Brought to you by Business Training Library
The #1 Provider of Training Solutions for Growing Companies!

In this issue:

1. Academic Certification & Continuing Education for Business & Professional Courses
2. What's New at CompanyCollege
3. Visit us at ASTD ICE 2005 and SHRM Annual Conference and Expo
4. Our Staff's Course Recommendation: Review of Training for Business Results
5. Welcome Aboard



1. Academic Certification & Continuing Education for Business & Professional Courses


The University of Phoenix (UoP) has grown to be the nation's largest private university, specializing in the education of working adults. At UoP, bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees can be earned either through campus, online or in certain areas using a combination of both. With 163 campuses and learning centers in thirty three (33) states, Puerto Rico, and Canada as well as through the Internet, a degree can be obtained regardless of a student's location or hours available.

SkillSoft, the provider of our Business & Professional Skills courses, has partnered with UoP to meet the critical training needs in heavy demand by the global workforce. Adult learners, juggling life's many demands, can use our Web-based training to accelerate their careers while at the same time, obtain undergraduate degree credit from the University of Phoenix.

UoP President Laura Palmer-Noone stated:
"SkillSoft's Web-based courses offer an excellent way for professionals to access the critical business skills that are in high demand in Corporate America. The successful completion of the selected courses permits students to gain academic credits toward a UoP Bachelor's degree – while accessing the education and training from any Web connection, whenever and wherever they have time to learn!"

SkillSoft has entered into an agreement with UoP's Prior Learning Assessment Center (PLAC). Under this program, college level credit can be earned for previous training, job and work learning experiences, licenses and certificates.

SkillSoft has submitted for evaluation and received pre-determined credit for over 800 business skills and 1,000 IT titles that can be applied toward general education and elective requirements of a bachelor's degree. 22.5 clock hours of e-learning is equivalent to 0.5 semester credits. A listing of evaluated SkillSoft courses can be found at http://www.phoenix.edu/plac/creditrecognition.asp in the University of Phoenix “Corporate Credit Recognition Guide”. Additional SkillSoft courses will be submitted and evaluated for credit each October. CompanyCollege customers will reap the benefits of this new relationship.



2. What's New at CompanyCollege


Skillsoft Player Upgrade

What's Happening?
CompanyCollege is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the SkillSoft Course Player version 5.0 (SCP 5.0). This application is the course player that loads when you take a Business & Professional Skills course. This new player offers the most engaging and user-friendly e-learning experience SkillSoft has offered to date! You'll see an improved Course Menu, better navigation, a new opening page for topics, and more current support for Sun Java.

How will this affect my users?
No student progress or test data will be lost as a result of this upgrade! Users will retain all scores, book marking and progress when they re-launch their existing courses with the new player.

The new 5.0 player requires a new trusted certificate to function properly. This will mean your users will be prompted to accept another certificate when they launch their first course with the new player. This certificate will look the same as the version you and your students accepted when you first launched the current Business & Professional Skills courses. As with the previous certificate, accepting will allow the session to function properly. Choosing "Always accept" will ensure that the certificate prompt does not appear again.

When Is This Happening?
Our content servers will be updated to the new 5.0 player on the night of Friday, May 13th. The upgrade will start at 7:00 pm CST and will last approximately 24 hours. While the upgrade takes place, the Business & Professional skills courses will be unavailable. The CompanyCollege Learning Management System will remain active, meaning users can still engage in Technical Catalog courses, custom courseware, or other LMS features such as discussion groups, skill assessments, and classroom management.

How Can I Learn More About It?
Please refer to the following link for additional information on the graphical and functional differences between our current player and the new player: http://www.companycollege.com/ccweb/scp50/features.htm.

For a sneak peak at the official SkillSoft 5.0 Player Help File, access the following URL: http://www.companycollege.com/ccweb/scp50/start.htm

For a technical review and specifics on the new Sun Java support and other technical requirements, direct your IT Staff to the following web document: http://www.companycollege.com/ccweb/scp50/techspecs.pdf

Over 100 New Technical Courses Added!

We're pleased to announce that over 100 new technical titles have been added to our offerings in April 2005. With these new additions, our total course offerings come to 3,400+ courses! Visit our website for a complete listing of new courses.



