Rural Online Initiative

Apply Now!

Certified Remote Work Professional

This course combines independent online work with four interactive workshops. It equips you with the tools and skills you'll need to transition from on-site work into a virtual career.

You'll see the objectives and outcomes for each part of the course at the beginning of each set of modules. The program consists of nine core modules, delivered in a self-paced, online format.



This professional certificate requires 24-30 hours to complete (6-8 hours per week over 4 weeks).

Get Started

1

Step 1

Apply to participate in our one-month Remote Work Professional Certificate course.

Apply Now
 
2

Step 2

Get accepted to participate in the course or receive additional resources to become qualified at a later time.

Once you're accepted, one of our Program Coordinators will help you through the process!

 
3

Step 3

Complete the required course work and attend online workshops.

 
4

Step 4

Meet for a one-on-one career coaching session with your Program Coordinator. We'll follow up with you to hear when you find remote work.

Course Information


County of
Residence
Course
Fee
Description
Beaver
Box Elder
Carbon
Daggett
Duchesne
Emery
Garfield
Grand
Iron
Juab
Kane
Millard
Morgan
Piute
Rich
San Juan
Sanpete
Sevier
Tooele
Uintah
Wasatch
Washington
Wayne
$40 Applicants residing in these counties who are accepted into the program are able to take the course for a nominal fee of $40. Funding provided by House Bill 327.
Cache
Davis
Salt Lake
Summit
Utah
Weber
$99 Applicants residing in these counties may take the course for a nominal fee of $99.00 if accepted into the program. Applicants will only be charged upon being accepted into the program.
Out-of-
State
(Outside
Utah)
$149 Applicants residing outside the state of Utah will be expected to pay a nominal fee of $149 if accepted into the program. Applicants will only be charged upon being accepted into the program.

You will need access to a laptop or desktop computer with a working web camera, speakers and microphone (a headset with microphone is also acceptable). Tablets and smartphones are not sufficient to be successful in this course. Chromebooks are not supported.

You must also have broadband internet (DSL, Cable, Fiber, etc.) with minimum speed of 8Mbps download and 2Mbps upload to participate in the video workshops. You can check your Internet speed using http://www.speedtest.net

Course Dates 2024
Start Date End Date Application Deadline Workshop Days
(Thursdays)
Workshop Times
(1 hour)
March 4 April 3 February 28,
2024
12 PM MT
March 7, 14, 21, & 28 1 PM or 6 PM MT
April 1 May 1 March 27,
2024
12 PM MT
April 4, 11, 18, & 25 1 PM or 6 PM MT
May 6 June 5 April 24,
2024
12 PM MT
May 9, 16, 23, & 30 1 PM or 6 PM MT
June 3 July 3 May 29,
2024
12 PM MT
June 6, 13, 20, & 27 1 PM or 6 PM MT
August 5 September 4 July 31,
2024
12 PM MT
August 8, 15, 22, & 29 1 PM or 6 PM MT
September 2 October 2 August 28,
2024
12 PM MT
September 5, 12, 19, & 26 1 PM or 6 PM MT
October 7 November 6 October 2,
2024
12 PM MT
October 10, 17, 24, & 31 1 PM or 6 PM MT
November 4 December 4 October 30,
2024
12 PM MT

November 7, 14, 21, &
December 5

1 PM or 6 PM MT

Earn this professional certificate in 25-30 hours (6-8 hours per week over 4 weeks).

Welcome to the Certified Remote Work Professional online certificate course. This is a blended course, combining online work with interactive workshops. This educational program is designed to equip course participants with the tools and skills needed to transition from on-site work into a virtual remote work career.

The Certified Remote Work Professional online certificate course consists of nine core modules delivered in a self-paced, online format, integrated with interactive virtual workshops hosted via video conference. Participation in the workshops and learning modules alternate, based on the
following schedule:

Get Started
  • Module 0: Getting Started
Interactive Workshop #1
  • Introduction to the Rural Online Initiative
  • Cohort introductions
  • Educational tool training (Slack, Canvas, and Zoom)
Online Learning #1
  • Module 1: Workday
  • Module 2: Communication
  • Module 3: Critical Thinking
Interactive Workshop #2
  • Review content from Modules 1-3
  • Discuss and apply content from Modules 1-3
Online Learning #2
  • Module 4: Workflow
  • Module 5: Productivity & Time Management
  • Module 6: Teamwork
Interactive Workshop #3
  • Review content from Modules 4-6
  • Discuss and apply content from Modules 4-6
Online Learning #3
  • Module 7: Compliance & Online Security
  • Module 8: Building a Virtual Career
  • Module 9: Remote Job Development
Interactive Workshop #4
  • Review content from Modules 7-9
  • Discuss and apply content from Modules 7-9
  • Overview of remaining phases of the ROI program

The Rural Online Initiative hosts the course at a standard pace of one workshop per week (resulting in the completion of the certification portion of the ROI program in one month).

