Students can earn GED, supply chain management certificate at JJC

Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series on Joliet Junior College academic and career-training programs.

Tiffany Jahiri, 34, of Romeoville, lost her operations manager job in March 2020 and was “sitting at home like a coach potato” – until her wife, who was taking classes at JJC, told her about a certificate program in supply chain management.

Adult education and literacy students can earn their high school equivalency while simultaneously working on a certificate in supply chain management. That was a plus for Jahiri, who had dropped out of high school.

“I had never gotten my GED,” Jahiri said. “It was something I wanted to have.”

The program, which began in 2014, is accelerated, which means students can complete a 17-credit hour certificate in supply chain management in just two semesters as the course is eight weeks long, according to Michelle Lyman, career transition specialist in JJC’s department of adult education and literacy.

This program is part of JJC’s Integrated Career and Academic Preparation System. Career and technical education instructors team up with adult education instructors to teach students about the logistics industry.

Not only does this provide career opportunities for students, they can transition them into postsecondary certificate/degree programs, which Jahiri is considering for herself once her wife completes her degree.

Lyman said the biggest benefit to this program is that it’s “concurrent and contextual.” Students can earn their high school equivalency certificate while working on post-secondary training, Lyman said.

“This will allow you to do it simultaneously with a lot of built-in support,” Lyman said. “Everyone goes to the support class and talks about what they learned in the content area, nods, then works on the homework and puts a project together.”

The program has “flourished” once it had to move online due to COVID-19, Lyman said, adding the students prefer the remote classes because they are “busy people” who are often working full-time and raising families.”

But they are also very determined.

“These students don’t give up,” Lyman said. “I will never underestimate adult education students. They are so motivated to work.”

Many of these students are already working in the industry, except they’re often working in very entry level positions, such as packing and loading and unloading, Lyman said. But earning the supply chain management certificate can increase the students’ earning potential, Lyman said.

“We train them to be managers and super leaders in the industry,” Lyman said. “The goal of this isn’t just to get them some post-secondary education but to make them employable at a sustainable family wage.”

Lyman called the program hugely relevant in terms of cargo ships into the port.

“We’re training our students to fill these shortages and gaps,” Lyman said.

Jahiri earned her GED and supply chain management certificate in 2021. She wound up returning to her former position but with more knowledge and understanding and with improved leadership skills, even though Jahiri never took an actual leadership class, Jahiri said.

Rather, Jahiri learned her leadership skills from her instructors in the program that helped her grow into the person she wanted to become.

“It helped me understand the total person,” Jahiri said. “The total person comes to work. But it sometimes hard for people to see that person.”

Lyman let the students know they, along with health care professionals, are essential workers. They’re the ones who made sure the community received their medications and paper and hygiene products.

“That means all you’re doing for a living is helping everyone else survive,” Lyman said. “That made our cohort feel incredibly proud about what they did and motivated them at a time when none of us knew what the outcome of this would be.”

For information, visit jjc.edu/community/workforce-development.