Night of Champions Highlights Adapted Athletics Program

The University of Alabama football team is not the only team on campus to bring home multiple championships in the past few years. The Adapted Athletics program has brought home six national titles since it was founded 13 years ago by Dr. Brent Hardin.

In 2003, Dr. Hardin and his wife moved to Tuscaloosa with a shared dream of starting an adapted athletics department. Hardin’s wife played collegiate wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois and knew first-hand the value of that experience.

“There were and are so few collegiate adapted athletics programs in the country that we felt like there was a great need and that we had the ability to make it happen,” says Hardin.

With a small operating budget and just a handful of volunteers, Hardin and his team created the program by beginning with a women’s wheelchair basketball team. “Our belief was that you had to have a [team] in place for students to come.” says Hardin. “It was a gradual process to add more teams as we saw the success of the women’s program.”

Adapted Athletics now has scholarship athletes and full-time coaches for the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis teams. They also offer wheelchair track, adapted rowing, and adapted golf.

“It’s a common misconception that [wheelchair basketball] is slow paced or not aggressive in nature,” says senior wheelchair basketball player and Paralympic champion Jannik Blair.

“People are amazed to see the speed, the collisions, and how our athletes are flipping their chairs,” remarks Hardin. “I think it’s what really hooks people. It’s impressive.”

The program continues to coach phenomenal champions today. These athletes will be honored at the upcoming Night of Champions event on February 25 at Bryant Conference Center. The community will have an opportunity to meet these talented athletes and hear their personal stories. The event is free and starts at 5:00p.m. The first 250 guests will receive two free tickets to the wheelchair basketball tournament on Friday, February 26.

For more information regarding the adaptive athletics program or the Night of Champions event please visit www.champions.ua.edu

A New Generation of Leaders.

As the baby boomers begin to retire and leave the workforce, the millennial generation is steadily beginning to be promoted in to supervisory and management positions. Although many workers with more seniority seem to think otherwise, this is a good thing!

In 2015 Millennials surpassed Generation X as the largest generation in the U.S. labor force. According to Pew Research Center, more than one-in-three American workers today are Millennials (adults ages 18 to 34). This milestone occurred in the first quarter of 2015, as the 53.5 million-strong millennial workforce has risen rapidly.

Millennials bring forth a new set of skills, values and expectations to the ever-growing workforce.  They are generally thought to be well educated and technologically savvy. Never before has there been a generation of workers that has grown in to their positions with as much access to knowledge and information as the millennial generation.

Even with the knowledge and skills, many members of the millennial generation still have major obstacles to overcome. The biggest issues facing Millennials being considered for a workplace promotion revolve around their possible lack of readiness for the position. Although many Millennials are believed to have the knowledge and expertise needed to do a good job, many senior workers still believe this new and upcoming generation lacks the skill sets needed to supervise and manage.

To better prepare Millennials for this upcoming challenge, we here at Bama At Work have decided to provide a few tips for our rising generation.

1. Attend Conferences

 Conferences allow you to network with influential people in your industry. They also provide an opportunity to learn more about the field you work in. Attend presentations that allow you to engage in topics that you may not be personally familiar with and allow you to learn from some of the brightest minds in your industry. Try to think of attending a conference as a small part of advancing the ultimate goal of your organization.

2. Continue Your Education

 Continuing your education not only benefits you, but also benefits your employer. People who upgrade their work skills and knowledge not only keep up with the latest technologies and business techniques, additional training helps you climb the corporate ladder and to realize additional career goals.

3. Get Certified

Once you learn your industry and become familiar with the “ins and outs” of your field, it is time for you to prove it. Certifications demonstrate expertise in specialized areas and provide assurance to employers that an employee has the skill set needed to perform the required duties. Certificate programs such as the Management Certificate Program for Supervisors at The University of Alabama help prepare individuals to take on a management role while developing an efficient leadership style. These types of certificate programs not only give you the leg up on your competition, but they also show employers that you are ready to advance in your career.

