UO employees looking to sharpen their skills through professional certification can prepare with online courses in Skillport, the university’s eLearning system offered by the Office of Human Resources.

“The university extends its support of professional development by continuing to offer eLearning,” said Pam Farmer, director of professional development. “Skillport includes certification preparation courses to assist employees in making the strategic move to add certification to their résumé and professional expertise.”

Professional certification demonstrates a person’s knowledge, experience and skills to perform a specific job or task. Certification is earned through one or more exams developed by an organization or association. The certification curriculum offered in Skillport aids in exam preparation through content review and sample tests.

A wide variety of certification curriculum is available to UO employees including Six Sigma, C++, Microsoft, Google, project management and specialized professional tracks such as human resources management to name a few.

“Registration for a certification preparation course can be very expensive,” Farmer said. “The university offers access to course preparation curriculum at no cost to employees.” 

Human resources reminds employees that Skillport provides materials and information to prepare for certification examinations. Expenses related to obtaining the certification, such as exam or certification fees, are not included.

The eLearning webpage on the HR website provides a list of certification preparation courses available and instructions for accessing Skillport. Additional professional development opportunities are provided on the Highlighted Courses webpage or explore upcoming courses in Making Tracks.