In cooperation with the Great Valley Penn State Campus, the Lehigh Valley campus is now offering a Workforce and Career Development Certificate Program.

Program Overview

Being an effective manager requires learning new skills and technologies as well as juggling priorities, projects, products, and processes. Managing people is different than managing things; people have different perspectives, attitudes beliefs, and needs.

Effectively engaging, motivating, aligning, supporting, and directing people requires a combination of skills, perspective, and interpersonal awareness. The program’s four courses provide important tools, knowledge, and awareness to improve effectiveness, efficiency, capabilities, and capacities of the modern workforce.

Program Scope and Sequence

The program consists of four required 21-hour courses offered in succession. Upon completion, a certificate will be awarded.

Who Should Attend

New or prospective managers: This program provides a real-world grounding in common challenges and opportunities for those who have just started or plan to manage, engage, and motivate people.

Experienced managers: Recent changes in the workforce and working conditions mean that experienced managers can benefit from learning about leading practices and technologies.

Managers who manage managers: Senior managers commonly have one or more levels of management as direct reports; these managers can benefit from new technologies and new ways of promoting management talent.

Program objectives

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

  • Identify and act on potential areas of support (or resistance) to new change
  • Understand, define, and apply the concepts of performance and talent management
  • Apply strategies, best practices, and ethical guidelines to employee performance
  • Understand, identify, and reduce unconscious bias
  • Increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace
  • Develop key performance indicators from strategic goals and objectives
  • Achieve strategic and tactical goals

Continuing Education Units

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are awarded based on a standard of one unit per ten (10) hours of classroom contact.

Note: The University reserves the right to cancel courses due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances