Montgomery County Community College offers scholarship for online course

POTTSTOWN >> Jobs in manufacturing are becoming more technology based — requiring more advanced skills for employees as well as an understanding of manufacturing processes.

To help people who may be seeking first-time employment in manufacturing or who recently entered the industry, Montgomery County Community College's Center for Workforce Development is offering scholarships for an online, non-credit Manufacturing Fundamentals course to help them gain a basic understanding of today's manufacturing environment.

The $100 scholarships, which are being provided through a gift from the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp., will cover the fee for the first 100 participants that register for the course. The scholarships are available on a first-come first-served basis, and are available to any community member, according to Ayisha Sereni, interim assistant dean of business and entrepreneurial initiatives at MCCC.

She said the course provides and overview of the skills that are needed in manufacturing today.

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"It isn't designed to provide the skills, but rather a broad perspective of what to expect if you want to secure a position in manufacturing," Sereni said. "It gives them direction and tells how an organization will use these skills to function in a day to day manufacturing environment."

Manufacturing Fundamentals is a six-week course that covers the role of production design, process planning and 13 different manufacturing processes. It will help participants understand and master product development concepts such as the voice of the customer, quality function deployment and failure mode and effects analysis, among others.

The course, which is a new offering for MCCC, is being taught through a third-party provider, Ed2Go, which provides the instructor, online infrastructure and course content for some of MCCC's workforce development programming.

"We see it helping someone in applying to a manufacturing company. Manufacturers want employees that have an understanding of the manufacturing environment," said Suzanne Holloman, dean of workforce development at MCCC. "There are some misconceptions of manufacturing as being old-fashioned, with manual operations, but that is not the environment. This course will help them understand where manufacturing is today — they'll be able to go in and speak with an understanding of the environment."

Sereni added that while the course is an introductory course, participants will gain valuable information.

"This 24-hour course equates to more than one college credit of course work," she said.

"They are really getting a pretty broad perspective of manufacturing that may also help them see an area of interest based on their experience — whether it's project management, accounting, finance or management."

She added that there are more courses someone could take if they are interested in pursuing additional topics, including a course on manufacturing applications.

"We're also getting ready to launch a project management curriculum tying in to the Project Management Institute. There will be a lot rolling out in the coming weeks," she said.

Holloman said MCCC will also be offering a CNC machine operator program that combines both an online and hands on component.

"There will be CNC lab and machine where they can apply what they're learning online," she said. "If someone takes the manufacturing fundamentals course, they could come back and enhance and advance their skills."

Holloman added that while the courses are non-credit, they can be brought to the college as a prior learning credit, should the student choose to pursue their degree.

MCCC's Workforce Development Center was established in 2002, according to Holloman, and has worked with almost 200 companies — the majority of which are manufacturers.

While participants in the manufacturers fundamentals online course will not need to purchase any textbooks, they will need Internet access, email, and Internet browser (Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 or above, Google Chrome or Safari) and Adobe PDF plug-in (a free download is available at Adobe.com).

For more information about the course, visit www.ed2go.com/mc3/online-courses/manufacturing-fundamentals?tab=syllabus. To register and receive the scholarship, contact Geraldine Rossetti at 215-461-1127 or grossett@mc3.edu.

For additional information about self-paced courses visit www.ed2go.com/mc3/

For additional information about instructor led courses visit www.careertraining.ed2go.com/mc3/

To reach writer Donna Rovins call 610-850-0272. Email business story ideas to drovins@pottsmerc.com

Source: Montgomery County Community College offers scholarship for online course