OpenRICE is an initiative by the Glasscock School to offer relevant and timely expertise and insight, free and online, to the Houston community and beyond. Reflective of the wide-ranging nature of our educational programs, these single session experiences will help Houstonians gain a greater understanding of a multitude of topics during an era of dramatic transformation, and serve as an educational supplement and primer for further thought and deeper study.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s OpenRICE Initiative.
Center for College Readiness
Programs for educators in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Dual Credit Certification and College Access Counseling
Online Offerings Include:
Fall AP Seminar
Developed for teachers interested in acquiring content and strategies for teaching advanced courses, these seminars will be facilitated by a master teacher and will provide a forum for the exploration and discussion of course content, best practices and instructional strategies.
Spring IB Workshops
The Spring IB workshops at Rice are designed for new and experienced IB teachers at the PYP, MYP, and DP levels who are interested in learning about the IB program and strategies and techniques for effectively teaching IB curriculum.
Spring AP Exam Prep Workshops
These one-day AP® Exam Prep Workshops are designed for teachers interested in acquiring strategies for preparing their students for the AP exam.
AP Preparedness Summer Workshops
The online AP Preparedness Workshops (formerly Pre-AP® Summer Workshops) are designed for high school teachers seeking foundational skills necessary to prepare students for success in secondary advanced academics.
Middle School Institute
The Middle School Institute is designed for middle school teachers seeking foundational skills necessary to prepare students for success in secondary advanced academics.
AP Summer Institute
The AP® Summer Institute at Rice University offers challenging AP professional development courses that address advanced topics in AP.
College Access Counseling Certificate
This online certificate program is specifically designed to increase an individual’s knowledge and improve their capacity to assist students in navigating the pathway to college.
College Match
The course provides counselors with an understanding of college match and the dangers of undermatch.
Financing College: Navigating the Pathways
This online course covers the essentials of financial aid, guiding college access counselors through financial aid applications and financial planning tools.
Fundamentals of College Counseling
An online program to provide a holistic, core curriculum to teach the critical skills of effective college counseling.
Letters of Recommendation
This online course offers educators knowledge on how to best advise students, so that they can secure the most effective letters of recommendation.
The Role of the College Access Counselor
Explore methods and strategies for working with students and their families to guide them through the college search process in this online course.
Undergraduate Admissions Process
This online course explains the factors that go into the "holistic review" process of highly selective colleges and universities in the United States.
Counseling Aspiring First Generation College Students
In this online course, you will explore the social, emotional and cultural barriers aspiring first generation college students face and must overcome in order to achieve success in their transition from high school to college.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Center for College Readiness department.
Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership
Professional education and leadership training for those who support the work of nonprofit organizations.
Upcoming Online Offerings Include:
Comprehensive Annual Giving
Annual giving programs are the foundation of all fundraising plans. They secure unrestricted funds, acquire new donors and maintain donor commitment to the organization. Learn the strategies used to develop an annual development plan.
Donor Relations: Maintaining Strong Relationships with Your Donors
In this online course geared toward fundraising professionals, executive directors, development chairs and board members, learn practical and actionable best practices in donor relations.
Emergency Succession Workshop
This hands-on workshop equips nonprofit organizations with the processes, practices and tools they need to ensure continuity of operations and programming while they make longer-term plans to manage an absence or transition.
Essentials of Gift Administration
This online course provides operational staff and fundraising leaders an overview of the principles of gift administration.
Framework for Succession Planning
This overview session, designed for board members and executive staff, lays the groundwork for successful succession planning.
Fundamentals of Constituent Relationship Management
This online course covers the core concepts of constituent relationship management and analyzes which data elements, performance metrics, analyses, reports and processes are needed to implement this approach.
Fundraising Analytics: Leveraging the Power of Data
In this online course, you are introduced to the latest fundraising analytics and tools to build a sound data-driven foundation.
Major Gifts
This course is designed to impart the fundamentals required for success in major gifts fundraising.
Managing a Development Team
This course teaches managers of development teams how to think differently and to succeed in helping their staff reach their full potential.
Measuring Digital Marketing Success
This course teaches you the details of measuring success in the ever-changing social media marketing platforms and organizing data through the basics of Evernote, a tool that assists your team in communicating and sharing feedback.
