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5 Continuing Education Courses to Take in Retirement

Some people may look at retirement and think about it being the end—the end of their careers, the end of their paychecks or the end of their middle-aged decades. Still others may think of it in a more positive light—as the end of their stressful nine-to-five schedules. In this sense, one can not only think of retirement as an end, but also as a new beginning. When you retire, you will have time to do things you did not have time to do when you were working every day of the week, such as spending time with family and friends, traveling or taking up a new hobby. Add continuing education to that list! With your newfound free time in retirement, you may be looking for a productive way to spend it, and keeping your mind sharp with lifelong learning is a great way to do so. At UWA Online, we offer a variety of continuing education courses to take in retirement that  appeal the person eager to keep learning.

Here are five continuing education courses to take in retirement available through UWA Online.

  1. Personal Stress Reduction 3561: The name says it all. In this independent-study course, participants will acquire healthy methods of coping with stress by learning how to identify sources of stress in their lives. The course will identify what stress is and what causes it, the connection between the mind, body and spirit, relaxation techniques including exercise, color and light therapy and others and how to change perspectives to relax the body and mind. Cost: $195. Learn more here.
  2. Computer Fundamentals 3122: Have trouble with computer basics? This course will cover common functions associated with using computers. Students will get an overview of operating system fundamentals, as well as computer and network technology. Other topics covered in Computer Fundamentals 3122 will include working with software, the operating system and troubleshooting. The course will be taught by certified Microsoft instructor, Kenneth Mayer and does not require the purchase of any supplementary materials. Cost: $159. Learn more here.
  3. Living Online 3184: In a world that is consistently relying on higher and higher technologies to function, being internet-savvy can make everyday life much easier. Living Online 3184 will teach participants how to use online tools such as web browsers, email, search and more. The course will also cover networking technology, identity protection online and in general, how to communicate more fluidly in today’s world. Cost: $159. Learn more here.
  4. Create Stunning Digital Photographs 3459: Thinking about taking up photography in retirement? This could be the course for you! This entertaining and informative course serves to offer an introduction to digital photography including fundamentals like composition, lighting, exposure and more. The course will also cover portrait photography, photographing in the outdoors, night shooting, wedding and event photography, landscape photography, animal photography and even underwater portraits. Obtain a range of digital photography skills with Create Stunning Digital Photographs 3459! Cost: $195. Learn more here.
  5. Going Green 3500: Learn simple and budget-friendly ways to lead a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle in Going Green 3500. Students will learn how to minimize their impacts on the planet by identifying small changes they can make in their everyday lives that will improve both individual health and the well-being of society as a whole. The independent study course will cover what it means to be green, smart consumption habits and how to implement green lifestyle choices. Reduce your carbon footprint with Going Green 3500! Cost: $195. Learn more here.

These continuing education courses to take in retirement can not only provide you a productive way to spend your time when you are no longer working, but they can also enrich your life by teaching you new and valuable skills that will have a positive impact on both yourself and the people around you. Enjoy retirement with UWA Online Continuing Education!

These continuing education courses to take in retirement are non-credit courses that are open to anyone, anywhere with access to a computer and an internet connection. See what else UWA Online Continuing Education has to offer today at www.uwa.edu/ce!

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UWA Campus Events Happening in September 2017

The school year is in full swing on the University of West Alabama campus, and that not only means test prep, projects and papers, but also a calendar full of fun and engaging events to keep students, faculty and the community entertained. Football, 5K’s and festivals dominate the fall schedule on UWA’s campus, as seasonal traditions continue to contribute to what we know and love about autumn. Check out these UWA campus events happening in September 2017!

AKA One Million Backpacks Drive, Sept. 5-8

  • What: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority will collect donations in the form of backpacks and school supplies that will be distributed to youths in need.
  • Where: Caf Lawn
  • When: 11 a.m.

UWA Football, Sept. 7

  • What: Travel with the UWA Tigers as they take on the Samford University Bulldogs at Samford University in Birmingham.
  • Where: Samford University, Birmingham
  • When: 6 p.m.

AKA Suicide Awareness Candlelight, Sept. 10

  • What: Join Alpha Kappa Alpha for a candlelight vigil in honor of World Suicide Prevention Day, which is Sept. 10. Lighting a candle serves to show support for suicide prevention, to remember lost loved ones and to recognize suicide survivors.
  • Where: Intramural Fields
  • When: 7 p.m.

