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| Rest is part of professional development. |
Making Space to Recharge: Rest as Part of Professional Growth
Professional development is often associated with action—learning new skills, sharing knowledge with others, and applying insights at work. But sustainable growth also requires space to rest and recharge. Without it, even meaningful development efforts can lose their impact.
Rest actually strengthens the learning process by giving our brains time to absorb new information, make connections, and retain what we’ve learned. It also supports sharing and applying knowledge by helping us show up more present, reflective, and intentional in how we use what we’ve learned with others.
When rest is built into professional development, growth becomes more sustainable. Development isn’t about constant momentum—it’s about building capacity over time. Making space to recharge ensures that learning, sharing, and applying truly translate into everyday impact.
So, take the time to rest and recharge during your time away from work!
Why is professional development important?
Professional Development Opportunities
As you start thinking about and planning for next year, the following is 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, many do not require 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.)
*NEW* University of South Florida is offering a
free (through February 2026) on how to craft good AI prompts: AI
Whisperer: A Microcourse in Crafting Prompts. This course will not be
available after 2/28/26 (the enrollment page says.)
EDUCAUSE Events
What is EDUCAUSE? From their website: “EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to lead the way, advancing the strategic use of technology and data to further the promise of higher education. We connect and empower our member community through insights, advocacy, resources, and learning opportunities to anticipate trends and strengthen professional practice.”
NACUBO*
·
NACUBO Award
nominations open (deadline for accounting award is 2/20/26)
·
Washington
Updates and Other Recordings
o The
most recent Washington Update recording was posted on 12/12/25
·
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.
·
Conferences and Forums
o
NACUBO
2026 Annual Meeting – July 18-21, 2026 in Anaheim, CA
o
2026
Intermediate Accounting and Reporting – Jan 28-30, 2026 online ($300)
·
Self-Paced
Courses and Microlearning
o
Strategic Higher Education Finance and Planning ($595)
o
F&A Short Form ($150)
o
Essentials of College and University Accounting
($125)
o
Facilities Management ($49)
o
New to Higher Education ($49)
·
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.
SACUBO
·
2026
Leadership Forum – February 25-27, Destin, FL – $500; online registration
ends 2/16/26
·
2026
Annual Convention – April 19-21, Dallas, TX - $895; early bird registration
ends 2/23/26
·
2026 Fall Conference – November 11-13, Myrtle Beach, SC (Save the date; more info
coming soon!)
·
Save the Date! – EACUBO Leadership Forum – March 23-24,
Newport, RI
·
Higher
Education Leadership Program – August 10-13, 2026, at Cornell University in
Ithaca, NY ($2,999)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
·
Professional
Development Programs, including:
o
Leadership
Transformation Collaborative - starts January 2026
o
Women
Leading Change Program - 2026 dates coming soon
o
Administrative
Leadership Institute – 2026 dates coming soon
o
Higher
Education Mental Health Forum – 2026 dates coming soon
·
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. Subscribe to OE’s
newsletter.
o
Skillful
Change and Transitions
§
January 29, 2026, 12:00-1:45 (in person: Holloway
Hall-Room 116, Bavaro Hall)
o
Strategic
Doing for Collaborative Change: Accelerating Department-Level Innovation at UVA
§
March 19, 2026, 1:00-2:15 (in person; Newcomb
Hall, South Meeting Room)
·
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.)
·
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.
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