small business essentials

The Small Business Essentials Certificate of Achievement requires the successful completion of 8 required core courses (18 units).   Students have the opportunity to develop skills that enable them to provide complete office management support skills in a small business environment, including accounting, use of Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word documents, PDF files, G-Suite, and Office 365, proper office protocol, and professional and ethical communication.

After completing the certificate, students should be able to:

- Maintain the accounting records for a small business.

- Select and apply software applications to support a small business.

- Demonstrate the ability to communicate professionally and ethically in a small business environment.

Upon completing this certificate, students can qualify for small business jobs and careers as an administrative assistant, office manager, or clerical positions.

Enrollment Data	Year 1	Year 2
Course Dept #	Course Title	Annual Sections	Annual Enrollment Total	Annual Sections	Annual Enrollment Total
ACCT 050	Accounting for Small Business	3	20	4	20
BUSN 043	MS Office - Beginning Office Computing	1	20	1	15
BUSN 043A	Intro to G-Suite Cloud Based Software	2	20	2	20
BUSN 043B	Office 365 and G-Suite Interoperability	1	20	1	20
BUSN 044	Presentation, Powerpoint	2	15	2	15
BUSN 046	Excelling with Excel	3	23	3	30
BUSN 047	Adobe Acrobat and PDF	1	15	1	10
BUSN 062	Business Mathematics	2	40	2	20
BUSN 070	Effective Office Skills	1	25	1	30
BUSN 078	Business Communications	5	110	6	102

Projected Certificate Completions = 12/year

The goal of the Small Business Essentials Certificate of Achievement is to provide Career Technical Education (CTE) opportunities in business administration positions.  Emphasis is on Office 365 and G-Suites software applications providing skills demanded by large and small enterprises. Upon completion of this program a student should be able to demonstrate skills necessary to perform entry level functions and achieve success as a business assistant.   

The Small Business Essentials Certificate of Achievement requires the successful completion of 8 required core courses (18 units)

BUSN 062	BUSINESS MATH	3	S2
BUSN 070	EFFECTIVE OFFICE SKILLS	3	S2
BUSN 078	BUSINESS COMMUNICATION	3	S2
BUSN 43B	OFFICE 365	1	S2

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
ACCT 050	ACCOUNTING FOR SMALL BUSINESS	1	S1
BUSN 46	EXCELLING WITH EXCELL	3	S1
BUSN 043A	INTRO TO G-SUITE	3	S1
BUSN 44	PRESENTATION POWER POINT	1

The proposed certificate is comprised of current courses from established business curriculum and two new courses: BUSN 043A Introduction to G-Suite Cloud Based Software and BUSN 043B Office 365 and G-Suite Interoperability. The grouping of these courses into a certificate is part of an overall plan to revamp all certificates currently offered in the business program. This new certificate that is part our overall plan that will align our certificate programs with how SJSU offers its business degrees with each degree earner completing core business courses and then courses that are in their chosen field of concentration.

This certificate is unique in that it is intended to provide students the opportunity to develop skills necessary for the operation and growth of a small business. There is a similar program offered by San Jose City College, but it is strictly computer applications-focused while the one to be offered at West Valley includes computer applications skills but also courses necessary to manage the office in a small business. The need for the skills offered in this certificate was specifically articulated by the Business & Real Estate Advisory Board. The spirit of entrepreneurship in the Bay Area and, in particular, Silicon Valley, places high demand for these skills.