Spelman College Launches eSpelman Online Certificate Enterprise to Expand Educational Opportunities for Adult Learners

ATLANTA, Aug. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spelman College, the leading historically Black liberal arts institution for women of African descent, is expanding its stellar academic model to launch eSpelman. The new enterprise will deliver online education and certificates to support the upskilling,  and career exploration of working adult learners.

Spelman's certificate programs are designed to benefit those seeking education for career advancement, transition, exploration, and flexibility. Certificates in disciplines such as leadership, business essentials and project management, as well as teacher preparation, cosmetic science, diversity, equity, and inclusion, entrepreneurship and conversational Spanish will be developed and offered through the eSpelman online enterprise.

"Spelman College has spent 140 years providing transformative educational experiences for Black women who have become global change agents. We've always believed in lifelong learning and are excited to expand and extend our offerings to adult learners who are looking to advance their careers, elevate their expertise or explore new fields," said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. "As a college that consistently leads in numerous rankings from innovation and social mobility to liberal arts and STEM education, Spelman is creating a slate of online programming that will lead to credentials that catapult careers."

The certificates will be offered to working adult learners, of all genders, through two platforms: directly through eSpelman, or in collaboration with Guild Education, which partners with leading U.S. employers to offer education and upskilling as an employee benefit.

"We are thrilled to have Spelman College join Guild's Learning Marketplace," said Rachel Carlson, co-founder and CEO of Guild Education, which currently partners with Fortune 500 companies, including Walmart, Chipotle, Waste Management, Lowe's, The Walt Disney Company, and Discover Financial Services to provide education and upskilling programs to their workforce. "Spelman's new eSpelman certificate programs were created specifically to address the needs of America's diverse workforce and will allow working adult learners to embark on their own education and upskilling journeys through this renowned HBCU."

Courses such as Orientation to Education - an introductory course launching this fall for those looking to pursue state teacher certification - will be available to individual adult learners directly from eSpelman. Others will come online in spring and fall 2022.

Taught from the perspective of Spelman's unique HBCU pedagogy, the goals of the certificate programs are to create paths for adult learners to advance into leadership positions, provide foundational skills that directly map to essential skills for frontline manager roles and increase access to explore educational opportunities to shift careers.

The College engaged higher education consulting firm, Kennedy & Company, to support them in conducting an in-depth strategic internal assessment and review process to pinpoint exactly where Spelman could make the greatest impact in the online education space while staying true to its mission of delivering a first in-class education to diverse student populations.

"It's a privilege to be Spelman's partner in planning for and launching eSpelman and we feel confident that Spelman's entry into online education will fill an important and underserved space in the landscape of online higher education," said Ben Kennedy, founder and managing partner of Kennedy & Company.

Courses are being developed by the Spelman faculty through a partnership with Collegis Education, a leading provider of technology services that support higher education institutions in managing their technology ecosystem, growing enrollments, delivering quality learning experiences and informing strategic decisions.

"Collegis is thrilled to be partnering with Spelman College to develop high-quality online courses to support career- and skills-focused education," said Jamie Cowie, chief executive officer of Collegis Education. "Spelman's commitment to delivering exceptional, market-relevant education and lifelong learning opportunities to adult learners coupled with our deep expertise in creating and delivering engaging online learning experiences is a powerful combination that we are confident will accelerate the success of eSpelman."

Current employees at U.S.-based companies whose employer offers education benefits are encouraged to contact their HR coordinators to see if Guild and Spelman are options for them.

For more information visit Spelman.edu .

About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College's picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The College's status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MIT's Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman's first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones. For more information, visit Spelman College.

About Guild Education

Guild Education is on a mission to unlock opportunity for America's workforce through education and upskilling. A certified B-Corp, founded to bridge the gap between education and employment for the 88 million working adults in the U.S. in need of upskilling for the future of work, Guild is an education platform that upskills workers and prepares companies for the future. Guild's industry-leading technology platform allows the nation's largest employers ? including Walmart, The Walt Disney Company and Chipotle ? to offer strategic education and upskilling to their employees. Guild connects them to a learning marketplace of the nation's best universities and learning providers, from institutions like Oregon State University, Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Paul Quinn College, community colleges like Rio Salado College, Southern New Hampshire University and eCornell, as well as certificates in technical skills like Salesforce Administration and GoogleIT ? with tuition paid by the company. Guild serves working learners from all 50 states, including 54% who are students of color and 56% who are female. Guild's payments and technology platform, curated learning marketplace, and advanced education and career coaching come together to help working adult learners advance in their education and career, debt-free. For more information, visit https://www.guildeducation.com/.

About Collegis Education

Collegis Education® delivers a higher ed specific, fully integrated set of technology services, centered around delivering an exceptional student and faculty experience while increasing efficiency and cost optimization. We serve as a catalyst for our partners' success by providing the expertise, best practices, technology, and insights necessary to help tackle today's challenges and prepare for the future. With more than two decades of experience in higher education, Collegis partners with institutions across all sectors to optimize and manage the technology ecosystem, grow enrollments, deliver high quality learning experiences, and inform strategic decisions. For more information about Collegis Education, please visit CollegisEducation.com.

SOURCE Spelman College