UW-Whitewater: Earn certificates in Web design, project management through UW-Whitewater’s Wisconsin Center for Information Technology Services

Contact: John Chenoweth

(262) 472-1592

chenowej@uww.edu

WHITEWATER ­ Business professionals looking to learn a specific skill, further their career or increase their employability should look no further than the online courses and certificate programs offered by the Wisconsin Center for Information Technology Services (wicits.uww.edu) at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The center, which operates out of the College of Business and Economics, offers courses entirely online in Web design and development, project management and search engine optimization. Each course takes two weeks to complete and carries up to 1.5 continuing education units.

Certificates in Web design and development and in project management are also available. Individuals must complete four courses to earn either certificate.

The courses and certificate programs are ideal for practicing business professionals or small-business owners who function as their own information technology staff and need additional expertise to improve their Web presence, said John Chenoweth, a co-director of the center and an associate professor and chair of the Information Technology and Business Education Department.

“The Web Design and Development Certificate can provide practicing business professionals with the knowledge and skills to either better develop and manage their business’s Web presence or to better help them engage IT professionals in that work,” Chenoweth said. “Our Project Management Certificate can help those already engaged in the work of project management, but who may lack formal training, or those who are considering a career in project management.”

Jeanne Nielsen of Lake Geneva recently completed the Web Design and Development Certificate program and found the experience to be rewarding. “The program allows one to be a student learning from professors, share experiences with other students with the same interests and feel a genuine sense of accomplishment without pressure,” she said.

Nielsen, an administrative assistant at a manufacturing company in Lake Geneva, hopes to use her new skills in creating and publishing a Web page live on the Internet to her employer’s benefit as well as in furthering her personal growth.

“Everyone who browses the Internet knows it is a vast and overwhelming environment,” she said. “The Web design course instruction given by John Chenoweth and Paul Ambrose makes it possible to experiment with newly learned skills and tools and experience the World Wide Web with confidence and a more informed perspective.”

Spring semester courses begin Wednesday, Jan. 27, and run through mid-May. Courses are reasonably priced at $295 each. Individuals who register for two or more classes in a certificate program can receive up to $85 off the cost of four courses.

Spring 2010 schedule of courses:

·Jan. 27-Feb. 9: Introduction to Web Design (XHTML and CSS)

·Feb. 2-Feb. 16: Project Management Foundations I

·Feb. 25-March 9: Open Source Content Management Systems – Joomla

·March 3-16: Project Management Foundations II

·March 31-April 13: Building an E-commerce Web site – Joomla

·March 31-April 13: Project Management Leadership and Team Management

·April 28-May 11: Search Engine Optimization

·April 28-May 11: Project Management Software Toolkits – Microsoft Project

To register, or for more information on the online course and certificate programs available through the Wisconsin Center for Information Technology Services, visit wicits.uww/edu/courses/