{"id":124,"date":"2023-04-06T16:56:45","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T16:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/?p=124"},"modified":"2023-04-06T16:56:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T16:56:46","slug":"access-and-opportunity-how-the-naval-studies-certificate-starts-the-journey-of-lifelong-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"Access and Opportunity: How the Naval Studies Certificate Starts the Journey of Lifelong Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
OAK HARBOR, Wash. \u2013 AWO2 Brooke Graham was one of the first 34 students to complete the Naval Studies Certificate, a naval-relevant education program offered as a part of every associate degree program with USNCC.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPetty Officer Graham, you have a visitor,\u201d says one of the chief petty officers attached to the command. Naval Aircrewman (Operator) 2nd Class Brooke Graham, of Oakley, California, looks at the senior enlisted leader with furrowed brows. Sgt. Maj. Michael Hensley introduces himself and congratulates her on her recent completion of the Naval Studies Certificate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m used to being around Navy people all the time,\u201d said Graham about her experience with USNCC. She said her interactions with active duty Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen in the five courses that comprise the Naval Studies Certificate \u201cmakes me take a step back and see how we fit in. It gave me more awareness of our place in the world and how our mission impacts it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham was one of the first 34 students to complete the Naval Studies Certificate, a naval-relevant education program offered as a part of every associate degree program with USNCC. These five courses were taught entirely online and asynchronously, giving service members access and opportunity to balance their work life with the pursuit of naval-relevant education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t spend our way to victory,\u201d said USNCC\u2019s Sgt. Maj. Michael Hensley. \u201cWe need to educate our Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen if we want to invest in our success.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe Naval Studies Certificate is designed with fleet input to be both a part of the student\u2019s associate degree and build skills the operating force needs,\u201d said Russ Evans, associate dean of Naval Studies at USNCC. \u201cWhether it is expeditionary advanced operating bases or distributed lethality, we will ask more junior individuals to make bigger decisions with less support more quickly. The Naval Studies Certificate is designed to prepare students for those challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Naval Studies Certificate\u2019s 15-semester-credit program is a stackable certificate within each of the associate degree programs offered by USNCC. These stackable certificates mean USNCC students will be able to build on the education they earn to develop a journey of lifelong learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want our Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen to continually progress in learning. Through continued lifelong learning, our men and women in uniform are key to enhancing operational readiness and advancing the warfighting advantage over our competitors and adversaries,\u201d said President Randi R. Cosentino, Ed.D., of USNCC. \u201cThis Naval Studies Certificate program is a key component to ensuring the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard better develop the intellectual talent we have at all paygrades in the services.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Naval Studies Certificate program opened up for a pilot command-referral phase February 1, 2023. These Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen will be directly referred by their commands as prime candidates to earn an independent Naval Studies Certificate.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the USNCC to be successful, we have to provide naval-relevant classes and content,\u201d said Dan Goff, Ph.D., professor of Naval Studies and a retired Marine. \u201cThe only way we can really ensure that is feedback from the students, but also the commands where those students come from.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her studies, Graham was meritoriously promoted to petty officer 2nd class, a process that relies on the Sailor maintaining sustained superior performance as identified by command leadership. While the promotion was not the direct result of her education, Graham said the Naval Studies Certificate helped her take a step back and see how she fit into the bigger picture of the mission.<\/p>\n
To learn more about the Naval Studies Certificate program, or to find out more about the command nomination program, go to www.usncc.edu<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The United States Naval Community College is the official community college for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. To get more information about the USNCC, go to www.usncc.edu<\/a>. Click on the Apply Now<\/a> link to become a part of the USNCC Pilot II program.<\/p>\n From Chief Mass Communication Specialist Xander Gamble<\/em><\/p>\n