As Millennials take over the workforce, it is important that they be properly equipped to lead and grow. Through continuous learning and training, the millennial generation is bound to be one of the most successful generations the workforce has seen.

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Article by Kevin Lake, Communications Specialist for The University of Alabama College of Continuing Studies. Kevin also  currently serves as the Vice President of Communications for the Public Relations Council of Alabama West Alabama division.

Project Management Simulation: The Kobayashi Maru

What a morning! Some days, you’d rather just stay in bed. For those Trekkies out there, you are familiar with the Kobayashi Maru or the infamous “no win scenario” that was part of the curriculum for command-track cadets at Starfleet Academy featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It was primarily used to assess a cadet’s discipline, character and command capabilities when facing an impossible situation, as there were no “legitimate” strategies that would result in a successful outcome.

We all have some mornings where the Klingon War Birds are closing in, the shields are about to fail, and the destruction of your ship is imminent. There is no way out. You are done! Well, I sat in the captain’s chair this morning, and my little starship was in a world of hurt. The project was falling way behind, the budget was blown to bits, the staff was putting in a lot of overtime and they were not particularly thrilled about it. And worst of all, the boss was not happy at all. The situation was looking pretty grim as we battled to regain control of the project and get things back on schedule. Our stress level was boiling over. Could we pull the project together, would my starship be doomed and its crew turned to space dust.

Then, a friendly voice carved through the tension, saying, “You have completed Phase I.” What?!?  Was this just a bad dream? Well, not really. It was the simulation that comes with Bama At Work’s Advanced Project Management course. This course features a unique real-world simulation that will test your skills as a project manager. The simulation covers just about all of the nightmares that could possibly happen to you when piloting your way through a major project. Like the Kobayashi Maru, the simulation puts you and your team in some tough situations that will call on all of your planning and decision making abilities. And, unlike James T. Kirk, you can’t reprogram and beat the simulation. But, you can win fair and square, if you make the right moves.

Think you have the moxie to sit in the captain’s chair in the heat of battle? Do you want to learn how to command your starship when the odds are against you? Take project management courses and earn your Starfleet stripes.  Visit our website to learn more and enroll in the University of Alabama’s Project Management Academy. On-site custom training is available upon request. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + ,and LinkedIn  for more information and news about project management certificate programs, professional development and how to improve the efficiency of your organization.

Article by Antoine Bell, Marketing and Strategic Communications Manager, Professional Development & Conference Services, The University of Alabama.

Succession Planning: It’s Not Just Needed at the Top!

Some managers think of succession planning like they do writing their wills or purchasing their cemetery plots. They know they should be thinking about it at some point. But they would really rather not do it now. It is just too depressing.  And it is easy to rationalize putting it off amid dealing with daily crises and firefighting.  Additionally, in these days of everybody-for-themselves career planning, some managers actually worry that they might plan themselves out of their jobs if they do too well in identifying and grooming their successors.  Still other managers’ reason that they shouldn’t worry about succession issues, since that is something only the CEO and other senior-level leaders should be concerned about.

But succession planning is no longer a topic that should be put off until a rainy day. It needs to be done now. It needs to be done for all levels in the organization, from CEO down to shop floor worker.  And it needs to be done in small and medium-sized businesses just as much as it needs to be done in big business.

Why has succession planning emerged as such a hot topic? There are at least five major reasons.

• First, the 1996 crash in Bosnia of the plane carrying U.S. Secretary Ron Brown and over 30 senior executives from major U.S. corporations made succession planning a front-burner topic. That plane crash was a wake up call to corporate boards, CEOs, and Vice Presidents of Human Resources around the globe.  It galvanized attention and led many corporations, government agencies, and even nonprofit enterprises to resuscitate otherwise dormant succession planning programs.
• Second, it is common knowledge in small business that inadequate succession plans are a common cause of small business failure when founding entrepreneurs retire or pass away. In fact, an entire industry has sprung up to offer financial, legal or management advice to small business owners about how to hand down their legacies to their heirs who may have ample cause for concern about inheritance taxes that can eat up their life work. Even worse, some entrepreneurs cannot find replacements to manage the business when family members are not interested.  They may be forced to sell—or go out of business.
• Third, the downsizing craze of the late 1980s and 1990s has taken its toll. Middle managers, more than any other group, saw their ranks dramatically thinned during a continuing parade of cost-saving measures that were variously called by such euphemistic terms as reductions in force, downsizings, layoffs, smartsizings, early outs, early retirements, and buyout programs. While those programs looked good to investors on quarterly balance sheets, raised stock prices, and often enhanced earnings for the short-term, they also reduced the ranks of middle managers being prepared for promotion to the senior executive level.  While that would have worked effectively for a few organizations, widespread downsizing depleted the middle management ranks almost everywhere–making traditional modes of recruitment such as headhunting less effective than ever before.  Was it no longer always possible to rely on luring talent away from others when needed desperately–and usually on short notice? And, as immigration rules were tightened in the U.S., the old trick of finding talent from abroad became a proverbial rabbit that was tougher to pull out of the proverbial hat.
• Fourth, demographic trends point toward leaner times for recruiters and increased importance of making investments to grow talent from within. Between 1996 and 2006, those aged 55 to 64 in the U. S. will increase by 54%, while traditional entry-level employees aged 25 to 34 will experience a net decrease of 8.8% below traditional levels before that.  This demographic trend has prompted doomsayers to predict that over 20% of all senior executives in large corporations will be at risk of retirement in just a few years.
• Fifth and finally, record employment levels make worker retention a key cause for concern. With national unemployment rates below 4% at this writing, employers who don’t invest in the development of their employees as a retention tool will find themselves in deep trouble fast.  In some locales (where unemployment rates have dipped below 2%), it is not uncommon to place a job vacancy advertisement in the newspaper and get no responses for a year.  In this market, employers who can give their employees development for the future will find, based on research, that investments in training or succession planning efforts are actually retention strategies that can preserve existing talent.  What is more, employers are becoming more willing to tell people when they are successors for key positions–something that only one-fourth of U.S. employers did just a few years ago–because the hope of future advancement can keep workers from jumping from employer to employer for wage increases ranging from small to very large.

Taken together, these trends point toward the growing importance of succession planning as a daily activity to be undertaken at all levels. It is not just a cause for concern for the CEO. It is, and should be, the concern of any manager who wants to retain, attract, and develop a first-rate staff now and in the future. This trend will not just go away. To learn more about succession planning, register for our course on January 12-13, 2016 at the AIDT Center in Birmingham. More information on our website.

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Article by Robert K. Prescott, Ph.D. SPHR and William J. Rothwell, Ph.D. SPHR. Robert Prescott and William Rothwell are the instructors for the succession planning course offered by Bama At Work.

         

What is The Name of my Game?

Every day our organizational management is confronted with the rush to Big Data and its impacts on organizational metrics. However this rush is failing to understand one critical factor in making a decision. Consider this scenario. It is a dreary, overcast day and so you decide to go to the mall to do some shopping. As you enter your favorite big box store, you see an 18-year-old blonde blue-eyed girl head directly to a particular display. I am not trying to create a stereotype but rather to demonstrate the basis of Big Data.

Marketing has spent large sums of money to create an experience based on Big Data to create a vision of the why that 18-year-old would head to that particular display. Their models extensively study the correlation behind the demographics and desires of certain population groups and how they result in purchases by these groups. In the readings on the implications of Big Data in HR one article suggested the use of a tool called predictive analysis. The example they provided was that Big Data had told an organization that every time a certain manager interviewed a candidate for an open position the hire resulted in a failed hire. The extended logic was that if this hiring manager was the next manager up for an opening, the odds were that the hire would not last. Correlation is great for certain aspects of the organization, but HR needs to see if the causality of the human capital management issues are clearly understood.

