Whatever your professional education needs, OCC probably has a convenient, cost-effective program to meet them.

OCC ís Business Technology Center (BTC) offers a wide variety of classes for working professionals. Individuals may enroll in classes offered at the Orchard Ridge Campus in Farmington Hills or the Auburn Hills Campus. In some cases, companies can also arrange for onsite employee training.

The BTC’s offerings range from computer training to certified financial planning.

Computer classes - in small classroom setting of 12 students or less — are offered at the Orchard Ridge Campus and include a suite of Microsoft programs: Word 2000 for word processing, Excel 2000 for spreadsheets, Access 2000 for databases, Power Point 2000 for presentations, Outlook 2000 for email, and FrontPage 2000 and HTML for web design. Students who enroll in these courses can also validate the skills they learn by taking and passing core or expert Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certification. MOUS certification is an officially recognized industry standard that measures employee skill levels.

At Orchard Ridge and Auburn Hills, the BTC offers Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) training and is an Authorized Academic Training Program (AATP) with Microsoft. MCSE certification is highly technical...an in huge demand to meet the constantly growing need for systems engineers.

The BTC offers another unique training program for the financial planners who wish to become certified. The BTC’s Certified Financial Planner program is licensed through the College for Financial Planning (CFP). Five required courses — all offered each semester - prepare students to take the CFP’s certification exams.

Business and finance programs and seminars round out the offerings of the BTC.

For more information, contact OCC’s Business Technology Center at 248-522-3618.

The 38,500-square-foot Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC) on OCC’s Auburn Hills Campus is perfectly situated in the heart of Automation Alley in Oakland County’s high-tech core for business and industry.

The M-TEC at OCC, one of 18 facilities in the state, is the only one to concentrate solely on "gold collar" information technology (IT) jobs for first level workers. Additionally, it offers companies and individuals the opportunity to ìupskillî and advance in IT careers.

It is also the only M-TEC developed through a consortium of public and private partnerships. Partners — who assisted in the design of the facility and curriculum — include EDS, DaimlerChrysler, IBM, KPMG, Manpower, Kelly Services, Kmart, Microsoft, Oakland County, Oakland University and Oakland Schools. The facility was funded, in part, through a $5 million grant from the State of Michigan.

In its 12 Smart Technology-equipped computer labs and two conference rooms, M-TEC offers a range of innovative training programs to corporations and individuals. These include open enrollment enrollment courses in a variety of computer software applications; career development programs, including a "Preparation for Technology Track" and the

Advanced Technology Program (ATP) for the underemployed - a program that has received national recognition. OCC is an active, successful participant with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Economic Development Job Training Program, securing millions of dollars annually to meet the training needs of local companies.

The College also offers a Career Resource Center through M-TEC. Products and services include WorkKeys in a system used nationwide to profile, assess and provide training in workplace skills; IT career exploration, planning and assessment; and even employee recruitment and job seeker placement services.

One of the newest concepts to be used at M-TEC is the Open Entry/Open Exit (OE/OE) learning format. This self-paced, modular learning program is delivered through computers in one of the M-TEC computer labs. Mentoring and assistance from OCC staff or faculty members is available during the 60 hours a week the lab is open. In OE/OE, students can enter a course any time and exit it when they have completed all the activities successfully.

Students not only work at their own pace, reviewing information as often as needed to master it, they also learn in their preferred style with computer simulation, audio, video or text. Among the courses currently offered in the OE/OE format are computer literacy, Office 97 and 1000, keyboarding (beginning, intermediate and advanced) and business writing. PC user support, web development, networking and Office XP will soon join the offerings.

For more information on M-TEC offerings, call 248-232-4000 or email HYPERLINK mail to :m-tec@oaklandcc.edu