Thursday, April 28, 2011

WCE is Fast Tracking~by Trey Bailey 2/8/2011


by Trey Bailey
     WCE, what does that stand for?  Fast track certificate programs, what are these?  The easiest way to answer both of these questions to walk down the new walkway built in front of the WVU Parkersburg campus and look to the building on the hill across the street. 
This building is the Workforce and Community Education building.  They offer many great things for the community, such as fast track certificate programs.
Some of the certificate programs that are offered with the WCE are MDA or Medical Office Assistant, Lobotomy, real estate, home inspector and dental assistant.  Also, Lobotomy is now being offered with a complete national exam.
     These certificate programs are designed to assist people such as displaced workers and non-traditional college students go directly back into the workforce for employment.  The best part about these programs is that they can be finished within 90 to 120 hours.  
Another big goal of the Workforce and Community Education is to send workers back out into the workforce and prepared for work.  They help individuals gain the skills and abilities they need to operate on a day-to-day basis in a difficult job market.
“We help people who are having problems finding employment gain the confidence to be able to find jobs suitable for themselves out there,” said Martha L. Leeson.  “With many of these students they are first generation college students and need to be given the opportunity to pick up other skills such as resume building.”
     The building itself is large enough to hold three class- rooms.  Two rooms can seat 21 and one can hold 50 but the 50--seat room can be split for two classes with a barrier. 
Not only is the WCE helping make things better for students on campus, but also for workers off campus.  The WCE offers outside directors for teaching courses off campus.  They actually set up classes on site at such places as Dupont, where the instructor is paid to travel and given material to directly teach a specific course at off campus locations. 
            For any information contact the WVU Parkersburg Workforce and Community Education at 424-8000.

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