training program offers courses in the area of wastewater treatment, building energy efficiency, photovoltaic systems, home energy, desktop publishing and digital design, Microsoft suites and other areas.

“We’re trying to offer as much to the workforce as possible,” said Cinda Gaynor, a UA senior program specialist in the area of professional development.

The UA, with its federally-designated land grant mission, has been involved in similar kind of work in various areas for decades. But, today, professional development has a new face and, to an extent, a new focus, said Gaynor, who has designed several programs in professional development.

Gaynor explained that the division’s teachings are less task-oriented and more about what the industry is demanding, which is creative thinkers who have solid computer skills. Much of the focus today, she said, is on digital design, desktop publishing, programming and network administration.

The unit also has offerings in the area of law, information technology, project management, victim advocacy and more. It also offers preparation for industry certification exams. “It’s a scary thing when you lose a job,” Gaynor said. “It's important to me that we do what we can to offer hope and confidence by developing as many offerings as possible to give people the tools they need."