The goal of any institution of higher learning always should be to enrich the lives of its students through skill cultivation and the conveyance of great ideas, but the College of Business and Technology — commonly referred to as CBT College — has taken that belief one step further with its new campaign: “Begin. Belong. Be More.”
CBT aims to encompass all three major stages of education by challenging students first to “Begin” by choosing to better their lives through enrollment. To “Belong,” students must attend classes, listen to instructors and retain the information they learn. However, according to chief operating officer Monica Llerena, graduating is just the first step students need to take to “Be More.”
“Graduating is a goal, but the ‘Be More’ part of our campaign is volunteering and participating in the community,” she said. “When you participate in the community you get ideas, meet people and expand your awareness. We want our students to give back to our community, not just be employed by it. We strongly believe in servant leadership.”
Supporting this campaign is CBT’s Student Success Initiative (SSI), which focuses on teaching students to become growing professionals in their chosen fields through soft skill training in areas including communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem solving, conflict resolution and interviewing.
“The Student Success Initiative is something very common in our career schools because some of our students have never been interviewed, been to school, know how to study or take a test,” she said. “Since a lot of our programs are linked to certification, it’s very easy to say to a student ‘Okay, you have to pass this test,’ but if they don’t know what real test taking is, there has to be some practice there before.”
Technology proficiency, another prioritized aspect of the SSI, is reinforced through regular tutoring and free refresher courses to keep skills up-to-date. Students also can gain on-the-job networking and graphic design training through CBT Tech Troopers, a division of the college in which students under the supervision of certified staff and faculty perform IT solutions, technical support and graphic design services to the public at a highly competitive cost.
“One of the things that I feel really sets us apart is that we really focus on service learning,” Llerena said. “We are continuously innovating because we want to try to make our students as educated and aware as possible about new technologies before they enter the workforce so that they can dive right into their professions without missing a beat.”
College of Business and Technology is a private for-profit higher learning and career education institution. Founded in 1998 in Little Havana by Fernando and Gladys Llerena, the school has since grown to include campuses in Miami Gardens, Flagler, Hialeah, Cutler Bay and Kendall. It offers bachelor’s degrees in business, twoyear degrees and one-year diplomas through programs including business, business management, office management, accounting, healthcare, digital graphic design, Web design, networking, green technology, electrical technology HVAC and computer repair. Non-degree programs, such as Fire Alarm Systems Agent (FASA), also are available.
In 2000, CBT was recognized as one of the Top 100 Hispanic Businesses in Florida by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) for the pursuit of higher education degrees.
CBT supports our military and its veterans through voluntary participation in the Yellow Ribbon Scholarship. Under CBT’s Transfer Policy a maximum of 50 percent of any program can be covered by credits transferred from another c ollege.
For more information, visit www.cbt.edu.
