West Windsor, N.J. - Looking to make your resume stand out in today's competitive business environment? New courses to enhance business skills are being offered through Mercer County Community College's (MCCC) Center for Continuing Studies (CCS) this winter and spring. Classes are held on Mercer's West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Most classes are offered in the evenings and on weekends to provide flexibility for adults.

New this semester at MCCC is the "Adaptive Lean Six Sigma Green Belt" course, which teaches efficiency in the workplace (Feb. 11 - March 17). This course combines the waste elimination methods of Lean with the reduction tools of Six Sigma. Classroom examples and simulations are used for hands-on practice. Designed for executives and managers, this course helps prepare participants for the ASQ Green Belt Certification Exam. It is also appropriate for those working in manufacturing, engineering, and the healthcare field, particularly hospitals. The instructor is John R. Muka, a Certified Master Black Belt, who most recently served as the Lean Six Sigma Director at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Also new in the spring is "Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Prep and Review" (Feb. 2 - March 13). This course will help project managers earn one of the most important industry-recognized certifications. Those who are already certified may maintain their status and refresh their knowledge with this class and earn 50 Professional Development Units.

For those seeking the latest in office computer systems, Mercer offers training in the most commonly used programs in MS Office 2010, including Word and Excel from beginner to advanced. Classes begin on Feb. 8 for MS Excel and March 7 for MS Word.

Web design and graphic design courses are also on the schedule, including a Web Developer/Programmer Certificate Program, which has been redesigned to provide participants with two tracks: Microsoft or Open Source. A variety of courses will be offered; those interested in these and/or other computer classes should check for dates and times in the spring course bulletin here. (Information about Web Developer/Programmer courses begins on page 21.)

For adults for whom online education is the most convenient option, the CCS offers hundreds of online courses for both professional development and personal interest. These online classrooms provide opportunities to listen to audio lectures, view slides, and engage in online discussions with instructors and other students. A long-time partner is ed2go, with most courses running for six weeks and including 12 lessons. For a complete course list, click here.

The center's partnership with another online provider, the Learning Resources Network (LERN), continues to expand. Professional courses to be offered this spring include "LEED Green Associate Exam Preparation" (Feb. 6-March 30), the "Virtual Meeting Planner Certificate" (Feb. 6-April 13), "Creating Cell Phone Apps for Your Business" (March 5-30), "Facebook for Business" (March 5-30), and "Successful Survey Techniques" (March 5-30). Three additional LERN courses are designed for instructors seeking to teach online. The courses, which may be taken in any order, are "Designing Online Instruction" (Feb. 6-10), "Building Online Learning Communities" (March 12-16), and "Advanced Teaching Online" (April 16-20). The courses may be taken individually, or in combination at a reduced cost. For full course descriptions or to register, visit here.

For more information on noncredit computer classes and programs in business and management, call the MCCC Center for Continuing Studies at (609) 570-3311 or visit the webpage here. Get short, timely announcements about upcoming courses and scheduling updates on Twitter here. Visit the center's Facebook page here.

Those interested in being added to the Center's monthly e-mail newsletter list should e-mail ComEd@mccc.edu.