Learn and Work Program

Learn & Work

New Program Brings Skills Training and Success to Utah Residents

Residents of Central Utah and beyond gained hope and new skills through short-term training programs offered at Snow College to Utah citizens who felt the sting of unemployment or underemployment due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Offered at no cost to Utah residents whose employment was impacted by COVID-19, Snow College hosted 10 programs for adult learners in Fall 2020. Most of the programs were a semester or less and offered quick courses in workplace skills needed in the College’s service region, or that could be performed as remote work from home.

Supported by the Utah System of Higher Education, the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and Talent Ready Utah, Snow College joined all 15 of its sister colleges and universities in offering the statewide training.

“The programs worked very well and gave us an opportunity to be nimble and flexible in matching the training to workforce needs in our service area,” said Stacee McIff, vice president for technical education and workforce development. “They were short and fast, and several of the courses were online. Adults gained skills for employment or for an upgrade at their current job.”

McIff was instrumental in obtaining nearly $1 million as part of the statewide Learn & Work Initiative created from federal CARES Act funds and awarded by the Utah Legislature.

More than 250 students enrolled in one or more courses, many filling up in the first days of open registration. Roughly four-fifths of the registered students were non-traditional adults over age 25 who had lost jobs, faced fewer hours at work, or had a spouse who lost a job due to the pandemic.

Fall 2020 programs included Farm Safety Training, Essential Skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a one-year certificate in GIS, Heavy Truck Transmissions, QuickBooks for Small Business, Basic Accounting, Computer Information Systems Cybersecurity, Data Analytics Bootcamp, Remote Workplace Skill Development, and Human Services Practitioner Certification.

In April, Snow College’s Learn & Work Program was recognized as the “Best of State” for the category of curriculum development. Upon receiving news of this award, President Brad Cook said, “We have great people working at Snow College. I offer my congratulations to all those who worked tirelessly on the Learn & Work curriculum.”

A well-deserved honor, based on the feedback of several students who were in some of the courses or programs.

A fast seven-credit certificate in remote workplace skills allowed one student to expand his small businesses. Jeff Edmunds said, “The CliftonStrengths [talent assessment] was a game changer and everything I learned helped me to move forward – especially with the changing work environment. I used what I learned to further my freelance work and to expand my small farm business.”

“I'm self-employed but contracted as the product operations manager for Music Teacher's Helper and Studio Helper, where I oversee customer support and software development. The personal selling course [within the Remote Workplace Skills certification] helped me not only in my position, but in my communication skills with our programmers who live half a world away,” said Ken Rhodes.

Another student seeking remote work, Tana Buchanan, shared that several employers have reached out to her based on the LinkedIn and Handshake accounts she created as part of her training with Snow College.

Lynne McWilliams, an entrepreneur from Washington, Utah, who completed the Remote Workplace Skills certification, said the personal selling course provided a road map to grow her art business, Paint What Smiles at You.

The one-year Human Services Practitioner Certification is one of Snow College’s newest programs. Led by Professor Katie Justesen, it trains students for support positions in health or human services agencies. “This program offers increased employment prospects to students due to their newfound competency and skills.” Justesen said. “Perhaps the most exciting thing is that all currently enrolled participants are on target for certificate completion this spring!”

Because Learn & Work in Utah was a success at all Utah institutions, with more than 5,700 completers statewide, Snow College and its peers will repeat some programs and add more for Fall 2021. For more information on current or upcoming courses, visit snow.edu/learnandwork.