CT State Community College Students Earn Industry Recognized Lab Credentials

Winsted – Three Connecticut State Community College students have recently earned laboratory skills micro-credentials from the Bioscience Core Skill Institute (BCSI). BCSI provides practical laboratory testing by certified evaluators who validate skills for students and industry trainees, providing them with industry recognized credentials.

Emma Hardee, Ian MacKennedy, and Nicholas Sheltra were enrolled in the Microbiology course at the Northwestern campus in Winsted where they conducted authentic research as part of the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE) Project with Tufts University. Through this project they learned and mastered aseptic technique, laboratory safety, and pipetting skills.

“Participating in this laboratory skills intensive course enabled the students to not only gain the hands-on skills needed to obtain credentials, but it also gave them the confidence to take the practical exams with an outside evaluator,” said Professor Sharon Gusky, who taught the course. “The students participated in additional laboratory sessions where they learned the skills necessary to earn credentials for industry documentation and standard operating procedures,” she said.

All three students were evaluated for, and awarded, certification in Small Volume Metrology, Aseptic Technique, Safety Hazard Assessment and Documentation, and Standard Operating Procedures.

MacKennedy earned an additional certification in Numeracy. He graduated in May with an associates degree in Environmental Science from his CT State home campus of Naugatuck Valley. Hardee is a Natural Resources student and STEM Scholar at the Northwestern campus. She will be completing an internship this summer and will graduate this fall. Sheltra graduated in May with an associates degree in Biology Studies from the Northwestern campus where he was a STEM Scholar. He will be attending the University of New Haven in the fall, studying Forensic Science.

Support for the student research experiences and credentialing was provided by the Engaging Students from Classrooms and Camps to College and Technical Careers program at Northwestern, which is funded by a National Science Foundation grant. The STEM Scholars program provides financial support beyond tuition for students seeking a STEM degree and is also funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

For more information about earning laboratory micro-credentials, a STEM Degree, or the STEM Scholars Program at Northwestern contact Professor Gusky at sharon.gusky@ctstate.edu.

CT State Community College Students Earn Industry Recognized Lab Credentials

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