Return to our predictive analysis example we discussed above. It is critical that when we have a problem with a process, it is almost never a people problem. If this is correct then the fact that a particular manager is interviewing failed hires is not the grounds for a valid correlation but rather a sign that something is something is wrong with the process. Is the reason that the hires fail due to the wrong cultural fit? Is the reason the hires fail due to the wrong skills for the position? The use of the continual process improvement methodology provides you with the tools to discover the root causes of the process problems that a concentration on correlations does not and cannot.

When we determine that in order to correct the obstacles to the hiring process, we need to find a driven method to empower change in our organizations. The use of the cause and effect determination is a method to drive that change. The TLS Continuum (Theory of Constraints-Lean-Six Sigma) provides a roadmap to discover the causes of the process problems.

We are not suggesting that Big Data does not have a place within our organizations. It certainly does in areas like sales or marketing. But when the success of our organizations is dependent on knowing why we are experiencing process errors, there is a better route to go with the TLS Continuum and the Continuous Process Improvement tools. To learn more about big data and the influence on HR, register for the 61st HRM conference, on October 6-7, 2015. The conference will take place at The Club in Birmingham Alabama. More information on our website.

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Article by Daniel T. Bloom SPHR, Six Sigma Black Belt, SCRP. Daniel is the CEO and Managing Consultant for Daniel Bloom and Associate, Inc and will be a speaker at the 61st Annual HRM conference.

7 Questions to ask Your Career Coach in Online Training.

We often see the term “coach” and think about athletics or using a trainer at the gym to help us fit into our summer clothes.  Yet we rarely think about a career coach to help guide us through our pursuit of a better life at work. Let’s face it: as jobseekers, we only have so much knowledge of how to polish our resumes, put the perfect cover letter together to get the attention of a hiring manager, and find different ways to network. This is why having an experienced career coach who focuses on your success will help so much once you finish your education or certification program.

Many schools or universities offer “career coaching” as a part of their enrollment processes, but what is a career coach exactly, and what should you be looking for in a coach?  The bottom line is a career coach should help you assess your professional situation with a good amount of honesty, curiosity, empathy and compassion. With the normal amount of anxiety that comes with the job search, your career coach should help you feel comfortable and inspire you to keep going. The largest part of a career coach’s job is to bring you out of your shell and help you understand that just submitting your resume to online job search engines will not give you the kind of return you want. Career coaching is extremely personal so make sure you do your research before you commit.

Here are a few questions you should ask during your research:

1. Just like with a sports coach, you want to know a career coach’s win/loss record. If you are talking to a school or university, ask what their career services statistics are and get them to show you the following: their student graduation rate, success in passing certification exams, and their career statistics. If you want to learn more, look up Gainful Employment Regulations.
2. Find out their career path. You want to make sure that the person who is coaching you had both coaching experience and real world experience as well.
3. Geographic location is another option for you to consider. Technology like Skype gives you the opportunity to choose a coach from anywhere in the world. This is your own preference so make sure you are comfortable with your choice.
4. Interview your top two or three picks. Ask about the following: fees, rates (they may vary from $50 to $300 per hour), how often you will meet, and for how long. Most coach-client relationships last from six months to a year.
5. Whether it is a school or a career coach, you need to ask what is included in his or her “experience.” It should include some of the following: goal setting, time management, study skills, and your motivation to advance.
6. If you are working with your school or university, then there are also a few important questions you should ask and have answered. Will they help you build a solid resume? If there are certification requirements involved, ask them how they can help you. Are there hands-on job experience opportunities they can help you with such as externships or internships? Will they teach you how to market yourself and network? Also, find out if they will set up mock interview sessions with you to prepare you for that job interview.
7. More than anything chemistry and connection with your coach should be top on your list. You will have to be comfortable with sharing intimate details of your life with your coach, so it’s important that you like and see him or her as an equal.

