Welcome
Continuing Education offers a variety of affordable non-credit courses for professional development and personal enrichment. Whether you are looking for a job or interested in exploring a new hobby, Union County College has a program for you. Classes are scheduled in evenings, weekends, or convenient daytime hours and take place in several Union County locations or online.
Continuing Education
The Department provides professional development and personal enrichment opportunities for individuals who live or work in Union County and beyond. Special programs are available in the Department for youth and senior citizens. These include youth programs, College for Teens, and the Union County Freeholders’ Senior Scholars program.
Committed to the concept of lifelong learning, the Department schedules these non-credit courses in the evenings, on weekends, and during daytime hours convenient for adults. Programs are offered at all four campuses and at various extension center locations. In addition, the Division offers courses online via the Internet. Currently, among the Continuing Education Department offerings are non-credit certificate programs in Cisco Networking CCNA/CCNP, Management, Microsoft Office Professional, Six Sigma, Real Estate Sales and Appraisal, American Sign Language, Pharmacy Certified Technician, Child Development Associate (CDA) Program, Substitute Teacher Specialist, Practical Accounting, Human Resource Management, Administrative Assistant, Floral Design, and Interior Design. Certificate programs are also available in Appliance Repair Basics, Event Planning, Marketing, Certified Bookkeeper, U.S. Customs Broker Test Preparation, Certified Fiber Optics Technician, Personal Trainer National Certification, Nutrition Specialist, Structured Query Language, Patient Care Technician, Certified Phlebotomy Technician, Certified EKG Technician, and Management.
Youth programs are offered on Saturdays on a variety of topics such as SAT Preparation, reading and math enhancement. In addition, these youth programs are offered in the summer months. College for Teens is a career-oriented program that provides academic enrichment, and career exploration training for teens funded by the Union County Freeholders. This is offered as an intensive program in the summer. Continuing Education operates as a Regional Cisco Networking Academy. It provides extensive preparation for the Certified Cisco Networking Associate (CCNA) and Certified Cisco Networking Professional (CCNP) designation(s). As a Regional Academy it provides technical and instructional support to local school systems that wish to offer CCNA preparation to their students. Continuing Education also offers the New Pathways to Teaching in New Jersey (NPTNJ) program in conjunction with the New Jersey City University. NPTNJ is an alternate route New Jersey teacher certification pro-gram. Students are able to obtain New Jersey teacher certification upon completion of the program. For further information, write, email, or call the Continuing Education Department at Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue, Cranford, NJ 07016, coned@ucc.edu, (908) 709-7600.
Industry-Business Institute
IBI provides workplace-specific, customized education and training programs to develop employees working in local businesses, non-profits, and government agencies. Union County College’s Industry-Business Institute (IBI) works with employer clients to help build a skilled workforce.
Programs are designed for maximum effectiveness and to help organizations improve productivity, quality, cost effectiveness, and morale. Professional instructors with expertise in relevant industries deliver the programs. Training is delivered on-site and scheduled at times that will fit office or production schedules. Companies fund this training with their own budgets, and also may receive funding through various state and federal funding programs. IBI provides companies with comprehensive assistance in securing and administering the State training grants. IBI can provide virtually any type of workforce development program because of its wide network of industry professionals and faculty, which includes the entire New Jersey Community College system. IBI provides customized training programs in the following areas:
- Computer Skills
- Management and Supervision Skills
- Communication and Personal Effectiveness Skills
- Transportation, Logistics, and Distributor Sector
- Industrial Maintenance and Manufacturing Skills
- Workplace Literacy/Basic Skills
- Quality Practices
- Safety Procedures
For more information, please contact Union County College, Industry-Business Institute, 40 West Jersey Street, 5th Floor, Elizabeth, NJ 07202, (908) 965-2358.
Center for Economic and Workforce Development
The Center for Economic and Workforce Development (CEWD) provides training and support services to help the unemployed and the underemployed to be better positioned to enter and compete in today’s workforce as well as develop lifelong learning skills.