Planned Giving: The Essentials
This class explores the correlation of the economy and fundraising as well as the appropriate avenue for each vehicle used in gift planning.
Planned Succession Workshop
Designed for board members and key staff to attend, ideally together, this interactive workshop walks through the elements of succession planning.
Prospect Research and Analysis
Topics covered in this online course include a review of specific techniques to identify prospective donors and research strategies for individuals.
Social Media Content and Communication
This course teaches the details of highly engaged social media posts, how to organize engaging content for your target audience and which topics will give your page the reach it needs to stay relevant in the "noise."
The Art of Fundraising: Advanced Principles and Practices
Created for fundraising professionals with three to five years of experience, this course increases your understanding of issues common to those in fundraising leadership.
Online Offerings
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership department.
Community Learning & Engagement
This spring, we invite you to embrace a sense of wonder in our Community Learning & Engagement courses. A curiosity-filled perspective opens paths to understanding, insight, creativity, connection and imagining new futures.
Our Spring 2021 line-up includes both synchronous online classes (in real time with some interaction) and on-demand (recorded) online classes. The Glasscock School’s e-learning team collaborates with our program staff to support our students and instructors during these courses. Our online classes are designed to be content-rich, engaging and easy to access. We look forward to welcoming you to our virtual classrooms this spring!
Available spring offerings
Interested in exploring our diverse course offerings? Consider our Midweek Medley sampler series class, with options from Fall 2020 or Spring 2021.
Arts
A Tale of Two Cities: The Art, Culture and History of London and Paris
Explore the interwoven history of two metropolises, London and Paris, through the lens of their respective art histories, from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
How Classical Music Is Created: The Composer’s Palette
Explore the creation of classical music, with insights from leading contemporary classical composers and musicians as well as historical accounts of great masters.
American Sounds: Great Symphonic Music of North and South America
Join conductor Carlos Andrés Botero to discover how North and South American symphonic traditions emerged to create not one but many uniquely American sounds.
Broadway Pulitzer Prize Winners
Celebrate 10 Pulitzer prize-winning musicals with former professional actress, singer and director Debra Dickinson as your guide.
Fantastical Broadway
Join former professional actress, singer and director Debra Dickinson on an adventure to the fantastical side of Broadway, from “Peter Pan” to “The Lion King.”
Photography Courses
The Fundamentals of Digital Photography
Develop your photographic eye and master the fundamentals of digital photography in this short online course, with technical and creative exercises and opportunities for instructor feedback.
Portrait Photography
Experiment with a range of portraiture approaches and develop your photographic style and artistic voice in this workshop with professor and portrait photographer Keliy Anderson-Staley.
Advanced Photography Workshop With Peter Brown
Experienced photographers grow creatively by offering and receiving critiques on independent projects in a supportive environment.
Introduction to iPhone Photography
This course covers the basics of the iPhone® camera, the art and science of photography and strategies for taking better photographs (iOS 14 or newer is required).
Studio Art Courses
The Art of Collage
“Coller,” the French word meaning to glue, defines this technique of assembling different forms to create something new. Includes in-class time to collage.
Introduction to Drawing: A Process Workshop
Bring your drawings to life in this playful process drawing workshop, learning the basics of composition, value and contour while practicing a variety of drawing approaches.
Drawing Fundamentals
Learn or relearn the fundamentals of drawing in this class for beginning and intermediate artists.
Art From Adversity: A Visual Memoir of Our Time
This course invites artists at all levels to chronicle a pivotal moment in history, employing the multimedia approaches of your choice (drawing, painting, collage, assemblage).
Introduction to Painting
Whether you are new to painting or looking to refresh your skills, build a strong foundation to create your own unique acrylic or oil paintings.
Humanities
Key Topics in South American Political and Cultural History
Explore major issues in the political and cultural histories of South America, ranging from early nation formation to the challenges of the 21st century.
Mexican American History: 1850 to Today
Explore the economic, social, political, intellectual and cultural history of Mexican Americans or “Chicanx” from 1850 to today.
Facing Race: Racism, Resistance and Reckoning in the United States
Explore the history of race and anti-black racism in the U.S. and movements to resist racial oppression from the Civil War through Black Lives Matter.
