Businesspeople in a conference room listen intently as a colleague points out information on a whiteboard
The process for creating new offerings is always in motion at UD Division of Professional and Continuing Education, where program managers keep close tabs on the evolving job market, looking for opportunities to match new course topics with high-demand jobs. (iStock photo)

Ever wonder how a course is created? 

UD PCS boosts lineup with offerings in leadership, programming, strategic communication

Working professionals are getting an exciting new lineup of noncredit course offerings from the University of Delaware—and plenty more are on the way. 

The classes debut this spring after months of market analysis by UD’s Division of Professional and Continuing Studies (UD PCS), which assessed the needs of employers and tracked shifts in the job market to determine five fresh certificate programs. All are open for enrollment: 

“Right now, UD PCS is going through probably the largest innovation cycle since our founding in 1952,” said Vic Wang, director of noncredit programs for UD PCS. “The new programs are the first steps toward greater success.” 

More new courses and personal enrichment experiences are in the pipeline for fall 2025, and while the final lineup is pending, the process of reviewing these courses was enhanced for the first time this year by an even broader assessment: After UD PCS staffers identified the top candidates, they sought feedback from about 25 judges, including community partners and campus colleagues in a recent presentation. 

Dubbed “HenVenture,” the event challenged the audience to assess the market potential of several course proposals, then cast their vote for those that seemed most promising. As a result, UD PCS is considering another six new classes for fall 2025: Competitive Intelligence and Analytics; Green and Sustainable Space Planning; Property and Community Management; Mobile Business Entrepreneurship; Foundations of Food Truck Management and Operations; and a Spanish-language entrepreneurship and project management course called Emprendiendo con Éxito: Tu Proyecto de Vida (Success in Entrepreneurship: Your Life’s Project). 

One of the judges, Joanna Staib, keeps a keen eye out for promising employment fields in her role as executive director of the Delaware Workforce Development Board. She recognizes that UD PCS is an important element in fostering emerging fields, and sees the potential in pursuing topics like Green and Sustainable Space Planning. 

“To me that is a promising emerging occupation,” she said. “There’s a lot of conversation around wind power, electric vehicles and sustainable energy technologies around the state right now, so that was one that I thought might be interesting.” 

The process for creating new offerings is always in motion at UD PCS. Program managers keep close tabs on the evolving job market, looking for opportunities to match new course topics with high-demand jobs. More ideas come from the instructors and students of UD PCS classes, and local business leaders on an advisory board lend their expertise. 

In its ongoing search, UD PCS turns to data-driven market analysis, and even the helping hand of artificial intelligence. Staffers analyze historic and future job trends, regionally and nationally, then ask key questions: How open is the market to workers with this type of education, and how long do openings stay unfilled? How many educational competitors already offer the course nearby? 

“We ask, what kind of competitive landscape are we currently looking at? Is it wide open, or is this really kind of already filled?” said Jane Shire, coordinator for noncredit programs at UD PCS. 

Shire also considers the potential alignment with existing UD degrees and initiatives, possibly opening the way for new connections. 

“This provides a potential future opportunity for us to build a pathway into the graduate and undergraduate pipelines, giving departments an opportunity to use the power of PCS to expand their offerings to the community,” Wang said. 

Once the proposals have been narrowed to those with the most potential, UD PCS begins reaching out to industry experts and UD faculty who might serve as instructors. Course outlines are created and submitted to UD’s Faculty Senate for quality review and approval. 

The HenVenture event will now likely become a yearly part of that process, but UD PCS is always receptive to campus and public input on possible course additions. Reach out via email at continuing-ed@udel.edu, or visit pcs.udel.edu/programs-courses for the courses offerings. 


DEVELOPING A NEW UD PCS COURSE 

  1. Idea Generation: Ideas come from everywhere — students, instructors, UD faculty and staff, advisory board, annual learning survey, AI, market research. We review 50+ ideas per year.
  2. Idea Qualification: Initial analysis identifies ideas with the most potential.
  3. Market Research Validation: The top candidates get a more thorough analysis utilizing tools like Lightcast, a labor market data analysis platform, with a focus on historical and future job growth projections.
  4. Feedback Review: Internal and external feedback is gathered, narrowing the field to the most viable candidates, which are reviewed with feasibility in mind. Additional input from UD faculty and industry experts and practitioners is collected.
  5. New Program Development: Once the final programs are selected, full development begins.