Professional Development Corner: April 10, 2025

Make a plan!
by Patty Marbury, Director of Training & Development

Whether you're looking to sharpen your existing skills, explore new areas of expertise, or expand your professional network, we’re excited to share a range of workshops and training programs that will support your ongoing development and help you navigate challenges and opportunities ahead.   

Here you will find links to plenty of online, self-paced, as well as instructor-led courses and programs that are available to you. (Remember to discuss all professional development opportunities with your manager prior to applying for any funds. See below for more information on the Education Benefit.) 

Why is professional development important? 

Check out this article from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, How Professional Development Can Boost Employee Engagement,on how participating in learning activities benefits all. 

More on cultivating a growth mindset 

Last month I shared an article on why cultivating a growth mindset is important when considering professional development and lifelong learning - Growth Mindset and Professional Development: Do you Have a Growth Mindset or a Fixed Mindset?  

So how do you move from having a fixed mindset to a growth mindset? This month we’ll focus on a couple of strategies to shift your thinking, and we’ll add more strategies in the months ahead.  

As with anything involving personal changes, look inward first – learn to recognize moments when you have a fixed mindset. For example, you may avoid a challenging assignment or task, engage in negative self-talk saying things like “I can’t do this”, or you may feel threatened by others’ accomplishments or success.  

Once you learn to recognize these fixed-mindset moments (and it may help to keep a journal or make a note when they occur) you implement simple strategies to shift your thinking. When you find yourself avoiding a task, project, or assignment, try to see them as an opportunity to learn and grow. Start small with a task that feels challenging and gradually take on bigger challenges. Looking for challenges that will help you grow. 

When you find yourself thinking, “I can’t do this”, changing your thinking to “I can’t do this yet” or “I might not know how to do this now, but I’m going to figure it out."  Recognize and celebrate progress. 

Coursera

Remember that we have access to Coursera, and an online learning platform that offers a wide range of courses, specializations, certifications, and degree programs from universities and institutions around the world. UVA has a university-wide subscription for Coursera. Check it out and start learning! 

Upcoming Offerings 

Listed below are links to offerings that may be of interest – this month we’ll focus on opportunities for which you can use your centrally-funded education benefit and are offered virtually, or in a few cases, locally, so there are no travel costs! (Remember, if you are requesting departmental funds, make sure it you have approval before you register for or enroll in any offering.) 

NACUBO* 

Washington Updates: 

Other Live Online Events - unless indicated, the session is free to NACUBO members, which we are, although you need an individual account.* Some also offer CPE credits. 

Self-Paced Courses and Microlearning 

  • Strategic Higher Education Finance and Planning ($595) 
  • F&A Short Form ($150) 
  • Facilities Management ($49) 
  • New to Higher Education ($49) 
  • Essentials of College and University Accounting (this is currently undergoing regular review cycle and updates.) 

Podcasts 

  • Career Conversations 
  • NACUBO in Brief 

*Individual NACUBO membership is free through UVA’s institutional membership. To join go to nacubo.org and click on “Login or Join”. From the Login box, click on “Don’t have an account” and fill out the form. In the “Primary Affiliate” field enter “University of Virginia” and select the appropriate affiliate. 

The Chronicle of Higher Education 

The Chronicle also has many interesting articles. 

  • AGA - is the association that connects and empowers professionals who support government, from financial management to IT, human resources, cybersecurity and more, to advance good government initiatives, grow their expertise and accelerate their careers. (Requires membership.) Thanks to Matt Phillippi for this suggestion! 
  • LearnBFSI (several interesting for fee courses - $199 each for live webinar and $159 for recording – note this company is in Australia) including: ChatGPT for CPAs and Finance Professionals as well as courses in Excel and ChatGPT for PowerPoint. 

Also consider the following as you plan your professional development for the year: 

Education Benefit 

Each year you have $2,000 of centrally-funded education benefit for professional development or $5,250 to use for tuition toward a degree-seeking program. See https://hr.virginia.edu/career-development/education-benefits-1 for more information. (To be eligible for this benefit, you must have had six months of service in a benefits-eligible position at UVA by the start date of the class, with the intent to remain on the active payroll during the entire term of the class.)  

Professional Development Request Form  

UVAFinance team members – Since we have submitted initial FY 2025 professional development requests already, please discuss with your manager and use the Professional Development Request Form before you register for any program. Remember, not all professional development opportunities require submission of the form. If an opportunity is less than ½ day AND there is no cost associated with it, then do not submit a form. Many LinkedIn Learning courses and some courses offered by UVA Human Resources or other UVA departments meet these criteria. Otherwise, the form must be submitted. If unsure, feel free to ask! 

For LEADERS 

Here’s an article from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL):  The Top 20 Leadership Challenges – this informative article provides many links to other articles and resources. (This is not a new article – it has been posted in past newsletters.) 

Please feel free to share other opportunities you come across and I’ll include them in future communications!