Penn State’s World Campus Graduates First Class In Supervisory Leadership Certification Program

The basic idea is nothing new. Penn State has provided management training to businesses and organizations since 1915. What’s different about the new World Campus Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program is that, instead of requiring business people to travel across the country, or overseas, to acquire the training they need, now they can do it in their own offices or homes through the Internet.

The program takes students through six individual six-week courses covering the basic competencies needed to supervise and lead employees to greater individual, team, and organizational performance. Like all of the courses offered by The Penn State World Campus, the Supervisory Leadership Certificate is delivered with today’s busy professionals in mind; via a combination of technologies including the internet, e-mail, and print.

Program graduates Kellie McGinley, a technical writer for Computer Sciences Corp. in Columbus, Ohio, and Greg Rutbell, an Industrial Engineer with The Boeing Company in Long Beach, California, followed the prescribed timetable for the course, graduating in mid-December after a year’s worth of work.

Rutbell, who received tuition assistance from Boeing, said about the experience, “Penn State’s World CampusS offer(s) valuable tools such as project management that can be applied and integrated in today’s complex global economy.”

Another student enrolled in the program is Jennifer Schule, an engineering program manager for IBM. She says, “I would recommend this course to anyone starting out in project management or managers finding themselves with process improvement responsibilities.”

“This program is a prime example of where business education is headed. By cutting out travel and housing expenses, Web-based classes offer a cost-effective alternative for companies and individuals who want to boost their competitive edge in today’s ever-changing, and increasingly Web-reliant economy,” said Dr. Wesley Donahue, Director of Penn State Management Programs and Services. Penn State’s World Campus, listed by Money.com as one of the nation’s ten leading “virtual” campuses, intends to stay at the forefront of this trend.

(For more information on this release, please contact Jason Bribitzer-Stull, Marketing Manager, Penn State Outreach Marketing Communications, 814-865-6585, jbs1000@outreach.psu.edu.)

Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.