|
Fullerton College
Holding the Certification Bar High for Faculty and Students to Advance Students' Careers and Benefit Businesses
Microsoft Office-certified faculty at Fullerton College guide students toward career success as Microsoft Office Specialists, serving businesses and simultaneously creating a win-win-win situation among students, the State of California, and the College.
As early as 1998 the Advisory Committee at Fullerton College recommended that the CIS (Computer and Information Systems) department implement the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, responding to business trends showing that 90% of corporations across America use the Microsoft Office suite. This coincided with the department's decision to emphasize Microsoft Office applications in its curriculum for the same reason.
After the Business & CIS Dean approved and funded the initial plan, Candice Cantrell-Professor of Computer Information Systems in CIS-secured VTEA (Vocational and Technical Education Act) funds for training, certification vouchers for instructors and students, and equipment.
 Funding allowed FC to become a Microsoft authorized testing center and a Certiport Center in 1999, offering certification to its more than 3,000 students per semester. Since 1999, Certiport has administered more than 600 Microsoft Office exams through CIS to hundreds of students and staff, with more than half the CIS staff having certified as Microsoft Office Specialists.
Students Earn College Credit and More
According to Dale Craig, CIS Department Coordinator, "We have articulation agreements with most of the surrounding high schools to accept the exam in lieu of FC's beginning computer course. The credit shows up on the student's college record and acts as an entry-level filter. In our credit-bearing Microsoft Office application classes, we build certification in to the curriculum." Most instructors allow the Microsoft Office certification exam to take the place of the final exam, and some accept it as extra credit to boost a student's grade. Student Sean Waterbury reports, "Microsoft Office certification allowed me to receive credit for a computer class at California State University - Fullerton."
Early concern over exam fees generated creative thinking to increase demand. The College waives the fee for the first exam for students who are enrolled in and are passing a Microsoft Office course. This special offer is available only after students demonstrate an 80% or higher pass rate on practice tests. With these incentives in place, Craig reports, "the majority of students in Microsoft Office classes are now taking the certification exams." Cantrell confirms, "Students take pride in having certification and are excited about having evidence of their skill."
Course credit, funding, convenient access to testing, and students' growing awareness of the value of certification are keys to FC's success.
Certification Benefits the Business Community
According to Chris Stoner, Economic Development Specialist in the Fullerton College Workforce Center, certification is an increasingly integral part of doing business. She observes, "Almost every job order related to office work asks specifically for applicants who have Microsoft Office Specialist certifications."
Linda Villalobos, Director of Human Resources for Hyatt Regency in Orange County, confirms this: "Hyatt Regency Orange County requires new employees to have the computer skills necessary to hit the ground running. A candidate who has Microsoft Office Specialist certification stands out from other candidates by providing us with documentation that he or she can do the job right from the start."
Christopher Drozd, MSS, is Director of Admissions for SEA (Software Education of America), which delivers certification training for networking and applications. He says, "Microsoft Office Specialist certification is ideal for employees who have fundamental computing skills and need to gain-and prove-mastery to advance their careers. Naturally, we require Master Instructor certification of the instructors who teach our Microsoft Office courses."
According to Stoner, an increasing number of job postings in all other fields show a similar trend: "More than half of the employers looking to fill positions not directly related to office work are requesting that candidates have Microsoft Office skills."
As FC student Rosa Rodriguez says of the Microsoft Excel test that she took, "Showing certification on my résumé will give me a better chance of getting the job I want."
Darrell C. Jones, IS Operations Manager at Evangelical Christian Credit Union, states, "We test potential employees on Microsoft Office skills, which are essential to performing our job functions at a high level. Because certification proves a candidate's skills, it allows us to identify the best candidates and to save time and money on testing."
 Certification also provides a starting point for re-entry into the workforce. At Fullerton College, VTEA funding helps build and run vocational projects such as CalWORKs-a California welfare-to-work program-through which people on unemployment receive funding to complete their education and get on their feet financially. As a bonus, Microsoft Office certification allows the college to demonstrate measurable outcomes to CalWORKs.
The College also works with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) board (formerly JTPA) and attracts students who are returning to the workforce. The FC Advisory Committee emphasizes certification among this student population, few of whom have any type of degree and some of whom lack work experience, because certification gives them an entry point.
Faculty Set the Certification Pace
The Fullerton College CIS department requires that instructors be certified at the core level for the Microsoft Office courses that they teach. The department encourages instructors to become certified at the expert level in relevant courses and then earn Microsoft Master Instructor certification. Already at least 67% of the Computer Information Systems faculty members have earned Microsoft Office Specialist certification in one or more applications.
According to Michael J. Viera, President of Fullerton College, "Many of our students are already part of the workforce and are returning to school at the urging of their employers. Earning Microsoft Office certification helps them advance in their careers. Our certified faculty offer these students a superior technology education while modeling the importance of Microsoft Office certification."
The College adopted XP and began offering the new XP curriculum in fall, 2002. Working with training partner Course Technology, the department trained and certified all instructors on XP by January 2003!
Everyone Wins with Certification
A new focus of state funding in California colleges is demonstrating measurable outcomes. Craig points out that "the Microsoft Office Specialist program is the least expensive way I can think of to measure outcomes for the purpose of accreditation for an Information Systems department or a college."
He sees state funding of the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program as a win-win-win arrangement: "The state gives us $10,000-$20,000 to buy tests for a year. We train several hundred students, who win by earning a certificate as proof of both completion and their skill level. The state wins when students go out into the workforce and start paying taxes. The college earns accreditation points by quantifying results of state funding, so everyone wins."
View this story in a printable format. (Please note: you will need
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view this file.)
|
