NOVA Workforce is now offering the Google IT Support Professional Certificate training program. Developed by Google, this self-paced, online program uses an innovative curriculum to prepare students for an entry-level job in IT support in under six months. No experience is necessary. Continue reading Google IT Support Professional Certificate
NOVA and the Virginia Career Works have partnered with the Prince William County and the City of Manassas to offer its residents free tuition on select professional educational programs. Individual employees of Prince William and City of Manassas companies are also eligible for this program.
Continue reading Elevate Prince William/Manassas Building Businesses and Careers Initiative
Northern Virginia Community College has received a $100,000 grant from Capital One Foundation to help develop the Cybersecurity Career Pathways Project that will inform and support middle and high school students in the Northern Virginia Region who wish to explore and hopefully pursue a career in cybersecurity. The project will whet the appetite of a future generation of cyber workers and eventually fill a regional and national skills gap that will only continue to widen in the coming years.
NOVA will be working as part of a cohort of 14 community colleges in D.C., Maryland, New York and Texas to develop some thematic areas of focus in relation to labor-market data and career pathways to create a pilot program with two Prince William County public high schools—Forest Park and Potomac—both chosen due to their high level of diversity and for the large number of students from underserved populations.
The program will offer training to teachers and counselors within the schools to teach them the importance of these fields and to relay the needs expressed by local employers. Students will attend activities and have the chance to learn about the growing field of cybersecurity. They will participate in internships and “job-shadow” opportunities and will achieve a cybersecurity credential while still in high school. They will then move through NOVA and hopefully a four-year institution and emerge prepared to succeed in this very in-demand and high-paying field. Ultimately, as a result of this pilot, students will have a greater understanding of the importance of the cybersecurity field and the value that achieving a credential can bring them in terms of launching a career with a bright future.
NOVA’s Cybersecurity program provides a curriculum that is mapped to DHS and NSA cybersecurity education standards and is designated by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Administration as a Center of Academic Excellence for two-year institutions (CAE2Y). Our AAS Cybersecurity degree is transferable to many four-year institutions and offers students the opportunity to participate in a variety of exciting competitions and extra-curricular activities. NOVA is a founding member of the National CyberWatch Center, a national consortium of colleges and universities focused on cybersecurity education.
Our 20-hour program, offered in partnership with American Iron Works and taught by certified welders, trains students in Oxy-fuel gas cutting and shielded metal arc welding processes. Topics include: safety; welding equipment, materials and use; Oxy-fuel cutting, welding and proper use of a grinder; shielded metal arc welding. At the conclusion, students will take a practical exam for designation as a Certified Welder by the American Welding Society. All materials are provided, including: Welder’s hood and gloves, Welder’s fire retardant jacket and practical exam.
This course starts place on April 23, 2016. Visit our website below to register.
In August 2015, NOVA, in partnership with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services (DFS) Employment & Training Program Career Pathways Initiative, awarded 8 certificates for Career Pathways’ Administrative Professional and Medical Administrative Professional Training Certification programs.
This graduation ceremony marks the 5th time that NOVA has provided this targeted training for DFS clients in a group setting at a DFS office site. To highlight the program’s success, Job Developer Warren Smith read an email from a program graduate who is now employed by Fairfax County.
The Virginia’s Initiative for Employment, not Welfare (VIEW) Program is one of several employment programs operated by Fairfax County DFS. In October 2013, VIEW partnered with NOVA to run the inaugural Administrative Assistant Training Certification Program at the VIEW Job Center, located in the Pennino Building in Fairfax. The class was filled to capacity, and all 10 students graduated.
Due to the success of the first cohort, a second class began the next month, in November 2013. This time 8 students received certificates. The third cohort, held in February 2014, issued 7 new certificates.
The fourth cohort was held in February 2015. This was the first offering of the Administrative Professional and Medical Administrative Professional Training Certification. 12 students participated and graduated.
During the latter part of 2014, DFS Employment and Training staff researched in-demand occupations in the Northern Virginia area with the goal of establishing targeted certification training to assist our job-seeking participants. The VIEW Program had partnered with NOVA in the past, but offerings were limited to VIEW program participants only.
We wanted to make sure opportunities were available to all program participants, so representatives from the following organizations gathered to discuss how to make this happen:
We worked out the details and determined which occupations we wanted to target, and decided to add a medical administrative professional component to the training. By adding the medical administrative piece, students would be able to sit for an exam that would award them an industry-recognized credential.
DFS once again reached out to NOVA to develop a curriculum, which was taught in February 2015. This class had participants from several of our employment programs, not just the VIEW Program.
Contributors
Rick Garrett is Manager for the Fairfax County Department of Family Services Employment and Training. Amy Miller is a WIOA Supervisor for Employment & Training. Read more about Employment and Training services at fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/ss/employtraining.htm.
Ilene Danforth (idanforth@nvcc.edu) is a Business Program Developer for NOVA’s Workforce Development Division. She develops customized training programs for NOVA’s corporate training clients and community partners.