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As artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of day-to-day work across industries, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Center for Professional Education will offer two online programs in September to help working professionals build practical AI skills for different needs and experience levels.
The two offerings are AI Essentials with Prompting, a live online workshop scheduled for Sept. 15 and Sept. 17, and CompTIA Security AI+ Certification Prep, an eight-week live online course that begins Sept. 19. Together, the programs give learners two entry points into AI-related professional development: one focused on broad workplace fluency, productivity and responsible use, and one designed for cybersecurity professionals working in a threat environment increasingly shaped by AI.
John Freeze, director of the Center for Professional Education, said both offerings are career-focused, instructor-led and designed to be accessible to working adults. Just as important, he said, they are designed to give people a competitive advantage in a labor market where employers increasingly value professionals who can use AI tools thoughtfully and effectively.
“These courses came from employees and students asking for them,” Freeze said. “Part of UTC’s role is to educate and elevate the community, and that is the driving force behind this.”
Freeze said the programs reflect the center’s effort to stay responsive to workforce and community needs as employers and professionals try to keep pace with rapid changes in how AI is being used on the job.
“We do a great deal of focus-group and roundtable work with employers so we can keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening and what some of the challenges are,” he said. “AI is certainly presenting opportunities as well as challenges.”
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AI Essentials with Prompting will meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 15 and 17. The $699 workshop awards 1.6 CEUs.
The course is aimed at people who are trying to figure out how to use AI effectively, safely and with confidence in their own work. Participants will be introduced to AI fundamentals, workplace productivity strategies, effective prompting, and the practical and responsible use of tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and others.
Freeze said one of the course’s strengths is that it is designed for people who may be curious about AI but have not yet had guided instruction on how to use it well.
“This course is built to meet people where they are,” he said. “It’s platform-agnostic, so it is not just about one tool. It is about helping people understand how to think about AI, how to use it across different platforms and how to get better results from it in their everyday work.”
Freeze said that matters because professionals are increasingly expected to use AI to brainstorm, draft emails, organize information, summarize meetings and streamline repetitive tasks—but many still have questions about what good prompting looks like, what information should never be entered into a system and how much trust to place in AI-generated output.
“People can find a lot on their own online, but there is real value in learning from experienced professionals who can help them use these tools more effectively and more responsibly,” he said. “You have to understand the risks. You have to understand the limits. And you have to know that if AI gives you something that sounds convincing, that does not always mean it is accurate.”
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CompTIA Security AI+ Certification Prep will meet on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon ET for eight weeks beginning Sept. 19. The $1,699 course is designed for IT and cybersecurity professionals and includes the CompTIA learning platform, course materials and a voucher for the CompTIA Security AI+ certification exam.
The course is intended for professionals already working in cybersecurity rather than those seeking an entry point into the field. Through instructor-led sessions and official CompTIA curriculum, participants will strengthen their understanding of threat detection, security technologies, secure network architecture, identity and access management, risk assessment, cryptography and compliance, all within a cybersecurity landscape being reshaped by AI.
Freeze said the program addresses a growing need for professionals who can understand AI from both sides of the cybersecurity equation.
“What AI is really good at is problem-solving,” he said. “That creates real opportunity, but it also creates real challenges. In cybersecurity, professionals need to be able to look at it from both angles. They need to understand how to leverage AI tools as part of a defense strategy, but also where AI is being deployed as a threat.”
He said that perspective is becoming more important as organizations face faster, smarter and harder-to-detect attacks.
“Our world is not getting less dependent on digital systems,” Freeze said. “If anything, the need for people who can protect those systems is only increasing, and AI is now part of that reality.
“AI absolutely changes the kind of work people will be asked to do. For many professionals, the question is not whether AI will affect their jobs; it already is. The question is whether they are going to understand it well enough to use it to their advantage.”
For more information or to register, visit go.utc.edu/ai-programs.
