Undergraduate Course Opened to All Majors
Undergraduate Course Opened to All Majors
Explore the exciting opportunities available through the Workforce Education and Development (WFED) program at Penn State. Our courses are designed to empower you with essential skills and knowledge that will enhance your academic journey and prepare you for a successful career.
Featured Course: WFED 119 Career Planning and Life Design (GenEd - GHW)
Here are the course offerings for Fall 2026:
Course List
Instructor(s): Hyung Joon Yoon
Schedule: Tuesdays & Thursdays | 3:05PM - 4:20PM
Location: Hosler Building 026
Course Overview: This General Education course (GHW - Health and Wellness) provides a comprehensive exploration into self-understanding, career planning, and personal development from a lifespan perspective. It aims to offer students a detailed and transformational journey, starting with self-awareness and leading to an insightful understanding of their identity and unique strengths.
Benefits:
- Fulfills General Education Requirement (GHW)
- Develop self-awareness and understand personal strengths
- Create actionable strategies for future career paths
- Learn to connect personal aspirations with societal impact
- Enhance leadership potential and ability to inspire change
Instructor(s): To be announced
Schedule 1:
- Monday & Wednesday | 12:20PM - 1:10PM
- Location: 118 Wagner Bldg
Schedule 2: (Second Half - 7 weeks)
- Tuesday & Thursday | 12:05PM - 1:20PM
- Location: 214 Wagner Bldg
Course Overview: This course helps you plan for your financial future by covering key topics such as money management, credit, investing, insurance, retirement planning, career development, and personal branding.
Benefits:
- Build strong money management skills
- Learn to use credit and investing wisely
- Gain understanding of insurance and retirement planning
- Develop career growth and personal branding skills
Instructor(s): To be announced
Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, & Friday | 10:10AM to 11:00AM
Location: Ford Building 202
Course Overview: Focuses on developing supervisory competencies for individuals in leadership positions or those aspiring to leadership roles. The course addresses critical areas including employee motivation, performance management, effective communication, conflict resolution, and team development.
Benefits:
- Build foundational supervision and leadership skills
- Develop effective employee motivation techniques
- Enhance workplace communication strategies
- Learn practical performance management approaches
Instructor(s): To be announced
Format: Online course delivery
Platform: Penn State World Campus
Meeting Dates: 08/24/2026 - 12/11/2026
Course Overview: Covers the essential concepts and skills needed to make effective contributions on projects, on time and within budget. This hands-on course explores project management life cycles, techniques for planning, scheduling, budgeting, and controlling project performance, as well as project management responsibilities, team development, communication, and organizational structures.
Benefits:
- Develop practical project management skills applicable across industries
- Learn to deliver projects on time and within budget
- Enhance team leadership and communication abilities
- Build problem-solving skills for complex project challenges
Instructor(s): Candace Claar
Format: Online course delivery
Platform: Penn State World Campus
Meeting Dates: 08/24/2026 - 12/11/2026
Course Overview: Designed to teach contemporary professional leadership competencies for workforce professionals who do not currently have supervisory responsibilities. The course ensures students develop an understanding of leadership competencies needed in today's global business environment, including collaboration, team-building, interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, project management, problem-solving, and emerging technology usage.
Benefits:
- Develop essential leadership skills for today's workplace
- Enhance collaboration and team-building capabilities
- Improve conflict resolution and human performance management
- Build problem-solving and ethical decision-making skills
Instructor(s): Tonya Hartman
Format: Online course delivery
Platform: Penn State World Campus
Meeting Dates: 08/24/2026 - 12/11/2026
Course Overview: The course focuses on essential lean and six sigma concepts to improve processes in any industry. Students learn methodologies for increasing efficiency, reducing waste, and implementing continuous improvement strategies in organizational settings.