Bama At Work and our partner World Education.net will assign our students a dedicated career coach from Day 1 who will assist them with a success plan from training to a fulfilling career. We offer our graduates career development assistance up to 1 year after course completion to make sure they are on track to find that dream job!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn or visit our website for more info and news about Professional Development, Online Training and how to improve your professional profile.

Article by Kelly Fuhlman, Director of Social Media  for World Education , and is personally involved in helping others make a better life for themselves through education. World Education is one of the main partner of The University of Alabama for Online Certificate Programs.

 

Why Coaching is Important to the Business World.

 

Since the 90s coaching has been gaining in popularity. Originally, executives hired their own coach to become even more successful. However, in recent years, coaching has become more widely known in all levels of management. Coaches are hired to assist with training employees to become more effective leaders, enhance their management skills, communication skills, and to improve conflict resolution abilities.

The coaching relationship is a collaborative relationship based upon mutual trust and respect. It focuses on what clients want in their career future and it is a very results-oriented process. The client is seen as whole, competent, and resourceful, not someone who has to be fixed or healed. The purpose of coaching is to empower clients to find their own answers, to deepen their self-awareness and their learning. This is accomplished through the process of what is called appreciative inquiry, or the coach asking thoughtful, open-ended questions. Through the power of the coaching relationship, clients create a vision of what they want; they explore options or increase their possibilities to resolve a particular situation. They then implement a plan to achieve their goals. One of the best benefits of coaching is that it provides an accountability partner. The client is responsible for setting the agenda for the coaching sessions, doing the work and taking the actions necessary to achieve wanted goals.

During this whole process, the coach provides support for the client and “holds on to” the client’s agenda. In some instances, the coach believes in the clients more than the clients believe in themselves. Another great benefit of coaching is that the coach listens deeply to the client. In this way, the client is empowered by the coach to have more confidence, value themselves more, and gain a new perspective on a situation. What I tell my clients is the old adage, “Two heads are better than one.” The power of the collaborative relationship assists clients in reaching their ultimate future goals, one step at a time

The International Coach Federation (ICF) has provided some recent statistics on the benefits of coaching. The ICF found that coaching brings a number of benefits. “Professional coaching maximizes potential, and therefore unlocks latent sources of productivity.” Persons surveyed stated that 70% experienced improved work performance, 61% improved business management, 57% improved time management, and 51% improved team effectiveness.

Individuals using a coach enjoy an 80% improvement in self-confidence, 73% have improved relationships, 72% have improved communication skills, and 67% have improved life/work balance. According to the ICF, the vast majority of companies say they have at least made their investment back (86%). Furthermore, 99% of people surveyed who hired a coach are somewhat or very satisfied with their experience. A total of 96% of people would repeat the process.

Bama At Work is proud to offer the  Workplace Coaching Academy, a program designed to maximize the potential of leaders to deliver results in a constantly changing workplace. In this program participants will learn to influence at greater levels within their organization through the use of coaching. For more information about the Workplace Coaching Academy, professional development and career improvement please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn or visit our website .

Article by Linda Levin, Professional Certified  Coach and instructor for the Workplace Coaching Academy at The University of Alabama, Bama At Work.  Linda works with with leaders, partners and groups to accomplish their professional and personal goals. Her years of experience have taught her that the key to lasting and authentic change lies in the relationship between core personal values and inherent strengths .

What to Look For in an Online Certificate Program ?

With the growing cost of a college degree, many students are leery of taking out thousands of dollars in student loans.  In looking for alternatives many of these students are turning to short certificate programs that are significantly less of an impact on the pocketbook and can be completed in 6 months to a year. These courses are short and get right to the training needed without any excess costs for the student.  As good as they are for your time and budget, how can you be sure of the quality of the program you are taking?  If you are considering a certificate program, please pay attention to these “buyer beware” tips you need to follow:

• Accreditation of the school.
  You need to ask the institution if they are regionally or nationally accredited. If the representative you are talking to starts to stutter on this question and begins to ramble about memberships and associations, then you need to be suspicious! Regional accredited schools are most of your colleges and universities, like The University of Alabama with Bama At Work. If you receive a certificate from a recognized school you are covered on the accreditation question and employers will see this as a trustworthy institution. Sometimes the best way to ask this question is “Are you approved by the Department of Education?”. Do your research!

