UNCG offers a wide variety of professional development workshops that relate to different facets of professional and personal life. Workshops include topics such as technology tutorials, communication skills, safety, and more. Learn how to write grants, plan your estate, use the 1100 W. Market Production Suite, hear the voices of marginalized students, and more. And, if communications is part of what you do for your department, don’t forget to come to the University Communications Winter Bash tomorrow.
See a brief selection of Spring workshops and events below, and view the full schedule here.
Kick off the New Year
University Communications Winter Bash
Do you handle communications for your department? Perhaps you write for a program’s website, create departmental newsletters, or help with external communications? Join us Thursday, Jan. 31, 8:30 a.m. – noon in Cone Ballroom for the University Communications Winter Bash. We will gather UNCG’s communications community to celebrate where we have been and what we have accomplished, and where we are going in the future. Provost Dana Dunn will be our special guest; Jeff Shafer, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications, will share our strategy for what is coming next. Many have already signed up for the bash. Please register by noon today for tomorrow’s event, if you plan to attend.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Viewpoints Of Inclusive Student Experiences (VOISES)
Join us for dialogue about key UNCG student experiences in the classroom and beyond. VOISES panels provide a venue for faculty to hear the perspective of students from marginalized identity groups on campus. These moderated panels give faculty the chance to ask questions while reflecting on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion at UNCG.
UNCG Still Cares
“UNCG Still Cares” about students! During this 2-hour training for UNCG faculty and staff, participants learn about types of distress for students, recognizing signs of distress, strategies for reaching out to students, active listening skills, effective referral, and the resources available on campus to assist students.
Interpersonal Violence Survivor Support Ally Training
By deciding to work in a University setting, we have all joined a village of professionals seeking to provide students with the best resources and care possible. Sexual Assault and intimate partner violence are not new topics but have become front and center in recent years as individuals share their experiences and participate in movements like #METOO. UNCG has taken a step forward by developing the Campus Violence Response Center (CVRC), a confidential resource for survivors. However, the response doesn’t always begin in the CVRC but instead starts with our campus partners.
This interactive presentation will highlight the campus and community resources necessary to create a safer, non-violent campus culture. Staff and faculty will learn skills for preventing violence and responding to survivors in trauma in an informed and caring way.
Supporting LGBTQ+ Survivors of Violence: A Culturally Responsive Approach for Faculty/Staff
In this workshop, we will discuss the unique challenges that LGBTQ+ survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, stalking, and harassment face. The presentation will also provide faculty and staff the tools to respond to disclosures from LGBTQ+ survivors in an affirming and inclusive manner, equipping them with resources to best serve students.
Leadership Development
SuperVISION
As a supervisor of EHRA non-faculty and SHRA employees, you play a vital role in UNCG’s transformation. As you move through your career here at UNCG, completing the SuperVISION Certificate will give you the knowledge, skills and abilities to support you in developing your employees individually and as a team. Great leaders are individuals who are passionate about and confident in the work they do. They inspire others to excel. The SuperVISION Certificate is for supervisors of EHRA non-faculty and SHRA employees and those who have oversight of these categories of employees. The certificate requires completing 10 workshops, 2 hours in length throughout a 10-week period. It is strongly recommended that you attend the workshop with your cohort. However, make-up workshops will be available as needed.
Individual Professional Developme
Critical Thinking for Productive Group Collaboration
The first hour of the workshop is devoted to identifying the fundamentals of argument construction and evaluation – the bread and butter of critical thinking. Participants will classify different types of reasoning and problem-solving strategies, along with broad strategies for assessing the strengths and flaws of different kinds of arguments. The second hour focuses on interpersonal skills and strategies that promote healthy, productive exchanges in group discussions. Participants learn to spot common fallacies of reasoning and cognitive biases, as well as practice key principles of civility and metacognition in live scenarios, to defuse or prevent tense or “toxic” exchanges.
Practicing Assertiveness
What does it mean to be assertive? Assertiveness is a core communication skill that allows us to advocate for our wants and needs in a way that respects the rights of others, as well as ourselves. Some people are naturally assertive; and for others, it requires practice. This training is here to help. During this session, we will look at what it means to be assertive and what situations benefit from it the most. It also covers strategies for understanding your emotions, wants, and needs so you can clearly define what you need from others.
Learning to Use The Production Suite at 1100 W Market
Come to learn how to use the Video Recording & Lightboard Studio in The Production Suite at 1100 W Market in the UTLC/ITS Learning Technology Offices. The Production Suite makes video recording easy with one-button recording straight to a USB drive for online instruction or adding digital content to a face-to-face course. You can also learn how to use the Lightboard, an easy-to-use solution for capturing handwritten notes and diagrams while still facing the camera in an instructional video.
Show Me the Money: Locating Grant Funding Opportunities
Two-hour introduction to grant-seeking databases: SPIN, GrantSelect, Grant Advisor Plus, and the Foundation Center. Participants will learn to search for possible funding opportunities in this hands-on workshop.
Secondary Traumatic Stress Training
Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, trauma exposure response, and burnout are “all forms of stress that may affect those working in “helping” professions because their work involves direct exposure to other’s trauma.” (Phoenix, 2014) Often, vicarious trauma refers to a changing in someone’s worldview and secondary traumatic stress refers to the emotional duress an individual may experience as the result of working with someone who has experienced violence. These changes can result in a shift in ideals and have a negative effect on work with students, supervisors, or even the institution at large. In order for campus staff to continue to provide trauma-informed, timely, and appropriate care for students, employees must have the opportunity to find support and practice their own self-care.
This interactive presentation will highlight the importance of recognizing and responding to personal experiences with vicarious trauma as well as implementing approaches for prevention. The facilitators will identify obstacles to a healthy self-care plan as well as resources for staff to use including methods of self-care and ideas for vicarious trauma prevention.
Personal Finances
Estate Planning Basics
Believe it or not, you have an estate. In fact, nearly everyone does. Your estate is comprised of everything you own. No matter how large or how modest, everyone has an estate and something in common—you can’t take it with you when you die. When that happens—and it is a “when” and not an “if”—you probably want to control how those things are given to the people or organizations you care most about.
Join Tracey Tidwell from the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) for a presentation that covers Wills, Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will, and HIPAA Authorization.
The Finances of Purchasing Your Own Home
The recent housing collapse has changed the home buying process significantly. Where once it was easy to attain credit, it has become more difficult again and a home’s value as an investment is more uncertain. Banks have gone back to a more traditional lending approach as a result of the collapse and now having good credit and a down payment is essential. Lenders are also focused on offering more traditional mortgage products such as 30- and 15-year mortgages versus the exotic ARMs offered a few years ago. Buying a home is still an American dream and it is important to understand the process, parties involved and what is in your financial best interests when making this investment.
