Rutgers University School of Business–Camden Launches New Professional and Executive Education Unit
Camden, NJ – August 29, 2022: Recognizing the need to support career aspirations of professionals and rising executives in the 21st century workplace and the way a new generation of workers likes to learn, Rutgers University School of Business–Camden has relaunched its Executive Education unit as Professional and Executive Education at Rutgers (PEER). Some highlights of the relaunch include:
- Expanded delivery options and introduction of new Personal Learning Coaches, who serve as a personal trainer for your career
- Expanded individual certificate and organizational training offerings
- Expanded products and services focused on non-profits
- Expanded faculty of content experts and career mentors
- Expanded content through strategic partnerships
With this relaunch, PEER is formally rolling out its Personal Learning Coach (PLC) training model that combines just-in-time learner preferences with individual attention. For the individual training, a seasoned industry professional is partnered with the learner to support success on the participants’ career development journey through a number of skill-based certificates, which focus on meeting the needs of the regional New Jersey economy.
“We’re taking a holistic approach to continuing education and lifelong learning,” says Dr. Monica Adya, Dean of Rutgers University School of Business–Camden. “New skill development is a requirement for an individual’s career success – and for an organization’s ability to deliver on its mission – due to the emergence of increased Technology/AI-human interaction in the workplace, flattened organizations, faster cycle times, globalization, and other factors associated the 21st century business environment,” adds Dean Adya.
This necessitates offering a wider range of programs to address all stages of a professional’s career. These programs need to be shorter in duration, delivered in a variety of modalities, and easily accessible.
It’s All about Careers … and Access to the Learning Required to Support One’s Career
“PEER recognizes that both individual learners and organizational partners rely upon relevant programs and quality professional relationships,” states PEER Director Peter McAliney, “while Rutgers prides itself as an institution with a trusted reputation for delivering quality learning programs since 1766, it also recognizes the need to deliver relevant programming in a manner that defines success in today’s workplace.”
After surveying individual professionals at all stages of their careers, interviewing human resources leaders in private organizations/non-profits/government agencies, and identifying best practices in workplace learning and development, PEER has taken the following steps to redefine itself as a “go to” public resource in the 21st century for the people and businesses in the Southern NJ-Philadelphia-Delaware Valley:
- Expanded Delivery Options and Introduction of Personal Learning Coaches: PEER recognized the parallels between developing sustainable wellness behaviors and the learning that supports one’s career growth – they are both lifelong pursuits. In many of their programs, PEER incorporates a Personal Learning Coach (PLC) to support online, self-paced learning. The PLC supports professionals and rising executives to achieve the same learning goals that will support their career success that a Personal Trainer does for one to achieve their wellness goals (see https://execed.rutgers.edu/rutgers-plc-model/).
Simply put, a PLC is a combined subject matter expert and industry-proven executive who draws upon many years of experience to explain the nuances of how the material can be applied in the field. The PLC connects the individual learner’s current knowledge and career aspirations with the underlying material to create “learning with purpose” delivered to the learner in a mutually agreed upon timetable that meets their schedule.
In addition to this new model, PEER continues to offer its programs in the more traditional modalities of cohort-based on campus, on site, and online. - Expanded Portfolio of Individual Programs: In addition to its executive level offerings, PEER has introduced or redesigned a wide range of skill-based programs for professionals and rising executives in lean six sigma, project management, professional sales, customer services, marketing, accounting and finance, human resources, leadership, data literacy and analytics, real estate, management, and small business management. PEER is also offering a line of technology bootcamps, starting with Software Development and UX/UI Design and a new, short-duration Esports Management certificate program.
- Augmented Talent Development with Relationship-driven Resourcing Partnerships: PEER acknowledges the need corporate, non-profit, and government organizations have to attract and retain their most valuable resource – their people. To best serve these organizations, PEER is meeting their partners where they need to be met by adopting the same collaborative, consultative approach that more expensive, private sector consulting companies offer. In addition, PEER has expanded their services to include a wide range of “Power Up” workshops and seminars, added leadership programs targeting professionals and rising executives (in addition to existing executive leadership programs), and developed programs specifically focused on the non-profit sector. Working with PEER helps talent development departments meet the flexible learning needs of their employees.
- Expanded “Bench” of Professionals: In order for PEER’s partners to elicit the highest return on investment from their career and workplace relevant programs, PEER has expanded delivery capabilities of Rutgers University world-class faculty with seasoned executives recruited specifically to provide a balanced academic-practitioner perspective. This balanced perspective results in impactful programs that balance a key requirement of the organization’s success in its industry (i.e., talent acquisition, retention, and engagement) with the needs of the human capital that will drive that success (i.e., talent development, skill acquisition, and career support).
- Expanded Partnerships: PEER has partnered with known leaders in the fields that are generating career opportunities for professionals and rising executives: Esports (University of California, Irvine); Real Estate (Fordham University); Data Analytics (Stage3 Talent); Software Development and UX/UI Design (Upright Education).
PEER’s strategy relies on pairing best-in-class content development partners with the quality, trust, and customer care that Rutgers is known for delivering for its learners. PEER is constantly looking to identify partners that will allow themselves to offer short-duration programs that will equip learners with those in-demand job skills that will serve the workplace and their career needs.
Rutgers is a brand associated with quality that instills confidence in learners and employers. Upon successful completion of PEER programs, learners will earn a credential to put on their resume that showcases their newly acquired skills from a trusted public institution serving the people, businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies in the state of New Jersey for over 250 years.
For more information about Professional and Executive Education at Rutgers and individual or organizational training opportunities, contact Peter McAliney at 856-225-6685, visit https://execed.rutgers.edu/ or send an email to execed@camden.rutgers.edu.
For up-to-date information about Professional and Executive Education at Rutgers (PEER), visit them on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.