WASHINGTON — American University helped federal workers take their minds off the shutdown Tuesday by offering free skills and management training courses.
The Classes Without Quizzes event offered through AU’s School of Public Affairs, included courses on “how to start a podcast,” project management and emotional intelligence. The day began with breakfast and yoga and ends with a happy hour event later Tuesday.
Joshua Union said he attended the event Tuesday to learn some new skills. He works with the Environmental Protection Agency but lately, he said, his days have dragged on at home, waiting for the shutdown to end.
“I’ve been watching the same Netflix show,” Union said. “After a while it felt like I needed to get out of the apartment for a bit. I heard about this through one of my co-workers.”
Other furloughed federal workers also pointed to the need for an outlet as the shutdown drags on.
“I’ve been sitting at home for 17 days, I’ve been looking for something to do,” said Allison Posner.
She’s also an AU alumna and was one of 550 people to register for the classes.
“I’m just really happy to see that my school is doing something for federal employees and that so many people are taking an advantage of it,” said Posner.
Union said the classes offered an opportunity to keep his mind off his frustration.
“It is, absolutely frustrating to not have a paycheck coming in, so the fact that they’re offering these free classes is a bright spot for sure,” he said.
Vicky Wilkins, dean of the School of Public Affairs, said the response to the classes has been positive. Wilkins said it’s unclear if they’ll put on another event during the shutdown, but the huge turnout shows there’s a need for a morale boost among federal workers, and possibly an ongoing opportunity for education.
“It has us thinking how we can do current programming then maybe offer some ongoing workshops that might not be all in one day but might be opportunities for them to come back again and again,” Wilkins said.
