Advance your career with new Collat professional courses

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Have you been thrown a new challenge at work? Or are you looking to grow your skill set? Upcoming live-online Career Advancement Courses from Collat Professional Education begin as soon as the end of the month. You can learn project management, get a foundation in digital marketing and social media, or take an advanced course in enhancing an online presence through paid advertising. Or maybe you want to discover how to take a hands-on approach to impactful storytelling through data visualization.

The Professional Education team in the Collat School of Business offers focused training with non-academic courses designed to help individuals meet their personal, professional and organizational goals.

“We make enrolling easy,” said Cori Perdue, Ph.D., director of Professional Education. “There is no application process, you can sign up in five minutes, and with many courses, you can get started immediately and finish at your own pace. We are a perfect option for people who want to jump right in and earn a tangible industry certification.”


Live-online short courses

Collat Professional Education’s live-online short courses use a cohort model led by Collat faculty and industry experts.

UAB discount

Professional Education courses do not fall under UAB’s Educational Assistance benefit. But UAB employees receive a 20 percent discount for asynchronous courses. (See prices, estimated course lengths, and applicable continuing education/professional development units for all Professional Development programs here.) Employees can often use professional development funds from their units to pay course tuition, Perdue adds.

“Students like that our courses are taught by instructors who bring both academic and industry expertise,” Perdue said. And because workforce needs are constantly changing, new courses are always being added to the catalog, she adds.

These popular live-online courses are enrolling now:

    • This course meets the education requirement to sit for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and Project Management Professional (PMP) exams, making it a great option for anyone looking to gain marketable skills in project management.
    • Throughout this eight-week course, participants will earn four Google Ads Certifications and a UAB Advanced Digital Marketing Certificate.
    • Participants who fully engage in this seven-week course will be equipped with the skills to register and sit for the Tableau Desktop Specialist Certification Exam.
    • Designed for participants who are relatively new to digital and social media marketing, this course offers an understanding of the digital marketing landscape in 2024, including key tools and resources used by industry professionals.

Self-paced courses

The Professional Education catalog includes a suite of self-paced, 100 percent online classes, with topics chosen based on “market trends, conversations with companies about their needs and skills gaps, and a great amount of research,” Perdue said.


Available courses

The courses, all taught by industry experts, fall under the following categories:

  • Project Management
  • Accounting and Finance
  • Business Technologies
  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Human Resource Management
  • Management
  • Operations

“If an individual or unit on campus has professional business training needs, we would be excited to talk with them to design new courses,” Perdue added.

See a list of all Collat Professional Education courses.

Leadership programs

The Professional Education team also operates leadership programs for groups and departments across campus, such as the UAB Healthcare Leadership Academy, IGNITE and SOAR.