Virginia Wesleyan University Global Campus offers comprehensive non-degree continuing education courses designed to provide advanced skill sets valued by employers. VWU Global Campus—in partnership with the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development and the VCU daVinci Center for Innovation —is offering the following professional development online courses at no cost.
The fully online tutorials are part of the continuing education offerings through VWU Global Campus and join the University’s other non-credit course options. Register today and get access to self-paced training and improve your professional skill set—perfect for job seekers, business owners, students, recent graduates, and volunteers.
Interested in taking an in-person no-cost workshop? See what professional development workshops we offer on campus and in the area.
Students who successfully complete their course(s) will earn a certificate of completion or microcredential. For more information, contact VWU Global Campus at 757.233.8789 or at ceinfo@vwu.edu.
Please note: If you have completed a no-cost course with us before, you will not be able to register for another course via the registration form. Instead, please send an email with your name and requested course to ceinfo@vwu.edu and we will register you.
Current Courses
Introduction to Design Thinking
There is an increasing emphasis on skills such as design thinking, problem-solving, adaptability, and empathy to current as well as future job roles. Take this asynchronous workshop on the practice of human-centered thinking. Delivered by the Executive Director of the VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation, this experience gives participants the opportunity to actively engage in their learning.
Earners of this badge have been introduced to the six foundational steps in the design thinking process: defining How Might We challenges, seeking extremes, creating options, selecting ideas, prototyping, and feedback. Participants will engage in individual and collaborative exercises that allow them to practice each of the six steps and result in the creation of a low-fidelity prototype and digital asset that demonstrates mastery.
Introduction to Business Model Canvas
Ever feel like your business idea is a jumbled mess of possibilities? Turn that "aha!" moment into a masterpiece with the VCU da Vinci Center's Intro to Business Model Canvas micro-credential course! This bite-sized, online learning experience is your key to unlocking the secrets of the Business Model Canvas, a framework used by innovative minds worldwide.
Introduction to Pitching and Storytelling
Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned executive looking to sharpen your presentation skills, our Introduction to Pitching and Storytelling micro-credential will equip you with the tools and techniques to succeed in any setting. Join us and unlock your potential to inspire, influence, and persuade with impact.
Introduction to Prototyping
This micro-credential is designed to equip learners with the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary to create prototypes, tangible representations of ideas or concepts. Participants will explore various prototyping methods, understand the importance of iteration and feedback, and develop the ability to communicate their ideas effectively through physical models.
Business Budgeting for Beginners
In this comprehensive, beginner-friendly course, you will learn the elementary skills needed to be successful in the budgeting process and gradually work your way up to creating a budget. You will also discover how to best evaluate the results of your budget and make decisions to help your business maximize its profits.
What you will learn
- Learn about planning strategies and how they are used to keep a budget aligned with its vision
- Obtain knowledge of cost behavior and how forecasts are used to ensure accuracy in future planning and budgeting
- Develop various approaches to plan for general and administrative expenses
- Gain tools and techniques used for a formal decision-making process
- Master how best to evaluate the financial stability and performance of a business using budgeted information
Professional Sales Skills
If you've always dreamed of becoming successful in sales, this course is exactly what you need. You'll learn how to turn prospects into buyers, how to provide proper customer service, how to develop a sales plan, and much more.
What you will learn
- Examine the three major components of successful time management
- Learn basic marketing techniques and tactics for tracking the results of your efforts
- Understand how to maximize your time while prospecting
- Learn how to make a successful "initial call"
- Explore professional quality proposals and presentations
- Learn to deal with conflicts in negotiation
- Learn how to develop a comprehensive action plan that puts the sales strategies you learn into your daily activities
Business Budgeting for Beginners
In this comprehensive, beginner-friendly course, you will learn the elementary skills needed to be successful in the budgeting process and gradually work your way up to creating a budget. You will also discover how to best evaluate the results of your budget and make decisions to help your business maximize its profits.
What you will learn
- Learn about planning strategies and how they are used to keep a budget aligned with its vision
- Obtain knowledge of cost behavior and how forecasts are used to ensure accuracy in future planning and budgeting
- Develop various approaches to plan for general and administrative expenses
- Gain tools and techniques used for a formal decision-making process
- Master how best to evaluate the financial stability and performance of a business using budgeted information
Managing Customer Service
Learn how to correctly anticipate and meet your customers' needs. This course will help you discover some effective methods to bring out your best and do the same for the other people you work with as you serve as an ambassador for your company.
What you will learn
- Learn what award winning customer service looks like
- Discover who your customers are and how you can best serve them
- Learn what motivates customers and the best way to appeal to them
- Learn how you can capitalize on consumer expectations
- Learn to motivate and reward the people on your service rep team
- Discover how to deal with upset customers and the steps to take when you face a difficult customer
- Cultivate better service by learning how to choose the right team members
Six Sigma: Total Quality Applications
Learn to apply the elements and methods of Six Sigma to achieve the highest possible quality.
What you will learn
- Learn about Six Sigma business case
- Develop a basic knowledge of statistics
- Learn about strategic planning
- Discover two methods of identifying customer requirements: the voice of the customer (VOC) and quality function deployment (QFD)
- Learn each component of DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control)
- Learn to think lean which means doing more with less
Intro to Microsoft Excel 2019/Office 365
Learn to quickly and efficiently use Microsoft Excel 2019 as you discover dozens of shortcuts and tricks for setting up fully formatted worksheets. This course, taught by an experience Microsoft Excel instructor, provides in-depth knowledge for beginners that will have you using Excel like a pro.
What you will learn
- How to create worksheets, charts, and graphs
- Methods for sorting and analyzing automating often repeated tasks
- How to parse data with Flash Fill
- Important keyboard shortcut
Intermediate Microsoft Excel 2019
Master new skills and harness the power of Excel to become a power user. This hands-on course provides in-depth knowledge of charts, graphs, PivotTables, Slicers, Sparklines, AutoFilter, macros, and other advanced Microsoft Excel 2019 functions.
What you will learn
- Charting, PivotTables, Slicers, Sparklines, and other advanced features of Microsoft Excel 2019
- How to manipulate data
- Intermediate level Excel functions
Using Social Media in Business
Social media offers a powerful way to reach new customers and grow your business through increased leads and sales. In this social media for business course, you will learn about some of the most popular social media platforms such as—Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Business Profile, Twitter, Pinterest, and many others—and study secrets for using these platforms to promote your business. Throughout the course, you will gain insights into how to build a social media team and automate your social media activities, so you can leverage the power of social media without adding another full-time job to your plate. Lastly, you will gain techniques for measuring and tracking your social media success.
What you will learn
- Describe the basics of online marketing and how social media works
- Identify the main objectives for using social media in your business
- Select the right social media platform(s) that align with and support the identified business objectives
- Demonstrate the ability to set up and configure the most popular social media platforms
- Develop a process to test, measure, review, and continuously improve the effectiveness of your social media efforts
- Automate social media activities, leveraging tools and strategies to streamline processes
Introduction to Nonprofit Management
Develop the skills and strategies you need to become an integral part of the non-profit sector as you learn from a veteran of the field. This course will show you everything you need to know to transform good intentions into a professional plan of action.
What you will learn
- Learn the fundamentals and common challenges of nonprofit leadership
- Gain a full understanding of the role of the executive director and the board of directors in a nonprofit organization
- Discover the grand picture of the nonprofit workforce and get a clear picture of what nonprofits are like on the inside
- Learn how to plan and execute a special event that will boost your agency's income and community awareness