This educational program is designed to equip workers with the tools and skills they need to transition from on-site work into a virtual career. The program consists of nine core modules with the following objectives:

Module 1: Work Day
  • Summary: Learn more about the components of an average day in the life of a remote worker, including mobile office, flexible schedule, and equipment. 
  • Objectives: Computer, webcam, and audio are set up with a professional background. Meeting and schedule are successfully coordinated and added to calendar. 
Module 2: Communication
  • Summary: Discuss the unique strategies and requirements of virtual communication, including styles, tools, and empathy. 
  • Objectives: Messages are professional, clear, and accurate. Agenda and report are detailed and complete. Actively participate in meeting my contributing often. 
Module 3: Critical Thinking
  • Summary: Understand how to problem solve autonomously, including finding resources for solutions, earning trust, and filtering information. 
  • Objectives: List of resources are credible. Solution steps are clearly and accurately outlined. Resolution is succinctly summarized. 
Module 4: Workflow
  • Summary: Understand the processes of task management, including projects, delegation, goals, and tracking.
  • Objectives: Project management tool successfully set up. Project includes discrete tasks, timeline, dependent tasks, and participants. Can update project regularly.
Module 5: Productivity and Time Management
  • Summary: Evaluate the strategies for effective independent personal management, including productivity, motivation, and scheduling.
  • Objective: Tracks time including detailed information. Daily priorities match task/project/team priorities. Schedule shows effective time management.
Module 6: Teamwork
  • Summary: Learn about how teamwork occurs in a virtual work environment, including trust, project collaboration, and "netiquette."
  • Objectives: All phases of team collaboration are completed and collaborative task is finished. Participated actively and facilitated others' involvement.
Module 7: Compliance & Online Security
  • Summary: Discuss the legal precautions of working online, including information security, risk prevention, and office compliance.
  • Objectives: Password manager installed. Security checklist is complete and accurate. Can identify common security risks.
Module 8: Building a Virtual Career
  • Summary: Evaluate and prepare for virtual career options, including personal branding, virtual job search processes, and remote industry options.
  • Objectives: Format for portfolio is clear; work portfolio is complete; work portfolio has been successfully shared and reviewed.
Module 9: Remote Job Development
  • Summary: Design the remote career of your choice and prepare a proposal for your Program Coordinator.
  • Objectives: Program outcomes for all modules have been reviewed and evaluated; agenda for meeting with Program Coordinator is clear and complete.
View the full course rubric.

The online courses are hosted by Utah State University and facilitated using Canvas, USU's learning management system.

The program includes four live, interactive workshops, hosted via video call using Zoom, a free video conferencing software. Workshops provide an opportunity for students to discuss career goals and review content from the modules in a virtual environment that mimics a real remote team.

Due to the virtual hosting of the workshops, you can attend the workshops from any location with Internet access. Each course typically hosts workshops on Thursdays, with two meeting time options for students to choose from: 1-2 p.m. OR 6-7 p.m. U.S. mountain time (3-4 p.m. or 8-9 p.m. ET).

Participation in all four workshops is mandatory for this course. The workshop schedule for each cohort is posted in the course description prior to enrollment. If you are not able to participate in any of the workshops, please enroll in a different section of the course that is compatible with your schedule.

Participation in the Certified Remote Work Professional online certificate course is supervised by one of three program coordinators, based on where you live in the state. The program coordinators will help guide you through the Canvas course, share hosting responsibilities for the workshops, and provide mentoring and resources to help you successfully prepare for remote work and freelancing.

The coordinators will also assign you to a cohort group of other students who are taking the course. You will practice using collaborative tools like Slack with others in your cohort group to practice and develop effective remote work communication skills.