Benefits:
- Learn methodologies to improve operational efficiency
- Develop skills to identify and eliminate process waste
- Gain practical tools for implementing continuous improvement
- Enhance analytical problem-solving abilities
Instructor(s): Beth Hass
Format: Online course delivery
Platform: University Park (Online)
Meeting Dates: 10/19/2026 - 12/11/2026
Schedule: Wednesday | 6:00PM to 9:00PM
Course Overview: Provides opportunities for students to explore different cultures and mores that are changing the dynamics of the workplace.
Benefits:
- Fulfills International Cultures (IL) and United States Cultures (US) Requirement
- Explore how different cultures shape today’s workplace
- Understand changing workplace values and norms
- Build awareness of diversity in professional settings
- Improve ability to work in multicultural environments
Instructor(s): Erica Mowrer, Charles Warren
Format: Online course delivery
Platform: University Park (Online)
Meeting Dates: 08/24/2026 - 10/09/2026
Course Overview: This course teaches how to design and deliver effective professional presentations using both theory and hands-on practice. It focuses on real-world communication skills across business and technical settings, emphasizing creativity, interactive learning, and applying theory to practice to build confidence and presentation ability.
Benefits:
- Learn how to give effective presentations
- Get more comfortable with public speaking
- Practice hands-on communication skills
- Use creativity when presenting
- Apply skills to real-world situations
Why Choose WFED Courses?
- General Education Fulfillment: WFED 119 helps meet general education requirements while developing crucial skills
- Comprehensive Skill Development: Gain a blend of leadership, project management, and professional communication skills essential in modern workplaces
- Career Readiness: Prepare for various roles, enhancing your career prospects
- Practical Experience: Enjoy hands-on experience in developing and delivering professional presentations and projects
- Academic Growth: Earn credits that contribute to your degree while acquiring skills highly valued by employers
By enrolling in these WFED courses for Fall 2026, Penn State students can significantly enhance their personal development and career prospects, equipping themselves with the tools needed to excel in today's diverse and dynamic workforce.
Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program
In addition to individual courses, WFED offers the Supervisory Leadership Certificate for Professionals, designed to develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for effective workplace supervision.
Required Courses for the Certificate
- WFED 310: Leadership Competencies for Supervisors (3 credits)
- WFED 411: Occupational Safety and Health for Workforce Education and Development Professionals (3 credits)
- WFED 450: Cultural Diversity in the Workplace (3 credits)
Note: Course substitutions may be limited to one substitution per student. Students who have completed WFED 310 and one additional WFED course listed on this page, or who have completed one WFED course first, followed by WFED 310 and another Supervisory Leadership certificate course (WFED 411 or WFED 450), may be eligible for a substitution.
Important steps for course substitutions and certificate completion:
- Contact [email protected] or Dr. Hyung Joon Yoon ([email protected]) to confirm whether the course you have chosen is eligible for a substitution and keep the record once you have received an answer.
- If approved, notify the WFED program by email at [email protected] well in advance to ensure your substitution will be properly processed and counted toward your certificate.
- It is the student's responsibility to notify the advisor (Dr. Mark Threeton, [email protected]) once all three courses have been completed, providing any substitution approval records, to initiate the certificate award process.
Substitutions are not automatic and require approval. Students must also enroll in the certificate program to receive the certificate. Please review the steps to follow below for complete enrollment instructions.
How to Enroll in the Certificate Program
Degree seeking students must enroll in any certificate(s) prior to the end of the late drop period of their final semester.
(https://aappm.psu.edu/policy/m-12-guidelines-for-undergraduate-credit-certificates)
- Log in to Lionpath
- On the right side of the screen, click the "Degree Planning and Progress" tab
- On the left side of the screen, click the "Update Academics" tab
- Click the "Add a Certificate" tab
- Select "Supervisory Leadership for Professionals" from the drop-down menu
- Once the correct certificate is selected, click "Accept Changes"
- Click "Confirm Proposed Changes"
- Click "Confirm and Submit"
- Click "OK"
- Click "Exit"
Contact Information
For inquiries about WFED courses or the Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program, please contact: