Taking Care of Business
Fall 2019
UCI Corporate Education and Global Partnerships
offers an expanded range of options for educating
the workforce of tomorrow.
When today's international corporations need workforce
training, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't cut it. Every
company is different, and each requires specialized
programs to keep up with the ever-evolving demands of
the marketplace. That's where UCI's Corporate Education
and Global Partnerships (CEGP) team comes in, offering a
wide range of custom-crafted solutions.
Far from its humble beginnings in the early ‘60s, the newly
rebranded department has evolved into a global
endeavor that works directly with clients to develop
targeted programs as well as long-term partnerships, said
Brian Breen, director of the unit.
“We've evolved over the past five to 10 years into more
of a corporate education concierge,” Breen said.
“Companies come to us with specific needs and our team
develops customized training programs that address
targeted employee deficiencies. It's part of our evolution,
from offering simple training classes to developing long-term
strategic partnerships.”
Corporate clients can request bespoke solutions and
Breen's team of expert UCI instructors and instructional
designers make it happen. It's an approach that has
attracted a number of high-profile clients such as IBM,
Boeing, Marriott and Volkswagen Mexico, as well as
various municipalities including Irvine.
“We consult with the client, target exactly what needs to
be addressed, and if necessary we can even build an
entirely new program from the ground up,” Breen said.
The CEGP team can create web portals that allow
employees to access corporate university curriculum from
anywhere in the world. On-campus programs offer short
courses and workshops aimed at the busy professional.
And interactive, role-playing simulations like the Executive
Challenge allow top-level personnel to compete and
hone their skills.
It's all about providing the most advanced solutions for
professional growth, human resources services and
support, while raising awareness in the corporate
community of the many benefits available within UCI.
“The partnership is mutually beneficial,” Breen said. “Our
strategic partnerships allow us to recruit expert advisory
board members for our certificate courses, and our
corporate partners can recruit top employees from the
programs and offer internship programs.”
“[O]ur team develops customized training programs
that address targeted employee deficiencies.”
Brian Breen
A custom fit
The department, part of UCI Division of Continuing
Education, has definitely “morphed quite a bit” in the past
several years, said CEGP marketing lead Lindsay Doherty.
Along with expanded global services, “impactful training solutions, convenience and innovation are increasingly
important aspects.”
There are Lunch-N-Learn workshops that allow employees
to access new skills in their downtime, and the HR Talks
series has featured keynote speakers and panels, as well
as an executive roundtable.
One of the most popular new programs is the Learning
Consortium, a series of short courses that address diverse
skills like business writing, accounting, and project management
over a period of one to three days. The Consortium
offers myriad benefits to employees and employers alike,
often opening the door to continuing UCI education.
“They're short, immersive learning experiences that focus
on specific topics,” Doherty said. “In one day, you can
learn to be a better communicator, a better leader,
be more effective with your time, and more. Learning
Consortium courses were built with the busy professional
in mind, and participants walk away with new, practical
tools they can bring to the workplace immediately.”
Many of UCI's partner clients send small groups to attend
together, providing a team-oriented experience without
the high costs of traditional training programs. It's a good
way for participants to meet professionals from other
industries and share ideas they can apply to their own
organizations, Doherty said.
“Our employees’ experience with the consortium has
had a very positive impact,” said Susan Cole, Manager
of Edwards University for Edwards Lifesciences, a leading
supplier of heart valve technology. “It's a great way for
employees with limited time to take one day, maybe two
days, to learn practical knowledge that's relevant to what
they're doing.”
“Consortium courses were built with the busy professional
in mind, and participants walk away with new, practical
tools they can bring to the workplace immediately.”
Lindsay Doherty
Going global
UCI CEGP offers a wide range of delivery options, a mix
of onsite and online programs including fully synchronous
courses that create sort of a live, interactive online classroom.
They're especially advantageous and popular with
companies that have far-flung global workforces.
The online lessons are intensive, and the instructors directly
engage the employees, asking questions, encouraging
participation and making sure nobody's checking their
email during class, Doherty said.
“Five or 10 years ago, many of our clients wouldn't touch
online education. But now it offers so many benefits,”
she added. “Fully synchronous classes bring students
and instructors together to engage in real time. And
corporations don't have to pay a lot of money to travel
all over the world to train employees.”
Interactive role-playing simulations are a new, innovative
form of corporate training, allowing clients to deal with
real-world workplace scenarios in a virtual way. A good
example is the Executive Challenge, a competition that
pits teams of high-level professionals against each other.
“The Executive Challenge is a one-day competition where
participants play the role of the CEO, CFO, chief marketing
officers and other company executives,” Doherty said.
“The goal is to bring a specific product to market, and the
teams have to make a series of decisions on allocating
resources, managing finances and marketing budgets,
and other factors.”
Teams need to think on the fly. Each decision impacts the
next, like in real business situations. And at the end of the
day, whichever team sold the most and maximized their
financial resources is declared the winner.
It's all part of the new wave of innovative solutions offered
by UCI CEGP, an entirely new approach to developing
ongoing, strategic partnerships between the university
and the business world.
“There are other universities that offer corporate training,
but they don't have the type of dedicated team we have
in place to develop customized curriculum with so many
delivery options,” Breen said. “I think that's what sets UCI
apart from the pack and makes us unique.”
Learn more at ce.uci.edu/corporate