SUNY Adirondack offers free business courses

QUEENSBURY, New York (April 30, 2024) — This summer at SUNY Adirondack is anything but business as usual, as the college offers free business classes.

Two courses — QuickBooks Microcomputer Applications and Advanced Bookkeeping Applications, each of which is three college credits — are offered online free of charge during the college’s first summer session, May 20 through June 28.

“These courses are fully funded by SUNY Adirondack’s WRAP Reimagine grant,” said Susan Corlew, director of Continuing Education and Workforce Innovation, referring to a more than $18 million U.S. Department of Education grant that includes the SUNY Reimagine Workforce Preparation Training Program. “This is a great opportunity to develop a strong skill set to work toward professional goals, as well as to meet the needs of regional employers.”

The classes are part of two of SUNY Adirondack’s new microcredential offerings. Microcredentials are series of three or four college-level courses that provide participants with sought-after skill sets to progress their careers. The courses are “stackable” — or count as credits — toward completion of degree programs at the college, but also stand alone as indication to prospective employers a candidate has professional-level skills.

Small-Business Operations Bookkeeper and Small-Business Operations Manager are among the latest microcredentials offered at SUNY Adirondack. 

The bookkeeper microcredential requires completion of both the free classes, which can be taken simultaneously. The third course in the series is Financial Accounting; professional
experience can be considered for prior experience learning as a prerequisite waiver for the other two courses.

“Students awarded this microcredential provide a great resource for small- to mid-sized-business owners, as most prefer to have one person perform accounts payable and receivable management, payroll coordination, checkbooks reconciliation and organization, ordering of supplies, and scheduling,” said John Arpey, J.D., chair of SUNY Adirondack’s Business division. “People with this microcredential will have the skill set to handle all these duties.”

The operations manager microcredential also requires completion of the two free classes, as well as Financial Accounting and Principles of Human Resource Management. In this series, too, prior experience can be considered for Financial Accounting.

“Small-Business Operations Manager is a more expansive microcredential that provides the
small- or mid-sized-business owner with the skills outlined in the Small Business Operations Bookkeeper microcredential and includes sufficient knowledge to handle most human resource matters such as personnel hiring, firing, compliance with ADA and FMLA and similar state
and federal labor laws,” Arpey said. “This is a huge plus for these companies to have a single person who can handle a multitude of functions.”

To learn more about SUNY Adirondack’s Small-Business Operations Bookkeeper and Small-Business Operations Manager microcredentials, please visit https://www.sunyacc.edu/programs-courses/microcredentials, or contact College Access at admission@sunyacc.edu or 518-743-2264.

To learn about WRAP Reimagine grant funds and whether you qualify for free courses, email conted@sunyacc.edu or call 518-743-2238.