News and Media

BATON ROUGE - LSU Online & Continuing Education, or DCE, received the Award of Excellence in the Post-Secondary Continuing Education category by the Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance Inc., or GBRIA, at its 12th Annual Craft Workforce Development Awards banquet. Over 400 guests attended the event to celebrate 25 contractors, 17 high schools, five post-secondary institutions and more. Lisa Verma, senior director of professional development at LSU DCE, accepted the award.

“LSU Online & Continuing Education has been educating the community and beyond for over 95 years. Our award-winning programs would not be possible without the organizations and individuals who look to LSU for high-quality learning opportunities for workforce training or professional development,” Verma said. “We are honored to have our partner, Turner Industries, nominate us for the GBRIA award but—more importantly—for giving us the opportunity to provide workforce development courses and training programs since 2000.”

LSU DCE partners that also received awards:

• Associated Builders & Contractors-Pelican Chapter, or ABC Pelican, Award of Merit in the Post-Secondary Technical Education
• Alliance Safety Council, Award of Merit in the Post-Secondary Continuing Education
• Turner Industries Group, LLC, Award of Excellence in Craft Workforce Development Award, Division III and Best of Division Awards, Division III
• Turner Specialty Services, Award of Excellence in Technical Support, Division II and Best of Division Awards, Division II
• ISC Constructors, Award of Excellence in the Specialty Trade (Hard Craft), Division II
• Lane Grigsby, CEO of Cajun Industries, GBRIA Craft Workforce Development Hall of Famers
• Eddie Rispone, CEO of ISC Constructors, GBRIA Craft Workforce Development Hall of Famers

LSU DCE develops professional development programs that individuals can take online, on campus or on-site. Areas of study are in business and management, paralegal, computer and IT, and safety management. For individuals that are looking for options quicker than certificate programs, LSU DCE recently launched micro-credentials, or MicroCreds. These are a series of two to five “short courses” designed for professionals to gain knowledge in a specific area of study to apply immediately in the workplace.

Current professional development MicroCreds at LSU include:

• Business Project Management
• Business Project Management with Agile
• Learning Experience Design
• Management and Leadership Series

If you are an employer looking to invest in your workforce by improving proficiency, explore LSU continuing education programs at ce.lsu.edu or email answers@outreach.lsu.edu.

About the GRBRIA Craft Workforce Development Awards

The GBRIA Craft Workforce Development Awards act as both awards and benchmarking program. This program was developed in 2007 through a joint effort of GBRIA’s Contractor Workforce Development Committee, Board of Directors and local contractors. The program has been designed to promote best practices to improve the skills and retention of craft personnel in the region and to recognize and reward contractors, member plants, schools, educators and other individuals who contribute to recruitment, assessment, training, career path education and retention efforts. More information on the organization can be found at www.gbria.org.