Miss America Watch Party Hosted by Miss UWA, Sept. 10

  • What: Miss University of West Alabama invites you to gather to watch the finals of the Miss America 2017 competition airing at 8 p.m. CT on ABC.
  • Where: Tiger’s Den
  • When: 7:30 p.m.

3v3 Soccer Tournament, Sept. 11

  • What: Grab two buddies with soccer skills and participate in a friendly 3v3 tournament at UWA’s intramural fields .
  • Where: Intramural Fields
  • When: 4 p.m.

SCFAC/UWA Performance of Zuzu African Acrobats, Sept. 12

  • What: The Sumter County Fine Arts Council and UWA kick off the season with a performance from the Zuzu African Acrobats. Based in Mombassa, Kenya, the acrobats have performed in more than 25 countries in the past 10 years.
  • Where: Lyon Hall Auditorium
  • When: 7 p.m.

Phi Mu 65 Roses Race 5K, Sept. 14

  • What: Hosted by the Kappa Xi Chapter of Phi Mu, this 5K run/walk serves to raise money for cystic fibrosis.
  • Where: Campus Loop
  • When: 7 p.m.

UWA Football, Sept. 16

  • What: Cheer on the UWA Tigers as they take on the Mississippi College Choctaws at Tiger Stadium for the first home game of the season.
  • Where: Tiger Stadium
  • When: 6 p.m.

DIRT 17: “Digging Into Rural Traditions” Rural School Summit, Sept. 18-20

  • What: This three-day event serves to will connect attendees with the history of Alabama’s Black Belt region and encourage community members to plan for a life-enriching future in the area. The event will feature several informative guest speakers. Read more about DIRT 17 here!
  • Where/When: Click here for updates on the program agenda.

Miss UWA Pageant Informational, Sept. 19

  • What: Get the info you need to know to participate in the Miss UWA Pageant, which will be held in Bibb Graves Auditorium on Nov. 9, 2017.
  • Where: Caf Lawn
  • When: 11:30 a.m.

Career Services Career Expo, Sept. 20 

  • What: Meet potential employers and register for door prizes at the Career Services Career Expo at Bell Conference Center. Business attire is expected, and resumes are recommended.
  • Where: Bell Conference Center
  • When: 9 a.m.

Disc Golf Tournament, Sept. 21

  • What: Put your disc golf skills and compete against other disc golf enthusiasts on UWA’s Tiger Trails Disc Golf Course.
  • Where: Tiger Trails Disc Golf Course
  • When: 4 p.m.

UWA Band Festival, Sept. 23 

  • What: The UWA Band program features four ensembles that perform on a regular basis on and off campus: The “Scarlet Band from Tiger Land” Marching Band, The “Side-Court Posse,” the symphonic band and the jazz band.
  • Where: Tiger Stadium
  • When: 9 a.m.

UWA Football, Sept. 23

  • What: Travel with the UWA Tigers as they take on the University of West Alabama Lions at UWA in Florence.
  • Where: University of North Alabama, Florence
  • When: 6 p.m.

Punt, Pass and Kick Tournament, Sept. 25-28 

  • What: Participants have the opportunity to show off their punt, pass and/or kicking skills for a shot to make it into the NFL National Punt, Pass and Kick finals.
  • Where: Intramural Fields
  • When: 6 p.m.

Active Minds Open Mic, Sept. 28

  • What: Active Minds is a national organization supporting a network of campus-based chapters led by students pushing for mental health advocacy and education. Join the UWA Active Minds chapter for an open mic session in the Tiger’s Den.
  • Where: Tiger’s Den
  • When: 7:30 p.m.

UWA Football, Sept. 30

  • What: Cheer on the UWA Tigers as they take on the Shorter Hawks at Tiger Stadium for the second home game of the season.
  • Where: Tiger Stadium
  • When: 6 p.m.

Know someone who would be interested in any or all of these UWA campus events happening in September 2017? We encourage you to share this list on your social media channels!

Keep in touch with the UWA community and the world of continuing education through the UWA Online Continuing Education blog! To see what we have to offer in terms of continuing education, visit us at www.uwa.edu/ce!

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Course Spotlight: Healthy Moms and Infant Nutrition 3857

Are you an expecting mother interested in learning more about how what you’re eating is affecting your growing child? Or perhaps you are the mother of an infant or a toddler, and making sure your young one is receiving the best nutrition possible through his or her food is your top priority. Healthy Moms and Infant Nutrition 3857 could be an online continuing education course that benefits you.