3. Visit us at ASTD ICE 2005 and SHRM Annual Conference and Expo


Business Training Library will be attending two exciting events this June. Check out the details below. We'd love an opportunity to meet you in person!

Trade Show: ASTD 2005 International Conference & Exposition
Dates: June 2 - 4, 2005
Location: Orlando, FL
Booth Number: 420
General Information: The industry's most esteemed speakers and experts will be on-hand to share their latest ideas, theories, and solutions--all with a common goal of helping you achieve your strategic goals and attaining excellence promoting workplace learning and performance in your organization.


Trade Show: SHRM's 57th Annual Conference and Expo
Dates: June 19 - 22, 2005
Location: San Diego, CA
Booth Number: 727 & 828
General Information: SHRM's 57th Annual Conference and Expo is an event that brings Human Resource professionals the most relevant and comprehensive professional development opportunity. Whether you're seeking operational "how-to" information to apply in the workplace, compliance information to double-check your practices and policies, or strategically oriented topics that support your partnering efforts, you will find educational session choices that meet your unique professional development needs.



4. Our Staff's Course Recommendation

Course Title
Training for Business Results

Course Group
Business & Professional Skills Catalog

Course Overview
As today's training manager, you're facing tight budgets and a focus on results for training dollars spent. This challenge is forcing you to demonstrate the effectiveness of your company's training investments. While most organizations evaluate participants' reactions to training, they rarely measure the effect of that training on job performance behaviors and organizational objectives. Many companies understand that evaluation and assessments should be linked to organizational objectives, competency profiles, and intellectual capital development. But forward-looking organizations are recognizing and monitoring this industry trend by actually linking training and assessment to strategic objectives. The bottom line is that learning how to use assessment tools today will spur the incorporation of your company's objectives into the training dollars you spend tomorrow. This course gives you the skills you'll need to assess training effectiveness with respect to business goals and objectives.


Target Audience
Managers, directors, trainers, project leaders, team leaders.


Expected Duration
2.5 hours


Tom's Rating
4 Stars (out of 5)


Tom's Review
One of an organization's greatest assets is it's people. The challenge is how to continue to develop your people in a way that drives business results and shows the importance of your efforts to the organizations bottom line. This course is a great resource for professionals charged with increasing their company's human capital. Whether you're a seasoned professional, new addition or someone that wears (too) many hats, this course is for you. It starts by helping you identify ways that you can help drive business initiatives through employee training. Then it goes a step further by introducing Kirkpatrick's model for measuring impact from training. This course is designed to help you get the most from your efforts. The biggest surprise in this course is the vast pool of job aids included; they help you apply these ideas to real life. For the assessment ideas and best practices this course offers, it's a must take!

Please contact Tom Braning if you'd like to receive more information regarding this course.

Tom Braning is a Senior Training Consultant for Business Training Library's CompanyCollege team. He has been with Business Training Library since January 2004. He enjoys the outdoors (especially the beach), attempting to play guitar and running around with his two dogs: Ki, a Great Pyrenees and Bella, a Retriever/Chow mix.



5. Welcome Aboard

Business Training Library would like to welcome its newest e-learning clients! Your BTL team stands ready to support you throughout this new endeavor.

• Becker Holding Fort Pierce, FL
  
• BIW Connectors Santa Rosa, CA
  
• ECMC St. Paul, MN
  
• F.W. Webb Burlington, MA
  
• Genvec Gaithersburg, MD
  
• GRAFCO Hanover, MD
  
• Holland Community Hospital Holland, MI
  
• Medassets HCSA, Inc. Norcross, GA
  
• Meredith Village Savings Bank Meredith, NH
  
• Naperville Public Library Naperville, IL
  
• System Service Enterprises St. Louis, MO
  
• Telerx Marketing Horsham, PA
  
• William Wrigley Jr Yorkville, IL
  
• World Wide Technologies St. Louis, MO
  
• Zyquest Computer Learning Center DePere, WI

 

Business Training Library
285 Chesterfield Business Parkway
Chesterfield, MO 63005
(888) 432-3077
(636) 534-1001 (fax)
www.bizlibrary.com