UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education, in partnership with Coursera, announced two new offers for staff, faculty and student employees: free enrollment in the online learning platform.
‘FUTURE-PROOFING’ YOUR CAREER
Also new from Continuing and Professional Education: a free webinar series for working professionals. See separate story.
A spokesman for Continuing and Professional Education, the workforce development arm of the university, said one of the offers — free enrollment for a limited time in most of the Coursera catalog — is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which people may have the desire (and the time) to “upskill, reskill and advance” their careers, by way of any of thousands of Coursera courses.
The other offer — free enrollment in UC Davis Coursera courses — is ongoing, and had been in development for some time prior to the pandemic, as a way of providing additional professional learning opportunities to staff and faculty. A similar program for students and alumni will be rolled out in the near future.
Coursera covers a broad range of professional topics, such as Data Science, Leadership, Public Health, Marketing and Business Strategy — some 4,000 courses in all, including 60 from UC Davis. Enrollments in UC Davis Coursera courses recently passed the 1-million mark, with sign-ups soaring during the coronavirus pandemic.
UC Davis Coursera offerings include 11 specializations (multiple courses); the most popular UC Davis Coursera specializations are SQL for Data Science, Introduction to SEO, Fundamentals of GIS (SQL is structured query language, SEO is search engine optimization and GIS is geographic information system) and Coaching Skills for Managers — all of which are available now, for free.
The offer of free non-UC Davis Coursera enrollment comes with these deadlines: Sign up for a course or courses by July 31 and complete them by Aug. 31. The offer of free enrollment in UC Davis Coursera courses is, as mentioned, ongoing.
Coursera learning is self-paced, with video lectures, peer-reviewed assignments and community discussion forums that create a robust, engaging online academic experience.
Learn more here: Professional Development Opportunities for UC Davis Employees. The page includes a button to “Start Learning on Coursera,” as well as information on Continuing and Professional Education’s other classes for which staff, faculty and student employees are eligible for discounts of 20 percent to 50 percent.
Media Resources
Dateline Staff, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu