Computer Skill Courses Highlighted in URock's Fall Schedule

Thu, 06/25/2015 - 10:00am

For those who are interested in building skills in computing applications, University College at Rockland will offer two courses, Web Applications and Business Applications, in the fall semester which begins August 31.

CIS 131 Web Applications is an introduction to designing websites. This course starts at the very beginning of that process. In 15 weeks with lots of hands-on practical exercises students will create and launch an online website from start to finish. No prior computing classes are necessary but students should be comfortable at the least with email, Facebook and creating Word documents.

CIS 135, Information Systems and Application Development, is targeted for people who work in the realm of business, small and large. This course is for those who want to use computer applications to organize information for a business, an organization, even a club. The course will delve into spreadsheets and databases in considerable depth. Students with limited to no knowledge of data bases and spreadsheets will quickly develop a level of comfort and confidence working with existing material, or building from scratch.

As one former student noted, "I blew my boss' mind with what I learned to do in CIS 135."

Again, people who are comfortable with emails, reports or Facebook have the skills to take this course as it will start at a very beginning level and be taught with hands-on learning experiences.

Mark Goodridge will instruct both CIS courses in a face-to-face format at University College at Rockland. He has been teaching computer information systems courses at the college level for 20 years. He holds a Masters of Science in Computing Technology from Thomas College.

"Here in Maine companies are generating jobs in Computer Information Systems (CIS) about twice as fast as colleges can graduate students to fill the demand," said Goodridge. He added, "Students just 2 to 3 years out of college are making twice what I am making."

Pre-registration for these and hundreds of other courses is now open at URock with no payment due.

According to URock Director, Deborah Meehan, "Students do not need to be enrolled in a degree program in order to take classes at the university. These courses often attract locals who are eager to build computing skills."

CIS 131 Web Applications will meet once per week on Mondays from 4:00 to 6:45PM starting August 31. CIS 135 Application Development will meet on Thursdays from 4:00 - 6:45PM beginning September 3.

University College at Rockland is located on the 4th floor of the Breakwater Building on Route 1.  They may be reached by phone at 596-6906 or through the website at www.learn.maine.edu/rockland. Academic advising appointments are free of charge.