More workers pay for own training

SELF SERVICE: Taryn L. Curran, right, human resources and training administrator at Fielding Manufacturing in Cranston, speaks with an employee. She landed the job after paying out of her own pocket for training at Bryant's Executive Development Center. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE
SELF SERVICE: Taryn L. Curran, right, human resources and training administrator at Fielding Manufacturing in Cranston, speaks with an employee. She landed the job after paying out of her own pocket for training at Bryant's Executive Development Center. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE

Individuals now outnumber corporations coming to the Executive Development Center at Bryant University for professional training, a likely result of many companies reducing in-house training dollars in tough economic times, says program Director Annette Cerilli.
The center has two service-delivery options for its business-development programs: one set tailored to meet the needs of specific corporations, usually paid for by those companies; and the other, open-enrollment courses for which anyone can sign up.
Programs custom-made for companies comprised “about 60 percent” of what the center did six years ago, according to Cerilli, director for 15 years. But that was before the recession. “It could be going the other way now,” she said, “because companies have pulled back the funds [for training and tuition reimbursement]. More individuals are stepping up and using their own funds. That’s a shift we haven’t seen before.”
Taryn L. Curran is an example of someone who went to the executive-development center on her own dime to learn about human resources management. Her work there began in November 2010 and she completed the national certification program in June.
As a result, she found a job as human resources manager at Fielding Manufacturing, a Cranston manufacturing company. It’s a position she said she loves.
“I’m just enjoying very much what I’m doing here,” she said. “I had been running restaurants and always wanted to break into HR, but I never had the educational background to support that.”
The Attleboro native has a bachelor’s degree in international hotel management from Johnson & Wales University in Providence and did apply for HR positions before Bryant, but could never land a job.
She learned about the HR job at Fielding Manufacturing from a colleague during her classes at the executive-development center and she is convinced the Bryant experience was instrumental in her capturing the position. “A lot of the course content has really helped me,” she said. Fielding, with 40 employees, specializes in miniature die casting and plastic injection molding.
Human resources is just one area covered at the center. Others include business administration, clinical-research management, finance and accounting, health care, information systems, nonprofit management and supply chain. Corporate programs generally are held during the day and open-enrollment classes, in the evenings. Courses can last from two days to 18 months and most attendees have Rhode Island connections. Programs usually are held on campus, but corporate classes can be offered on-site. The center operates 12 months a year and, she estimated, assists 2,500 individuals annually.
Classes are taught by adjunct professors who usually are practitioners in their fields, a situation Cerilli maintained gives the center a competitive advantage over others because “our students learn the ‘what’, but we also can teach them the ‘how’ and the ‘why.’ ”
Curran agreed. “I loved the fact that every professor I had teaching a human resources course was currently holding a position in that area,” she said. “They could relate because they actually were doing what they were teaching us.” She remains in touch with several of her former instructors.
Another result of the recession is the increasing popularity of online classes.
The way that many businesses reduced training funds could have jeopardized the center, “but what’s helped us is that we have most of our programs online,” Cerilli said. “Online offerings are one of our fastest-growing segments. People want that flexibility and it’s not people in Peoria, it’s people in Providence.”
All the courses aligned with national certification are available online for such fields and careers as continuity planning, process management, certified financial planner, clinical-research associate, human resources management, project management and Six Sigma. Curran took both online and on-campus classes.
Certification takes on added import in today’s increasingly competitive business world because, Cerilli said, “it shows employers that you’ve done your due diligence.” In the case of employed individuals, certification can lead to promotion, she noted, and for those who are unemployed or looking to change careers like Curran, “you need the education if you don’t have the experience.” •

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