Profiles From the Past: Greek, Roman and Early Medieval History
Consider the enduring influence of ancient Greek, Roman and early medieval cultures and key historical figures from the Western past whose ideas still resonate today.
World War II: The War With Japan
Military historian John Bradley provides an overview of the Allied-Japanese conflict during World War II with highlights of significant campaigns and reflections on the war’s legacy.
Creative Writing Courses
The Craft of Fiction Writing
Novelist Cassandra Rose Clarke examines the basics of good fiction and offers insight into revision and publication processes, using literary inspirations, generative writing exercises and discussions.
Start Writing, Keep Writing
Outrun your internal critic in this course composed of timed, in-class prompts. You will have the chance to share your writing and listen to others’ work.
Social Sciences
The Psychology of Transformation in Times of Turmoil
Join psychotherapist Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick in this interactive course designed to foster insight, connection, emotional and physical restoration, growth and transformation in times of turmoil. With special guest Rice University resilience researcher, Dr. Danielle King.
The Post-Pandemic Future of Houston and the U.S.
On the 40th anniversary of the Kinder Houston Area Survey, examine how the pandemic, political and economic upheavals and growing awareness of systemic racism have transformed our city and nation.
Personal Finance Courses
Retirement, Investing, Income Tax and Estate Planning
This course offers strategies to navigate the new realities of retirement planning, investing, income tax and estate planning in an uncertain financial climate.
Stock Market and Investment Fundamentals
Certified financial planner and registered investment advisor William Frisco teaches both novice and longtime investors how to manage risks and globally diversify portfolios.
Science, Technology & Health
The Future of Human Evolution
Drawing on research from genetics, demography, psychology, microbiology and medicine, explore our evolutionary past and examine how humans continue to evolve as a species.
The Nature and Geology of U.S. National Parks: From Crater Lake to the Everglades
Geologist Cin-Ty Lee leads another virtual tour of five great U.S. national parks: the Everglades, Carlsbad Caverns, Denali National Park and Preserve, Great Smoky Mountains and Crater Lake.
Nutrition for Health and Fitness
Learn to improve the quality of your dietary choices and cut through misinformation and health fraud with guidance from dietitian Roberta Anding.
The Nature and Geology of U.S. National Parks: From Glacier to the Grand Canyon
Geologist Cin-Ty Lee leads an exciting virtual tour of seven great U.S. national parks: Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes, Yellowstone and Big Bend.
Gulf Coast Birding
Learn to identify birds throughout the Texas Gulf Coast region in this introduction to birding with master naturalist Glenn Olsen.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Community Learning and Engagement department.
The Education Department at Rice University’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies offers a comprehensive educational program that integrates work in courses with field-work experience. Programs include Alternative Teacher Certification, Principal Certification and the Master of Arts in Teaching.
Join us for one of our upcoming information sessions to learn more about the programs we offer and how they can further your education, professional growth and career goals. Program faculty and staff will be on hand to present information and answer questions. RSVP required.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Education department.
English as a Second Language
The English as a Second Language (ESL) Program at Rice University offers non-native speakers of English the opportunity to improve their language skills in small classes that use an integrated-skills approach.
Online English and Academic Preparation: Certificate Program
Online English and Academic Preparation is a certificate program for students with a high-intermediate to advanced level of English.
Online English Success in the Workplace: Certificate Program
Using an integrated skills approach, these non-credit classes will help students develop fluency and accuracy in English by improving their command of English in the workplace and strengthening their communication skills.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s English as a Second Language department.
The Rice University Foreign Language Program provides an opportunity for students to learn a new language in small group classes taught by experienced instructors. Classes in eight foreign languages are offered in four sessions each year.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Foreign Languages department.
The Graduate Liberal Studies (GLS) program at Rice University is designed for those who crave intellectual challenge at a world-class university. The Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) degree and the Diploma in Liberal Studies (DLS) allow working adults, retirees and other non-traditional university students to examine timeless, timely human questions within the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
We're currently hosting online information sessions for the Master of Liberal Studiess. Join us to learn about the program and meet program administrators. We will provide an overview of the program and admissions process and answer any questions you may have.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Graduate Liberal Studies department.
