I would like to start off this blog with a big thank you to all who have supported the PTC Academy over the last three years. It has been fantastic to watch it evolve and grow over time. The most recent 2019 PTC Academy course was a great success, and the students that attended provided constructive feedback, which helped us to improve the curriculum and backroom processes.

In spite of the challenges facing us with COVID-19 and the subsequent inability to travel, we have been working hard on reformatting the program so that PTC can continue to deliver the Academy coursework in an online format. PTC plans on holding multiple courses to provide options for students in various time zones, with the first course in September for Asian-based students and another course in November for U.S.-based students.

Historically, each Academy has been delivered in person over a three-day period. Given the constraints of online delivery, we have chosen to take a different approach and plan on presenting the coursework as eight distinct modules in 90-minute blocks, delivered over a 2.5-week period. This will enable the students and presenters to maintain their work commitments while gaining valuable accredited training from the comfort of their home or office.

We have a great lineup of presenters this year donating their time to deliver the curriculum and we are all very excited about this new format. In parallel, the team at PTC has also undertaken a great deal of work in conjunction with Submarine Telecoms Forum, to secure accreditation for the PTC Academy coursework. Submarine Telecoms Forum is an IACET-accredited continuing education provider that allows them to authorize the PTC Academy coursework and administer Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits for students completing the PTC Academy curriculum. A CEU is a unit of credit that is equal to 10 hours of participation in an accredited program designed for professionals with certificates or licenses to practice various professions.

We encourage senior executives to send their rising stars to the PTC Academy in 2020!

If you are already part of the PTC Academy Alumni, please help support this PTC Outreach Initiative by telling your colleagues and management about this year’s new exciting courses and format. More details can be found here: https://www.ptc.org/ptc-academy/.