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Human Resource Management Certificate Can Lead to New Career Opportunities


herouxA new certificate program in the School of Business and Economics will offer current students and community members alike a chance to get further down the path to a human resources career.

The certificate in human resource management is an 18-hour program designed to enable current students to gain skills necessary to become effective human-resource professionals, said Dr. Lise Heroux, distinguished service professor in marketing and entrepreneurship and interim chair of management, information systems and analytics.

Upon completion, certificate graduates will:

  • Identify strategies to recruit and select employees
  • Design and deliver employee training
  • Understand compensation practices and employee benefits management
  • Describe human resource implications of employment and labor law
  • Understand the relationship between human resource management and competitive advantage

Typical jobs include training and development, human resource, and compensation and benefits managers, and equal opportunity representatives and officers.

“This certificate makes SUNY Plattsburgh unique and is available to both current students and people in the community,” she said. “Current students can earn a bachelor of science with a major in management and earn the certificate at the same time within the 120 credit hours required for the degree. That’s a lot of bang for their buck.”

Heroux also pointed out that students would be earning this specialized certificate at an AACSB-accredited school, “which is a well-recognized and affordable way of getting a degree and something that differentiates them in the field.”

Four to Six Semesters

And business people in the community would find this certificate an affordable option that can open doors to different jobs related to recruitment, staffing, employment law and employee training. The program could be completed four to six semesters.

Heroux said that as more and more jobs become specialized — customer service employees are now “consumer success specialists” — employers and HR managers are under the gun to hire the right people.

“Lifelong learners in the community who are looking for a change of pace might find that this certificate meets that need,” she said. “And because it’s part of the SBE, these non-traditional students are developing the same skills and have access to the same professors as those students who are here full time.”

More Visible on Resume

And although the 18-credit-hour certificate has the same time requirements as a minor, Heroux said students taking this to earn the certificate makes it more visible on their resume.

“And it makes it open for people in the community, she said.

“We’re seeing a trend, whether it’s with alumni or others in the business community, of people who may have earned a business degree in the past but who would like to reposition their careers,” she said. This would also help those who may not have completed their degree, or those who earned a bachelor’s in a different major.

“This is a good move for that next chapter,” Heroux said.

Students can begin as early as winter session if they’ve met all the prerequisites.

“But they may have fulfilled those through a previous degree or coursework,” Heroux said.

For more information, contact Heroux at 518-564-4209 or email [email protected].

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