contributed by Patty Marbury, Director of Training & Development
Why is professional development important?Professional development offers a valuable opportunity to stay engaged and navigate the constantly changing landscape of higher education—and beyond. Whether you’re looking to learn new skills, sharpen existing ones, enhance your leadership abilities, explore new interests, stay on top of emerging trends, or simply connect with colleagues, there’s something for everyone.
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.
Making Time for Professional Development—Even When You’re Busy
In the middle of packed calendars, back-to-back meetings, and looming deadlines, professional development often becomes a "nice-to-have" rather than a priority. But investing in your own growth doesn’t have to mean blocking off whole days or taking extended leave from your regular work. With a bit of planning and intention, you can make development a part of your everyday job—not something that happens outside of it.
1. Treat It Like a Real
Commitment
If you don’t schedule time for professional development, it won’t happen because other work will always be a priority. Block off time on your calendar and protect that time like you would any other meeting.
2. Align Development with Your
Current Work
Think of ways you can learn and
grow within your current responsibilities. Grow skills outside of your
expertise – attend cross-functional meetings, facilitate a meeting or workshop,
manage part of a project, learn to use new technology or tools. Professional development
doesn’t need to add to your workload—sometimes it’s about doing what you
already do more intentionally.
3. Leverage Bite-Sized Learning
You don’t need hours at a time to learn something meaningful. Microlearning—short videos, quick reads, podcast episodes—can fit into even the busiest day. Check out LinkedIn Learning for ideas.
4. Share What You Learn
One of the best ways to retain new knowledge is to teach it. If you’ve taken a course or learned something valuable, find ways to share it with your team or offer to share with colleagues in a Lunch & Learn. (This also helps others become interested in their own professional development.)
5. Ask for Support
Make sure you discuss your goals with your manager and get their support for your growth. They can help create opportunities and hold you accountable.
Final Thought:
Making time for professional growth isn't about adding more to your plate—it's about working smarter and building habits that keep you sharp, engaged, and ready for what’s next!
Professional Development Opportunities
We’re pleased to share information about a variety of workshops, courses, and resources to support your ongoing growth—wherever your journey leads. While some opportunities are free and others may have a fee, most do not require travel, aside from a few UVA programs that may involve local travel. Please feel free to share other opportunities you come across and I’ll include them in future communications!
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 – as we have done for the past couple of months, we’ll again 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.)
_____________________________________________________________________
·
Washington Updates:
o
*New* Navigating
Federal Funding, Tax Reform, and Regulatory Shifts (recorded on 5/20/25)
·
Recordings:
o
Navigating
(Un)certainty in Higher Education: Proactive Strategies to Drive Institutional
Agility (recorded on 4/29/25)
o
Demystifying
AI: Opportunities for Using AI in Higher Ed Business and Operations
·
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.
o
De-Risking
Your Campus: Safeguarding Financial Integrity and Regulation – August 14,
1:00-1:45
o
Talk
About Data and Analytics – August 22, 12:00
·
Conferences and Forums
o
2025
Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum – (Early registration ends 8/18 -
$875) – September 8-10, Philadelphia, PA
o
2025
Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum – Online ($300) – September 29-30
o
2025 Tax Forum (Early
registration ends 9/26 - $875) – October 26-28, Washington, DC
·
Self-Paced
Courses and Microlearning
o
Strategic Higher Education Finance and Planning ($595)
o
F&A Short Form ($150)
o
Facilities Management ($49)
o
New to Higher Education ($49)
o
Essentials of College and University Accounting ($125)
·
Podcasts
o
Career Conversations
o
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.
·
Fall
Workshop (Early registration ends 9/17 - $685) – October 29-31, New
Orleans, LA
·
August
Webinar: Higher Ed’s Big Beautiful Response ($69 for member) – August 20,
2:00-4:00 pm
·
September
Webinar: Taxing Times for College Athletics: NIL, IRS Scrutiny, and
Institutional Responsibilities ($69 for members) – September 17, 2:00-4:00
pm
·
2025 Annual Meeting –
October 19-22, Pittsburgh, PA
The
Chronicle of Higher Education
·
Professional
Development Programs, including:
o
Leadership Transformation Collaborative (coming
August 2025) – cost $495
o
Women Leading Change Program (coming September
2025) – cost $595-$1495, through 8/22 $100 discount
o
Administrative Leadership Institute (coming
October 2025) – cost $1,195, before 9/5 $995
o
Higher Education Mental Health Forum – October
8, 1:00-4:00 pm – cost $395
·
Virtual Events (many are
on-demand)
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.)
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.
UVA Organizations
·
UVA
Organizational Excellence has many learning opportunities, resources, and
articles.
·
UVA Miller Center
always has interesting programs.
·
UVA Human Resources offers many free programs and courses.
·
Learning
Tracks | UVA HR – HR has created two new leadership tracks: on for Aspiring
Managers and one for New Managers. This is about a year-long commitment and
requires completion of an online form. (A track for Experience Managers is in
development.) Note UVAFinance Mangers – if you’re interested in one of
these tracks, please contact Patty Marbury, pam5w@virginia.edu
before you enroll.
·
LinkedIn
Learning - Human Resources also has links to microlearning courses and to
LinkedIn Learning. (Participating in these courses does not require submitting
a Professional Development Request Form.)
·
UVA Darden Executive
Education – The Collaboration and Influence
program is $1,700
o
Use the discount code UVA50, which provides a
50% discount for the cost of the program. (The prices listed are for the full
cost.)
o
See the Darden
Executive Education program schedule for upcoming
dates.
· UVA’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) offers many Certificate programs.
Other
Institutions
- Harvard Business School Online offers multi-course credentials and certificate programs – many are less than $2000.
- University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business online programs; many are $1,000 or less.
- Stanford University Executive Education – the self-paced programs are $1,500.
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.) December 5, 2025, is the cutoff date to use your 2025 benefit.
Professional Development Request Form
UVAFinance team members –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!
Articles on Leadership
- A Title Does Not a Leader Make (Inside Higher Ed)
- The Top 20 Leadership Challenges (Center for Creative Leadership) – this informative article provides many links to other articles and resources.
- Please feel free to share other opportunities you come across and I’ll include them in future communications!
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