Microsoft® Office Specialist Program

By: Carol Shimko

Dr. Donald Cannan congratulates and presents Kaylene Dolloff with her Microsoft Office 2002 Excel certificate. Kaylene scored a 1000 (perfect score) on the Microsoft Office 2002 Excel exam.

The new program in demand at Lewiston Regional Technical Center is Microsoft ® Office Specialist. The premier certification for desktop applications is the Microsoft Office Specialist program, a globally recognized standard for demonstrating desktop skills with the Microsoft Office suite of business productivity applications. By encouraging students to develop advanced skills with Microsoft's leading business desktop software, the Office Specialist program helps fill the demand for qualified knowledge workers in the modern workplace. At the same time, Office Specialist helps satisfy an organization's need for a qualitative assessment of employee skills.

Thousands of Office Specialist-certified individuals have demonstrated increased productivity and proven ability to utilize the advanced functionality of the following Microsoft applications:

Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint®
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Outlook®

Office Specialist certification is available at three levels: Specialist, Expert, and Master. Enrolling in the Microsoft Office Specialist program will afford you the opportunity to hone your computer application skills, test those skills with global recognition, and receive college credit.

" Certification requires candidates to pass two or more certification exams to earn Office Specialist certification.
" The exams provide a valid and reliable measure of technical proficiency and expertise by evaluating overall comprehension of Microsoft applications.
" The exams test the ability to use advanced features of the products and to integrate the products with other software applications.
" The exams are validated by industry experts.

Microsoft Office Specialist certifications for Microsoft Office 2000 and Microsoft Office 2002 have been recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE) for one semester hour of college credit in lower division "computer applications" or "information technology."

With the cost per college credit hour ranging from $275-$750, high school, vocational school, community college and 4-year college students can save time and money toward a college degree with Office Specialist certification.

ACE maintains a network of more than 1500 Cooperating Colleges and Universities . Cooperating colleges are accredited colleges that agree to consider your ACE college credit recommendations. Ultimately, every college and university has the discretion to accept credit for your ACE college credit recommendations as they see fit. Contact your institution, or the institution you plan to attend, and inquire about their policy.

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