![Professor Erin Newton's "Beginning Spreadsheets" class provides students the opportunity to earn their Microsoft Office Specialist certification, an internationally recognized credential.](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_1228_/public/images/2026-01/700%20Professor%20Erin%20Newton%2005.jpg?itok=PQv6RT9T "Professor Erin Newton's "Beginning Spreadsheets" class provides students the opportunity to earn their Microsoft Office Specialist certification, an internationally recognized credential.")
Marquita Hetherington knew she had reached a turning point in her career. Despite years of experience, she wasn't advancing - but not because of her performance. "I was passed over because I didn't have a degree. It prompted me to go back to school."
Hetherington serves her community as a Program Coordinator at Blueprint15, an organization dedicated to reconnecting and rebuilding what was once a thriving neighborhood in Syracuse's historic 15th Ward. She had attended Onondaga Community College 20 years earlier, but left before completing her degree when life took a different turn. She became a mother and entered the workforce.
By age 40, with her son serving in the United States Navy, she returned to OCC and enrolled in the Business and Entrepreneurship program. Throughout her career, she had worked extensively with Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets. She believed she had a high level of proficiency until she took Professor Erin Newton's (BUS 203) Beginning Spreadsheets class. "Taking this class was an absolute must," said Hetherington. "The bandwidth of the software is amazing. I was able to expand what I know. You don't realize all of the things it can do. All of my work would have been so much easier if I had this foundation first!"
The course has become even more valuable in recent semesters with the addition of a required Microsoft Office Specialist certification exam. “Students know this exam adds real value,” said Professor Newton. “It gives them an internationally recognized credential that validates their skills.”
Student success reflects that impact. Pass rates on the certification exam have steadily improved each semester, reaching a high of 77% in fall 2025. “Students are excited when they pass,” Newton added. “They know they’re leaving with skills employers are looking for, and a certification that confirms it.”
The cost of the certification test is included in students' Box of Books, OCC's first-in-the-nation collaboration with Barnes & Noble College, which reduces the cost of textbooks by nearly 50%. Every penny of savings helps Hetherington, who came back to school as part of OCC's Return to Complete program. It gives students the opportunity to return to school while putting past college debt on hold, reduced, or forgiven.
With the Beginning Spreadsheets course and her newly earned Microsoft Office Specialist certification completed, Hetherington is now in her final semester. In May, she will complete her degree. She's grateful for the opportunity to try college again later in life and the success she's experienced. "I've been at this for two years, and it's been great. Taking the time away, going into the workforce, and coming back to school has given me an appreciation for the things I've been learning. I can say, 'We use this in the workplace. It's relevant! It matters!'"
