While VDOT does support professional development, the VDOT Research Library has never actively collected materials for technical courses, and we do not have any mechanism to pay for employee access to online or in-person technical courses. We do have many materials available for patron checkout that support VDOT employees studying for the PE exam, the PMP exam and selected other professional certifications. See our Professional Exam Study Page.
Most of the free courses that VDOT makes generally available to employees can be found at the VDOT University online portal.
While many VDOT employees pursue courses in engineering or other technical topics (or whatever their area of expertise is at VDOT) permission to take such courses would need to be coordinated and approved through the budgets of individual VDOT work units and supervisors. Here are links to a few sources of technical courses within the transportation sector that might be helpful:
TRB Webinars: TRB Webinars are "free" to VDOT employees and are designed to share and discuss ongoing work associated with TRB Standing Technical Committees and their respective topic areas, as well as research from TRB’s Cooperative Research Programs. Because VDOT is a member of TRB, all VDOT employees are eligible to attend live Webinars or use recordings free of charge. Participants must create a free myTRB account using their VDOT e-mail address.
TC3: TC3 is a technical service program within the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) that focuses on developing training products for technical staff in the areas of construction, maintenance, and materials. TC3 has a library of more than 250 online training modules covering a variety of topics in the three primary disciplines. These courses were developed to support training weaknesses and gaps identified in the TC3 matrices. TC3 training accounts for 80% of national-level training needed by the technical workforce.
NHI: The National Highway Institute is the training and education arm of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It offers instructor-led training from short, 1-day courses to multi-week sessions, as well as Web-conference training (live, online learning taught by remote instructors, eliminating the need to travel) and a catalog of Web-based trainings that are available online 24/7.
