'Something that they can use in the real world': UA offering students free credential courses

Sammie Jo Funk watched coworker after coworker get promoted over her. Frankly, she was sick of it.

The maintenance worker for an Akron-area manufacturing plant knew she was good at her job and worthy of a supervisor position, but her lack of a degree was constantly referenced as a reason she wasn't moving up the ladder — never mind the number of men who had done so ahead of her without a degree.

One day, she decided enough was enough. "I'm not going to give them any way to deny me anymore," she said.

Funk already had some college credits but went back to school in her 30s through the University of Akron. This fall, she will earn her degree in business through an entirely online program.

But it's another program, also through UA, that she's crediting with making her resume one employers will be unable to pass up. It's a program all students at the university can now take advantage of — and it's free.

Funk, 33, recently earned a certificate in SAP Fundamentals, a 14-hour course about a software program relevant to her company's work.

The course is part of an assortment of three dozen online certificate and industry credential courses that the University of Akron is now making available to all faculty, staff and students for no extra charge.

With this opportunity, students can earn their degree but also tack on one or several certificates that make them more marketable to employers. Some courses take a few hours, while ones like project management are closer to 70 hours. All the courses are self-paced, so students could take one over winter break or spread it out over the course of a semester — whenever is most convenient for them.

The online courses are through a third-party company called Coursera. The university is partnering with Coursera for the cost of $22,500 for this school year, scaling the program up over the next two years to an expected annual cost of $78,250.

UA is offering unlimited courses to alumni at a discounted rate of $99 a year, while the general public can get unlimited courses through UA for $59 a month. Bulk rates are also available for businesses looking to partner with the university to offer a series of courses for employees.

The general public can access the courses without going through UA, but the university is hoping more people, especially locally, will connect to it through UA.

Wendy Lampner, the university's director of online, continuing and professional education, said the university will provide support to those who go through the program with UA, whether they are a UA student or not.

"We want to be that lifelong learning option," Lampner said.

The university has partnered with Coursera before to offer courses to businesses, but the idea to offer it across campus, and for free, came out of discussions around the university's strategic plan, Lampner said.

Students voiced wanting better access to opportunities like internships and co-ops, and ways to stand out when they apply. Even before earning a degree, they can earn certifications in cyber security, social media marketing or project management — all line items that would stand out on a resume for internships and employment.

More than 70 students have taken advantage of the program so far. About a third are earning certificates or credentials in business-related courses, a third in data science and another third in computer science.

"We like the fact that they will have a verifiable skill that is marketable, that’s industry-recognized," Lampner said. "So we view it as something additional that we offer. It does not in any way replace or in any way duplicate what they're learning in the classroom, but it gives them that something additional that they can list on their resume."

The university is looking to expand the program to offer it in partnership with high schools, she said, especially as a complement to Akron Public Schools' College and Career Academies, which have students earning some of the same industry credentials offered through Coursera.

Lampner said the university also hopes to design its own courses to offer on the platform that are specific to the needs of Akron students in majors like polymers and engineering.

Funk is hoping more industrial-related courses will be made available to students. She finished the first course in two days and is already looking to do another.

"I’d like to take them all," she said. Even if it's not directly related to her current career, "I'm one of those people who loves to learn about absolutely anything."

Funk said the availability of the free certificates and industry credentials might be the push someone needs to go back to school, or to pick Akron to finish their degree.

"They want something that they can use in the real world," she said.

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: University of Akron offering students free industry credential courses