• Preparing for a certification exam.
  Many certificate programs prepare you for an exam that will certify you to work in a certain industry. Many careers in the health and fitness industry require you to have a certain amount of hours in training and an 80% or above on your certification exam before you can work with clients or patients. Make sure the school you choose is an approved training provider and offers vouchers to take the exam.

• Career Services.
  Many schools say they have career services that help students find a job after the training is done. However, you need to find out what services they specifically they offer. When you ask the question “How are you going to help me?” and they fumble over that question or simply give you a document, chances are you will not be happy.  However, if they offer you a personal career coach, resume writing tech, webinars for current students to attend for career development, and also stay with you at least 1 year after completion then you have found the right place!

• Cost and time commitment.
  This is where your research comes into play. Make sure you compare prices before choosing a school. Many schools will charge a premium for programs that you can take elsewhere with the same training, accreditation and vouchers, sometimes at 50 to 60% cheaper. Again, check the credentials of the schools but also make sure you are not paying more than you should for a certificate program.

Using these 4 tips should help you choose the right school and program that fits your needs and not break the bank. Make sure when it comes to your money and education you are an informed consumer!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn or visit our website for more info and news about Professional Development, Online Training and how to improve your professional profile.

Article by Kelly Fuhlman, Director of Social Media  for World Education , and is personally involved in helping others make a better life for themselves through education. World Education is one of the main partner of the University of Alabama for Online Certificate Programs

The True Value of Project Management for your Business

‘Tis the season for football, and the pundits have started talking about teams’ prospects for the championship games at the start of 2015. For companies, it’s also the season for planning their activities for 2015. Most strategic plans will call for projects to improve organizations’ capabilities. Alignment of the projects and strategy will be key to successful strategy implementation. One way firms can ensure that alignment is by equipping leaders and project managers with project management skills and knowledge. Firms need to build a foundation for project management. Employees need to understand quality-driven philosophies and tools that contribute to enhancing a project team’s participation and productivity. Such a foundation provides employees the strategic, organizational, and tactical viewpoint that leads to tight alignment of business objectives and project plans. Project management is a team effort, so a project management foundation also includes understanding the various roles and responsibilities of the project teams and understanding the characteristics of an effective project manager. The project management process as well as techniques and tools for project planning and execution also form one of the elements of a sound project management foundation.

Firms also need to develop deeper project management skills to advance project teams’ effectiveness in key areas like initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure. One way to give teams advanced skills is through training in scenarios provided in challenging simulations. Such simulations put employees in situations during the planning and execution phases of projects and challenge them to make timely decisions that can affect the outcome of the project. Simulations are safe environments where employees can practice their skills before using them in real situations. Firms can master the project management discipline by institutionalizing it. Sound and repeatable practices to make project management an efficient discipline need to be part of an organization’s DNA. That DNA shows up as the habit of identifying, documenting, and applying best practices to improve current and future project performance. Developing that habit can institutionalize project management best practices throughout an organization as employees develop a best practice methodology tailored to their organization. Institutionalizing best practices also requires insight into organizational culture in order to champion project management best practices in the organization.

Using project management software can be a way to harness those deeper project management skills and make the practice of project management a systematic discipline. Project managers, project team members, and other employees need to plan and track projects and most likely will use the well-known Microsoft Project in the overall project management process. Microsoft Project is a powerful, flexible tool designed to help teams manage a full range of projects and is widely available in the Microsoft Office suite. Project management software gives project teams the power and flexibility to plan and track projects and meet business needs. The software is a tool that helps teams build a project plan and get started by creating a work schedule. Teams can manage a project and easily review and analyze its progress as well as communicate project information to members of the team. Firms also have people who are not project managers but still need some level of skill to ensure project success. That’s because not all employees are project managers, but all employees eventually take part in projects. They don’t have prior knowledge of project management, but they need to get up to speed quickly. Getting up to speed includes the essential vocabulary and concepts of project management as well as the basic tools and techniques employees can start using immediately. Such a focus enables organizations to quickly develop a pool of employees with foundational knowledge of project management.