The Center offers a wide variety of programs and courses to over 4000 adults each year. The Center model includes standardized assessment, student support services, occupation-related basic skills instruction, occupational training, and job placement services. In keeping Union County College’s commitment to provide access to education for all, CEWD instruction is scheduled during the evenings, weekends and daytime hours so that adults can choose a schedule most convenient for themselves and their lifestyles. The Center for Economic and Workforce Development services are located on both the Elizabeth (Lessner Building) and Plainfield campuses which are equipped with state-of-the-are computer labs and offer full service operations to all CEWD students.
CEWD offers the following programs:
- Project ABLE Plus: This WIOA Title II program offers ESL, ESL Civics, Adult Basic skills development and GED preparation to eligible residents. This program is funded through the State of New Jersey Department of Labor.
- Job Search Workshops: Eligible Union County College students develop career goals, prepare resumes and develop job seeking and job maintenance skills through this four week Work First New Jersey (WFNJ) program.
- To-Work /Community Work Experience Activities: These activities provide eligible WFNJ participants the opportunity to develop skills that will enable them to find and maintain employment. Participants are placed on a non-profit/community-based organization site to practice and hone their employability skills. These activities may be combined with Basic Skills, GED or ESL classes.
- English-as-a-Second Language: CEWD offers individuals, who need to develop their English proficiency to a level where they will be able to meet the requirements for the Institute for Intensive English, two levels of English as a Second Language (ESL) courses to begin to develop their English skills and move from the lowest levels of proficiency to levels 3 through 6 of the Institute for Intensive English (IIE). These courses are designed to provide levels 1 and 2 English proficient students with 135 hours of intensive instruction that focus on the fundamentals of the English Language with an emphasis on speaking, comprehension, and writing. Students are exposed to a variety of learning experiences essential to daily life in the United States. The courses also provide students with exposure to the social and cultural life in the United States, such as greetings, introductions, and forms of address. In addition, the students are acclimated to an academic environment specific to the United States. In conjunction with each classroom lesson, there is an opportunity for students to review and reinforce the concepts presented through the use of ESL software available in the state-of-the-art computer labs. Interested students take the Union County College ESL placement test, as well as the Center for Economic and Workforce Development’s nationally recognized standardized test. Pre-program test scores will be used to place students in the appropriate levels of instruction and post-test scores will measure progress. Upon completion of the final course, instructor recommendations, post-test scores, and the course final grade will determine if students move from the Center to the IIE.
- Occupational Training: The Center provides 360 to 585 hour occupational training programs that provide instruction in demand occupations such as Medical Billing and Coding, Computer Software/Secretarial Science, Computerized Office Skills, Accounting Technician, ESL Office Skills, and Welding. These programs are offered to One Stop Career Center eligible participants (i.e., WIOA, TRA, DVE and WDP participants) or to individuals who wish to pay. Welding and Medical Billing and Coding and several of the computer training programs prepare students to take a national certification exam.
- Youth Programs: The Center has been instrumental in the implementation of both an Elizabeth Youth Corps and a Youth Transition-to-Work program. These programs provide at-risk youth (ages 17 to 24) the opportunity to develop Occupational skills and/or Basic Skills as well as the opportunity to develop an interest in and support community projects (i.e., feeding the homeless, planting trees and cleaning their environment).
In conjunction with an experienced administrative, support staff and qualified instructors, the Center has an involved Student Service staff and an active Job Development team who schedule regular career days and comprehensive job fairs for CEWD students and the community. As a Union County One Stop Career Center partner, the Center regularly supports the County’s Social Service Agencies with activities geared to increasing the productivity and employability of the agencies’ participants and Union County residents. Additionally, the College, through both the Center for Economic and Workforce Development and the College’s Continuing Education departments, supports the implementation of the new Workforce Innovation Business Center located in the Mills at Jersey Gardens (Jersey Gardens Mall). The Center and the College continue to prioritize working with County agencies and with local employers. Employment for Center students is the primary goal.
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