Saginaw Valley State University’s Continuing Education and Professional Development programs offer students the “competitive edge.”

“We provide learning opportunities to provide employees with a competitive edge,” said Tanya Blehm, marketing and sales coordinator of SVSU.

The continuing education and professional development at SVSU offers programs to improve existing education or skills by means of workshops, national test preparation and state certification courses.

Blehm said alumni who have associate’s or bachelor’s degrees participate in courses,  such as the nonprofit best practices program and the certified public manager program.

Blehm said the programs have a “wide variety of participants” and contain mostly professionals from the Great Lakes Bay Area. Classes average eight to 10 individuals.

A course that Blehm said is the most popular in the continuing education program is the Certified Public Manager® Program.

Public administrators from across Michigan attend to become certified.

“We are the only University in the state of Michigan that offers the national certified program.” Blehm said.

Michael Cecchini, two-year police chief of the Bay City Police Department and a certified public manager, participated in the manager program and considered his certification “post graduate work.”

“It really did reinforce all of the things I learned in my master’s program. The benefits are many,” he said.

Cecchini listed learning the budget process, leadership, management and understanding  government activities through the Michigan Certified Public Manager Program.

“Personally, I feel it’s an achievement attending a year- and-a-half-long program. I’ve learned so much,” he said.

The continuing education and professional development programs at SVSU also offer two-hour workshops that encompass nearly 100 participants.

“We may offer workshops for the public sector who deal with new labor laws in the state of Michigan to be up to date with skills and obtain current information,” Blehm said.

Blehm said the courses and workshops are picking up participants as time goes on.

“It’s gaining momentum. I started a year ago and we averaged 4-6 [people] in a class, now 6-8 [people], depending on the area of study,” Blehm said.

Some courses are doing better than others, she said.

Classes cost approximately $20 per credit hour, but may differ depending on the course and the course length.

The first online classes start in February. For more information, visit www.svsu.edu/cbed/oce.html.