Throughout the course, the assignments and modules you complete are designed to prepare you for a virtual career by producing results applicable in the virtual business world, including:
  • Designing a digital work portfolio
  • Mapping a career development plan
  • Coordinating a virtual meeting
  • Preparing a cloud-based agenda and meeting report
  • Strategizing a project and workflow plan
  • Using a problem-solving checklist
The following is a list of remote-friendly tools that are integral in distributed company operations that students are introduced to during the certification:
  • Time Zone Conversion (e.g., World Time Buddy)
  • Internet Speed Test (e.g., Speedtest)
  • Email (e.g., Gmail)
  • Chat & Messaging (e.g., Slack)
  • Video call (e.g., Google Meet)
  • Project Management (e.g., Trello)
  • Spreadsheets (e.g., Google Sheets)
  • Calendar (e.g., Google Calendar)
  • Time Tracking (e.g., Harvest)
  • File Sharing (e.g., Dropbox)
  • Video conference (e.g., Zoom)
  • VPN (e.g., Windscribe)
  • Password managers (e.g., 1Password)
  • Help function (e.g., Google Drive Support)
  • Research (e.g., Google Search)
  • Professional Networking (e.g., LinkedIn)
  • Website Development (e.g., Wix)
  • Freelancer Markets (e.g., Upwork)
  • Education Platforms (e.g., Skillshare, Pluralsight)
  • Virtual Job Board (e.g., FlexJobs)
In addition to hard skills, participants are also trained on the soft skills that are vital to success when working autonomously and with long-distance teams, such as:
  • Written communication
  • Verbal communication
  • Problem solving
  • Critical thinking
  • Time management
  • Accountability
  • Flexibility
  • Attention to detail
  • Knowledge management
  • Risk management
  • Collaboration
  • Goal setting
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Organization
Upon graduation, each student will be presented with a certification of completion to add to their work portfolio, and will then be supported by Rural Online Initiative program coordinators as students start to develop the virtual career of their choice.

Although the Certified Remote Work Professional online certification program is a non-credit course, periodic online assessments are used to confirm and measure learning. The online assessments can be repeated if you need to improve a score on a particular element. To successfully complete the course and earn the certificate, you will need to do the following:

  1. Complete all of the modules, including any assignments contained within each module.
  2. Pass each assessment with a minimum score of 80 percent.
  3. Attend four interactive workshops.

Upon successful completion of all requirements, you will receive a digital Certificate of Completion to add to your work portfolio. You will also be supported by Rural Online Initiative program coordinators as you move forward through the Rural Online Initiative program and start to develop the virtual career of your choice.

  

FAQ's about the Course

Depending on where you live, the course fee is $40, $99 or $149. See the tab above labeled "Course Fees"

The program consists of nine core modules, delivered in a self-paced, online format.
  • Module 1: Workday
  • Module 2: Communication
  • Module 3: Critical Thinking
  • Module 4: Workflow
  • Module 5: Productivity & Time Management
  • Module 6: Teamwork
  • Module 7: Compliance & Online Security
  • Module 8: Virtual Careers
  • Module 9: Remote Job Development

The program includes four live, interactive workshops, hosted via video call using Zoom, a free conferencing software. You can attend the workshops from any location with Internet access. Workshops provide an opportunity for you to discuss career goals and review content from the modules in a virtual environment that mimics a real distributed team. Our workshops are held weekly with the option of an afternoon session or an evening session. Accelerated courses offer workshops twice per week with an afternoon and evening session.

Participation in all four workshops is mandatory for this course. Please check the course dates to make the necessary arrangements to attend the required workshops.

To successfully complete the course and earn the certificate, you will need to do all of the following:
  1. Complete all of the modules, including any assignments contained within each module
  2. Pass each assessment with a minimum score of 80 percent
  3. Attend four interactive workshops

You will be assigned to a Program Coordinator based upon where you live. The program coordinators will help guide you through the Canvas course, share hosting responsibilities for the workshops, and provide mentoring and resources to help you successfully prepare for remote work and freelancing.

Students should expect to spend approximately 30 hours total to complete the course over a 4 week period.

We generally start a course each first full week of the month (Except in July and December)

When you apply, you will have the option to select the start date that works best for you

The first week is designed to allow students to practice logging on to Canvas, review the syllabus, introduce themselves to the class, join the course Slack channel, and decide which workshop (afternoon or evening session) they would like to attend. 

Instructions for logging into Canvas will be sent to you by email the week before the first workshop.

Instructions for joining Slack and Zoom are in Module 0 in Canvas.
Students should complete Module 0 prior to attending the first workshop. 

Assignment due dates will be on the syllabus and reviewed during the first workshop.

1. Go to the Canvas Course homepage
2. Click "Start Here"
3. Read the instructions on the Start Here page
4. If you are still having issues, watch this video