Mid-career makeovers: colleges and universities add programs.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: EDUCATION - Company overview

Everyone needs a makeover once in a while, or at least an update. Workers need to modernize their skills, and employers try to hire people who know the latest technology, trends and practices. Colorado's colleges and universities are responding by adding courses and revamping their business and professional programs. They're adding everything from certificates to doctoral programs, in an effort to meet growing demand in certain industries.

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Here's a roundup of higher education institutions around the state and their latest additions.

American Public University System

American Public University System, based in Charles Town. W.Va., consists of two online universities, American Public University and American Military University. In January, API'S launched Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Reverse Logistics Management, the study of the reuse of products and materials. The course work covers topics such as environmental issues, cost and benefit analysis of reverse logistics, and hazardous materials. Oliver Hedgepeth, Ph.D., program director for Reverse Logistics Management, says students include retail executives, transportation operations managers and military personnel who are involved in returning equipment from overseas.

For more information, visit www.apus.edu.

Colorado State University

Colorado Stale University launched m online Master of Applied Statistics: M.A.S.) through CSU OnlinePlus. Jana Anderson, statistics department coordinator, says students will likely come from backgrounds such as math teachers, engineers, financial consultants, ecologists and public health professionals.

"Job titles we would expect students to move into are along the lines of analytics professional, data analyst, operations research analyst, etc., with opportunities for employment in insurance, engineering, finance, marketing and many other fields," she says.

The II-month program will start this summer with two noncredit, online math and computing skills-analysis courses prior to the start of the fall semester.

Another new program from CSU OnlinePlus is the Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) master's degree. The curriculum covers topics that administrative professionals will handle on college campuses, such as student affairs theories, cross-cultural and diversity issues, and administration functions and services.

Also new is a live-week Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM; Learning System Certificate. The program, which takes place on Saturdays at CSU's Denver Learning Center, prepares HR professionals for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification exams.

For more information, visit www.online.colostate.edu.

Colorado State University-Pueblo

Colorado State University-Pueblo will launch its first doctoral degree, a Doctor of Nurse (DNP) Practice, this fall. The program will have three emphasis areas: Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Adult Acute Care/ Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric/ Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Donna Wofford. RN, Ph.D., associate dean of nursing, says the university hopes to start the program with 30 students.

"Those who enroll will be bachelor's-or masters-prepared registered nurses/ she says. "Teamwork is the new mantra of medicine, and nurse practitioners and physician assistants have become increasingly important care providers, particularly in rural areas and underserved populations."

CSU-Pueblo also recently received a gram to expand its teaching program. The $1.26 million grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program of the...