Summer 2001

Volume 3 Number 3
A publication of Macon State College

MSC Offers New & Improved Business Certificate Program At Robins Resident Center

By Sheron Smith

Senior Airman Christopher Oliver joined the Air Force a few years ago looking for a little adventure.

"I wanted to get out of my hometown for a while, travel and do something new," said Oliver, 25, a Jesup, Ga., native currently stationed at Robins Air Force Base.

Want to Know More? For more information about the Business Certificate program, contact Pella Murphy at the Robins Resident Center at 327-7307 or by email at pmurphy@mail.maconstate.edu Macon State College Business Certificate Curriculum - Robins Resident Center MGMT 3141 Organizational Management MGMT 3155 or 4105 Organizational Behavior or Human Resources Management BUSA 2201 Business Computer Applications ECON 2105 or 2106 or POLS 1101 ENGL 1101 MATH 1101 or MATH 1111 COMM 1110 Public Speaking Humanities Elective: 3 hours Other Electives: 6 hours Total Credit Hours: 30

A ground radar systems journeyman at Robins, Oliver has also discovered the valuable educational opportunities that come with his military service. He recently decided to pursue his applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force, a sort of educational clearinghouse through which military personnel can combine academic work earned at traditional colleges with the technical training they receive during their service.

When Oliver learned he could meet the academic requirements by pursuing a college-credit business certificate program that Macon State College offers through the Robins Resident Center, he quickly signed on.

"It will help me out with my management skills if I get promoted to staff sergeant," he said, "but I'm really doing this for me. I've always wanted to go to college but I just haven't had time until now."

MSC's 30-credit-hour business certificate represents a newly modified version of an existing program. The retooled version meets all requirements of the Community College of the Air Force, which means that military personnel like Oliver can pursue their CCAF degrees and the certificate at the same time. The Air Force strongly encourages military personnel to obtain their CCAF degrees for career advancement; to have the business certificate in addition looks that much better on a service record.

And there are other advantages. Students enrolled in the certificate program are eligible to apply for Georgia HOPE Grants, which pay all tuition and provide book allowances. Spouses and children of military personnel are also eligible to apply for HOPE Grants if they want to pursue the business certificate program. Unlike Georgia's HOPE Scholarships, the HOPE Grant program is available to students of all ages and does not require a minimum grade point average. Military personnel and their dependants generally are eligible for HOPE Grants, even if they are legal residents of other states.

Plus, the certificate program's academic credit can be applied toward associate's and bachelor's degrees, giving enlisted personnel and their families a chance to pursue their college educations wherever the Air Force happens to station them.
"It's a very family-friendly program" said Paul Smith, who until recently was an education specialist at the Base Education Office. "I've had guys say, 'I'm going to go home and tell my wife about this.' "

Smith is the one who approached Macon State about retooling the certificate program so that it meets all CCAF requirements. He noted that the program is just as beneficial to the veterans nearing retirement as it is for young airmen just beginning their military careers.
"If you have somebody nearing retirement who has worked with computers all during his service, he could add the academic background to his technical training," Smith said. "That would really help him as he transitions back into the civilian workforce."

To meet the CCAF requirements, the Macon State business certificate program replaced two accounting classes with management courses and required math, speech and humanities in the place of non-specified electives. The majority of courses are available at the RRC; others can be picked up at the Warner Robins Center or the Macon campus.

The new program is proving to be attractive to Robins military personnel.

"We are seeing a large response to this initiative," said Pella Murphy, RRC and WRC director. "Almost all the enlisted personnel that have been in the office in the last month have applied under this program."

Oliver hopes to eventually build on the certificate program to pursue a bachelor's degree, either in business or English. Between work and classes two nights a week he's staying busy this summer, but Oliver has no regrets.

"So far," he said, "I'm really enjoying it."