This course will take participants through evidence-based research to explore nutritional recommendations for preconception, pregnancy and infant and toddler feeding. Going a step beyond, it will also provide food planning strategies for families to embrace healthy living. With an abundance of nutritional myths circulating our social media news feeds and TV commercials, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. Healthy Moms and Infant Nutrition 3857 seeks to debunk some of these common myths and give participants a basic understanding of current and accurate child nutrition recommendations.

Specific topics that Healthy Moms and Infant Nutrition 3857 will cover include:

  • Determining whether an online nutrition source is credible.
  • The basic role of nutrition and appropriate nutrition recommendations during preconception, pregnancy, lactation, infancy and toddlerhood.
  • Vitamin and mineral supplementation during preconception, pregnancy, lactation, infancy and toddlerhood
  • Common nutritional problems during pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood and how to improve them
  • Strategies that mothers and partners can use to ensure that a mother recovers well post-delivery
  • Common breastfeeding problems and their solutions
  • Benefits of breastfeeding for mother and baby
  • Types of infant formula and recommended usage
  • Recommendations for the introduction of solid foods to infants
  • Ways to effectively implement post-partum weight loss

In addition, this course will discuss why positive early nutrition habits are the keys to preventing childhood and adult obesity—a disease that has become an epidemic across the United States in the past decades.

Tuition for this course is $195, and registration is open through Friday, Dec. 15, 2017. To register for Healthy Moms and Infant Nutrition 3857, click here!  To browse our entire list of course offerings, visit www.uwa.edu/ce.

 

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6 HIPAA Continuing Education Courses to Take From UWA Online

Any organization or person who works in or in conjunction with the healthcare industry, or who has access to protected health information, must comply with HIPAA guidelines. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and it was first enacted in 1996 as an effort to incrementally reform healthcare in terms of cost, simplifying administrative processes and improving privacy of patients’ health information. If you are an employer looking to train employees, or if you are an individual seeking HIPAA certifications, UWA Online can help. Read more about these six HIPAA continuing education courses to take from UWA Online.

HIPAA: An Introduction 3509

This course was designed for general audiences who seek to understand HIPAA, how it affects them personally and/or how they should be familiar with HIPAA standards for the purpose of their daily operations. Topics covered will include: why HIPAA was enacted, individual rights under HIPAA, identification off examples of protected health information, requirements for working with protected health information and risks for HIPAA non-compliance. Tuition for this course is $40, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017. Learn more.

HIPAA Applying Legislation in Operational Management 4257

This mini course will give participants an overview of medical law and will outline requirements for complying with medical law. In addition, students will learn about equipment inventory. Tuition for this course is $40, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017. Learn more.

HIPAA Applying Rules to Privacy 4226

This mini course will give students an overview of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and will discuss its purpose. Participants will also learn about Personal Health Information (PH) and the Hitech Act. Tuition for this course is $40, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017. Learn more.

HIPAA for Nurses 3507

As primary caregivers responsible for applying HIPAA rules every day, nurses will benefit from this course that focuses on case studies specific to three areas: protected health information, electronic transactions security and physical safeguards. The course seeks to help participants understand individual rights and responsibilities under HIPAA in an effort to help them safeguard sensitive health information. Tuition for this course is $40, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017. Learn more.

HIPAA for Substance Abuse Providers 3508

Similar to nurses, substance abuse care providers are responsible for applying HIPAA rules several times a day through the nature of their work. The course will include a general discussion of HIPAA and course studies pertaining to three different areas: protected health information, electronic transactions security and physical safeguards. Tuition for this course is $40, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017. Learn more.

HIPAA Privacy Rule Training for Healthcare Organizations 3421

This is a foundations course that can benefit all who are associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. With maintaining patient privacy at the core of HIPAA, it is vital that all healthcare professionals complete regular HIPAA privacy training. This course defines the purpose of the HIPPA privacy rule and outlines the most current information associated with HIPAA, including privacy and security rules. Participants of this course will also be introduced to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and how it impacts electronic medical records. Tuition for this course is $495, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017. Learn more.

 

Start your HIPAA training today with these HIPPA continuing education courses to take from UWA Online! The health field represents only one subject area that our entire selection of online continuing education courses cover. To see what else we have to offer, visit www.uwa.edu/ce!