Professional & Corporate Programs
Career advancement opportunities to assist professionals in obtaining new competencies, prepare for a certification exam, improve business and communication skills or earn professional recertification credits.
Upcoming Online Offerings Include:
Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) Certification Education
The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Certification Education program teaches the core curriculum necessary to meet the educational requirement to sit for the CFP examination, including completion of a financial plan development (capstone) course registered with the CFP Board.
Certified Treasury Professional® (CTP)
Prepare for the CTP exam with Rice. Grab your spot early - this online course fills fast.
Coding Boot Camp
Web development is a high-growth career track, and Rice University Coding Boot Camp in Houston teaches you the specialized skills to tap into this rewarding industry. Through a fast-paced, immersive curriculum, you’ll learn the skills needed to become proficient in front-end and back-end technologies.
Data Analytics Boot Camp
Rice University Data Analytics Boot Camp is a 24-week, part-time Data Analytics course covering Advanced Excel, Python, JavaScript (D3.js, Leaflet.js), HTML/CSS, API Interactions, Social Media Mining, SQL, Hadoop, Tableau, Advanced Statistics, Machine Learning, R, Git/GitHub, and more.
Cybersecurity Boot Camp
The 24-week Cybersecurity Boot Camp is a challenging, part-time program that takes a multidisciplinary approach to attain proficiency in IT, networking, and modern information security, throughout the course of 24 intensive weeks.
Design and Deliver High-Impact Presentations
A combination of short readings, mini-lectures, and in-class activities will focus on communication principles such as how to choose a strategy, organize an argument, project confidence, design visuals, and interact with the audience.
Essentials of Human Resources Certificate Program
Recommended for those new to human resources, small business owners and entrepreneurs, equip yourself with critical knowledge to improve your ability to handle challenging human resources issues.
FinTech Boot Camp
Rice University FinTech Boot Camp takes a multidisciplinary approach to finance, fundamental programming, data analysis, and modern tools in cryptocurrency and blockchain.
Fundamentals of Project Management
Designed for business professionals who need a fast tracked and hands-on introduction to project management principles and techniques, learn how to deliver results effectively and consistently by initiating and planning projects, building effective teams, leading teams to execute projects and controlling performance to ensure business value is delivered.
HR Boot Camp
Prepare to sit for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP exam with this short yet comprehensive review course.
Human Resources Management Certificate Program
Earning your SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® credential makes you a recognized expert and leader in the HR field and a valuable asset to your organization, keeping you and your organization more competitive in today's economy.
Leadership Principles Certificate Program
Rice University's Leadership Principles Certificate Program is designed to assist those aspiring to leadership roles reach new levels of success by teaching cutting-edge leadership and management concepts and providing tools and resources for the integration of learning into everyday practice.
Paralegal Graduate Certificate Program
The Paralegal Graduate Certificate program, taught by practicing attorneys, is skills-based, offered in both an evening classroom and online format and includes career search support.
Project Management Professional
Establish yourself as a globally-recognized project manager by earning the most sought-after credential in the profession with Rice University's exam preparation course.
UX/UI Boot Camp
The 24-week UX/UI Boot Camp is a challenging, part-time program that takes a multidisciplinary approach to attain proficiency in design thinking, product management, user interface design, and web design.
Online Offerings
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Professional & Corporate Programs department.
School Literacy & Culture
Rigorous professional education initiatives for early childhood educators that emphasize early literacy, child development, writing and culture.
Join us for a free, convenient online information session featuring Rice University's Yearlong Programs for early childhood and elementary educators.
Yearlong Mentored Professional Development Programs include:
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s School Literacy & Culture department.
The Glasscock School of Continuing Studies offers numerous college and career readiness and academic enrichment opportunities for students to raise their awareness of the importance of college and to master the skills necessary for their post-secondary careers.
AP Exam Review at Rice - now virtual
This event is aimed toward helping high school students prepare for their AP exams. Students have the opportunity to attend up to two 90-minute review sessions. The AP exam review will be led by experienced AP teachers in a variety of subjects.
AP Exam Review Online
This online course is designed to help students prepare for their AP exams. The AP exam review course is led by experienced AP teachers in a variety of subjects.
Learn more about the Glasscock School’s Student Programs.