Last month, OIT’s Microsoft Office Specialist program showcased SMU’s successes in bringing certification to campus at CERTIFIED, Certiport’s annual conference. The conference brings together educators and certification leaders from across the country. Laurene Klassen, Director of IT Training & Communications and CERTIFIED Ambassador, was able to share those wins with other educators and administrators in Grapevine, Texas, where this year’s conference was held.
In the session titled “Admin POV: Lessons from the Field,” Laurene shared SMU’s journey of building and scaling its certification program. The session not only highlighted how SMU grew from a goal of 65 certifications in 2017 to achieving over 9,200 in less than eight years, but also emphasized how the program has been uniquely structured as a training outreach initiative under the larger umbrella of IT Training, which is also responsible for developing a wide range of technical training resources for the entire campus community. As a result, Laurene was able to share several innovative strategies SMU has used to launch and expand the program using a training outreach model, while spotlighting the resources that support it.
Laurene’s unofficial certification journey began nearly ten years ago, when she hosted a series of IT Training workshops for staff and students—and often mentioned certification at the end of her classes. “After seeing about a dozen people over the years choose to get certified at other nearby campuses, I knew we had to make these learning opportunities available here at SMU. Time and again, I hear faculty and industry experts share how valuable certification and micro credentials are to employers,” she explained.
A significant part of SMU’s impact has come through Laurene’s role as a CERTIFIED Ambassador. This program, created by Certiport, connects educators with one of ten ambassadors, four of whom represent higher education. These ambassadors serve as collaborators, and storytellers, sharing real-world classroom certification experiences to guide others. “My time as an ambassador has been extremely rewarding. It’s allowed me to connect with other Higher Ed faculty and administrators to better understand the needs of our student communities. I initially modeled our program after hearing about the program requirements at Miami Dade College. It’s exciting to see SMU’s successes now being showcased, and to know it also helps elevate other certification programs across the country.”
After hearing Laurene’s presentation, several members of the Student Services team who support certification at Dallas College attended her networking table discussion on building and growing a certification program. “We loved learning about SMU’s certification program and are thankful for the resources provided to us. It’s events like these that allow us to share resources and help our respective communities thrive,” said Natalia Vargas, Assistant Director of the Dallas College North Lake Campus Learning Commons.
As always, SMU’s certification program is available to the entire SMU community. Visit smu.edu/certified to learn more about getting started—whether for personal development or to integrate certification into your classroom.