 

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10 Fast Facts About Labor Day

Labor Day is almost a week away, and that means people are preparing for how they’re going to spend their three-day weekends marking the unofficial end of summer. Most of us associate Labor Day with everything from barbecues to beach trips, lake weekends to lounging poolside—and all else in between.  As we look forward to Labor Day weekend, here are 10 fast facts about Labor Day to keep you up-to-speed on what the holiday is all about.

  1. Labor Day celebrates the contributions and achievements of the more than 160 million people who are currently in the U.S. workforce.
  2. The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City and was planned by the Central Labor Union. The celebration involved a parade of about 10,000 workers who took unpaid leave to march through New York City.
  3. In 1887, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday.
  4. In June 1894, Congress passed an act that made the first Monday in September each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
  5. During the 19th century, Americans typically worked 12-hour days, seven days a week.
  6. The eight-hour workday in America was established in September 1916 with the Adamson Act.
  7. In the retail world, Labor Day is known as the second largest “sale” day in the United States after Black Friday. This is due to the fact that a large number of people are off work and therefore free to shop.
  8. The idea that you should not wear white after Labor Day dates back to the Victorian era, when the fashion world thought that wearing white meant you were still in vacation mode. The tradition is not really upheld today.
  9. Labor Day is the unofficial end of hot dog season. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans eat 7 billion hot dogs.
  10. To this day, there is still a Labor Day parade in New York City.

Use this facts about Labor Day to help your friends, family and coworkers to better understand the reason they get to be off work during the first Monday each September! However you spend your Labor Day holiday, we wish you a safe and fun one from UWA Online!

To learn more about UWA Online Continuing Education e-Learning, visit us at www.uwa.edu/ce.

 

 

 

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Course Spotlight: Become Confident and Assertive 3341

You may have the qualifications for a job to boot, but being successful in the career world—and in life in general—involves exhibiting confidence in all that you do. If you feel that you are lacking skills associated with self-assurance either professionally, personally or both, the course Become Confident and Assertive 3341, offered by UWA Online Continuing Education e-Learning, can make a difference.

In Become Confident and Assertive 3341, participants will learn how to feel more in control of their lives by displaying confidence that will help them to improve relationships, advance their careers and earn respect from not only supervisors and colleagues, but friends and family members. This independent-study course is divided into the following four modules:

Module 1: How Do You See Yourself?

  • What do employees want?
  • Unleashing productivity
  • Balancing work and life
  • Embracing diversity
  • Tools for turning the tables at work

Module 2: How Do Others See You?

  • Being assertive at home
  • Body language
  • Walk the walk
  • Talk the talk
  • Parenting children
  • Reversing roles

Module 3: Making it Work

  • Difficult co-workers
  • Asking for a raise
  • Assertive buying
  • Communicating assertively
  • Communicating with authority

Module 4: Raising Assertive Children

  • Myths about assertive behavior
  • Measuring your success
  • Making the transition
  • Assertive children
  • The line between assertiveness and aggression

By the end of Become Confident and Assertive 3341, participants should feel better-equipped to assert themselves in difficult situations that arise both at home and in the workplace, empowering them to become more successful in both arenas.

As an independent study course, Become Confident and Assertive 3341 will give students all of the resources needed to successfully complete the course with online material. A student helpdesk will be available for technical support throughout enrollment. Tuition for this course is $195, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017.

To register for Become Confident and Assertive 3341, click here!

To browse UWA Online Continuing Education e-Learnings other course offerings, visit us at www.uwa.edu/ce!

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5 E-learning Programs That Teach You Hands-On Skills

Just like e-mail, e-books and e-commerce, e-learning involves a task being completed with the help of electronic technology. E-learning by nature obviously involves being on a computer—with course materials, lectures and tests all happening within the realm of the internet. That being said, you may think it impossible to cultivate a career skill set based on physical actions in an e-Learning environment. However, at UWA Online, we offer several e-learning programs that teach you hands-on skills all from the comfort of your own computer.

Read more about these e-Learning programs that teach you hands-on skills.

  • Professional Cooking & Catering 3211
    • This course of study is broken up into two modules: Professional Cooking and Professional Catering. In Professional Cooking, participants will learn the basics of cooking and baking to begin a career in the food-service industry including how to plan dishes and menus, select quality ingredients, present food masterfully and more. On the catering side, students will learn all steps involved with operating a successful catering business including menu development, managing clients and employees and problem solving solutions. Read more about Professional Cooking & Catering 3211.
  • Advanced Personal Fitness Training 3245
    • The Advanced Personal Fitness Training certificate at UWA Online prepares participants for careers in medically-based fitness facilities, community wellness programs, personal training studios, physical therapy clinics and private and commercial health clubs, among others. Upon completion, students will earn complimentary access to receive the National Posture Institute’s Certified Resistance Training Professional designation; in addition, it prepares students for the American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer Certification. Read more about Advanced Personal Fitness Training 3245.
  • EKG Technician 3135
    • This program prepares participants to work as Certified EKG Technicians technicians qualified to work in doctor’s offices, hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities. With a growing demand for EKG technicians, this valuable course of study equips students with the skills to perform EKGs by covering topics like the anatomy and physiology of the heart, medical disease processes, medical terminology, medical ethics, legal aspects of patient contract, electrocardiography, stress testing and more. Read more about EKG Technician 3135.
  • Massage Therapy & Holistic Healing Professional 4034
    • Launch a successful career in massage therapy with UWA Online’s Massage Therapy & Holistic Healing program. The program not only covers principles associated with common massage therapy systems, but it also teaches participants about the business side of working as massage therapists. Topics covered include the history and perspective of massage, Western massage techniques and joint movement, contemporary massage and bodywork, marketing for massage, ethics and professionalism in massage therapy, kinesiology, the skeletal and neuromuscular systems and more. Read more about Massage Therapy & Holistic Healing Professional 4034.
  • Landscaping 3173
    • Learn everything you need to know to working $20 billion landscaping industry with this certification program through UWA Online. Participants will learn about traditional landscaping design practices as well as more obscure concepts like interior landscaping, xeriscaping and water gardens. The program will also cover information helpful for starting a landscaping business. Students who successfully complete the course will be prepared for an entry-level position in the field and for the NCCB certification exam to become a Certified Landscaping Specialist (CLS). Read more about Landscaping 3173 here.

These e-learning programs that teach you hands-on skills can save you time and money while still preparing you for the technical career that you’ve set your sights on! To browse similar programs through UWA Online, visit www.uwa.edu/ce!

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UWA’s Black Belt Teacher Corps is Making Progress Through Service Projects

The University of West Alabama is proud to be located in the state’s culturally rich Black Belt region. Its proximity to the Black Belt gives UWA opportunities to not only study the implications of the Black Belt’s past, but to also take steps toward setting up today’s Black Belt for a successful future. One way UWA is actively seeking to energize the Black Belt is through the Black Belt Teacher Corps (BBTC), a program in which College of Education students dedicate themselves to work as teachers in Black Belt schools for at least three years in exchange for scholarships to pay for their education. In its inaugural year, UWA’s Black Belt Teacher Corps is making progress through service projects that have already left lasting effects in their respective communities.

In addition to funding to pay for their own educations, students involved with the BBTC also receive funding from UWA to implement education projects in the communities where they are working. Learn more about how UWA’s Black Belt Teacher Corps is making progress through service projects.

The Makerspace Project

For this project, BBTC members Austin Bishop, Haley Richardson and Elizabeth Waddell transformed an underutilized room at Livingston Junior High School into a creative space available to students and teachers for collaboration, innovation and learning. Makerspaces have become a trend across the country as places to implement a variety of hands-on learning styles using everything from high-end technology to simple mind-to-mind interaction.

For the project, BBTC members created a project proposal, determined a budget and acquired permission from school administrators before putting the makerspace plan into action.

The Sprouting Minds Project

Championed by BBTC member Allie Marques, The Sprouting Minds Project in Demopolis was inspired by Marques’ own upbringing on a farm in Alabama. For the project, Marques worked to create accessible, raised-bed gardens at multiple schools in the Demopolis School District in order to give students the fulfilling opportunity to grow their own food from school grounds.

After receiving approval from school administrators, Marques charged ahead with the project with the help of a local construction business that donated funding and installation support. Handicap-accessible raised-bed gardens have now been installed at four schools in the district and are ready for the first round of seeds to be planted. Marques said she envisions an eventual community-school partnership for community gardens or farmers markets as the gardens grow.