Firms may want some employees to be professionally certified. For example, government contracts may call for evidence a contractor has mastered all of the critical project management skills and has command of the project management processes. The distinctive certification of Project Management Professional (PMP®) from The Project Management Institute (PMI) is that kind of evidence.  In order to achieve certification, individuals must demonstrate they have mastered all of the skills and techniques and have gained the knowledge to set them and their organizations apart from the pack. The PMP credential tends to be a top credential in demand by employers, and can provide organizations with a cadre of experts. Be sure to include the building of project management capability in your organizational plan for next year. People are key to turning strategy into action and action into results; a sequenced program that enables them to master the project management discipline will translate into employees who can save money and increase revenues.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn or visit our website for more info and news about project management certificate programs, professional development and how to improve the efficiency of your organization.

Article by Leroy Hurt, Associate Dean, Professional Development and Community Engagement, The University of Alabama,

Leroy Hurt, Associate Dean, Bama At Work

The Role of Simulation Software in Electronic Online Certificate Programs.

Training students to use bench top equipment, robots, PLCs, and laboratory equipment is a crucial stepping stone for their development as technicians in the industrial workplace. But how would you gain this crucial experience in an online program? Our programs accomplish this by utilizing leading commercial simulators to introduce new content, develop new designs, and learn the troubleshooting and programming skills that are fundamental in a successful student’s skill set.

 CircuitLogix Simulator running a resonance lab

The Electronics Technician Certificate and Electromechanical Technician Certificate programs make use of CircuitLogix and 3D Lab simulators.  3D Lab provides a simple bench top lab environment within which students learn introductory circuit building skills. Components and testing equipment are assembled in the virtual bench top environment, and students build and test circuits.  CircuitLogix provides a more advanced experience as students become more familiar with components and circuit building. It uses a 2 dimensional “schematic capture” environment, very similar to the actual industrial design tools used by professionals to develop their circuits. These simulation tools, integrated within the program content, introduce schematic capture, demonstrate live circuits, teach troubleshooting, and provide a design environment where you can design and test real circuits without having to step into a real bench top lab.

LogixPro simulator running an industrial silo simulation

Two different PLC simulators are integrated into our two PLC technician certificate programs These simulators provide an environment where students can gain experience with the operation of PLCs, and design ladder logic programs to solve automation problems.

The PLC Technician certificate program uses LogixPro, which simulates the Allen-Bradley 500 series PLCs, while the PLC Technician II certificate program uses PLClogix, a simulator for the Allen-Bradley Rockwell 5000 series PLCs. Our PLC technician certificate and LogixPro provide a basic introduction to PLCs in manufacturing and simulates RSLogix 500, and SLC 500 series PLC software. The PLC technician II certificate and PLCLogix covers a similar experience in PLC theory; however, it covers more advanced programming content and applications, and emulates Rockwell’s Logix 5000 series PLC software.

Our Robotics Technician Certificate utilizes RoboLogix, a simulator developed to simulate robotics systems and a control environment using to teach pendants. This program provides students with an introductory foundation in the theory and application of industrial robotics while specifically teaching how to program an industrial robot’s movement and actions in a manufacturing environment.

These simulators are yours to keep after completion of the certificate programs, allowing the student to design, test, program, and troubleshoot programs and circuits before applying them on the job in their future positions. The fundamental skills developed by students within the simulators for these programs give our graduates exceptional practical skills upon graduation that can readily be transferred and applied to the workplace.

To learn more about professional development, online training and how to improve your professional profile, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn or visit our website.

Article by Scott Duncan,  Manager Business Development for George Brown College. George Brown College offers online certificate electronic online certificate programs in its partnership with Bama At Work.