These are only two examples of how UWA’s Black Belt Teacher Corps is making progress through service projects in its inaugural year. There are a total of 15 BBTC members currently working to implement service-based educational projects like these in the rural communities where they teach.

The BBTC is a movement by the nationwide Rural Schools Collaborative to provide educational resources to schools and communities who are facing placed-based challenges common to rural areas. The program seeks to not only bolster rural communities from an educational standpoint, but also economically, and culturally.

Learn more about the positive strides the BBTC and other UWA programs are making through the UWA Online Continuing Education blog! If you are interested in taking non-credit, online courses through UWA Online, visit www.uwa.edu/ce to browse our course offerings.

 

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Course Spotlight: Building Rapport in Customer Relationships 3445

Every day, millions of transactions happen across the world between customer and service worker. Both parties likely hope the exchange goes smoothly, but from time to time a retail experience can turn negative. Building Rapport in Customer Relationships 3445, an online continuing education course offered by The University of West Alabama, teaches service workers how they can improve the relationship between themselves and customers in an effort to make both sides have positive retail experiences.

Offered as an independent-study course, Building Rapport in Customer Relationships 3445 will teach participants how to listen to customers in a way that allows them to understand their customers’ wants and needs. Designed for a general business audience, this course was established to help customer service workers be able to build positive rapport with customers in order to respond to their requests in a constructive manner.

Topics covered in Building Rapport in Customer Relationships 3445 include:

  • Defining active listening.
  • Describing effective listening skills.
  • Summarizing how to build rapport.
  • Explaining empathetic listening.
  • Responding to customers’ emotional needs.
  • Listing cross-cultural listening techniques.

As an independent-study course, Building Rapport in Customer Relationships 3445 will provide students access to online resources needed to complete the course. A helpdesk will also be available to students in need of technical support throughout the enrollment period.

Enrollment in this course costs $40, and registration is open through Dec. 15, 2017.

By the end of this course, participants should have a grasp on how to better serve customers and in doing so advance their customer service skills in ways that can benefit them through various job positions in life.

Register for Building Rapport in Customer Relationships 3445 today through The University of West Alabama Online! To sign up for this course, click here. To browse our other course offerings, visit www.uwa.edu/ce.

 

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5 Ways Continuing Education Can Help Your Career

Growing up, most of us live under the impression that there is a certain natural progression to our lives that we are expected to follow: go to elementary school, middle school, and high school, attend college, get a job, work and then retire. While there’s nothing wrong with this pattern, society as a whole is evolving to include another critical component to living as an enlightened, successful person: continuing education. By nature, continuing education is a process that should continue throughout one’s life and that can be especially important to altering your career path for the better. Continuing education can help your career by allowing you to put in a relatively small time investment in exchange for possibly monumental gains.

Though college itself can be considered a form of continuing education, the phrase here specifically refers to courses that you take after you have left school and are working. Here are five ways that continuing education can help your career.

  • By improving your skills in your current position. Continuing education can help your career by helping you to maintain—and improve upon—the career skills you already have. Learning something once and then never revisiting training can ultimately lead to you get “rusty” in regard to a particular practice, skill or topic that may be involved with your job.
  • By keeping you up to date on the latest industry trends. Along the same lines, continuing education can help your career by introducing you to new, innovative and desired ways to do your job. When employers notice that you are familiar with the most recent and efficient ways of performing a task, then you will have an advantage over those employees who do not.
  • By moving you into a higher salary bracket. Taking continuing education courses can help you advance to a higher position in your career—and therefore into one that pays more money. The more qualified you are, the more you will be worth in the eyes of your employer or potential employers.
  • By allowing you to change careers altogether. You may feel like it’s time to enter a new career field, but you are unsure as to how to go about doing so. Continuing education is an ideal way to break into a new industry after you have already been working. Starting over in your career will be much easier when potential employers see that you have the qualifications to back up the skills you are marketing.
  • By providing you higher personal satisfaction. Advancement aside, you may simply get more out of your career personally if you invest time in continuing education courses. This is especially true if you are studying a topic that you are passionate about because continuing education will just give you more exposure to various aspects of the career field you enjoy.

If you need a push in a better direction when it comes to your career, continuing education can help. Whether you are unhappy with your current job, are unable to see yourself advancing or feel behind on current industry trends, consider continuing education as a means to change it.

Sign up for online continuing education courses through UWA Online today! Visit us at www.uwa.edu/ce to browse our course offerings.