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Reminder: 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?
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.
Turning Development Into Impact
Professional development isn't just about what you learn, it's about what you do with what you learn. A course, conference, certification, or new project can give you new knowledge and ideas. But the real value comes when that learning begins to make a difference in your work.
Think about something you've learned recently. Has it changed the way you approach a problem? Helped you communicate more effectively? Given you a new perspective? Maybe you've found a better way to accomplish a task, share what you learned with a colleague, or felt more confident taking on a new challenge. Impact doesn't have to mean a dramatic change, it can show up in small ways.
As you think about your own professional development, don't just ask, What have I learned? Ask, What am I doing differently because of it? That shift—from learning something to using it—is where development becomes impact.
Professional Development Tip of the Month
Think about one development experience you've had in the past six months. Identify one thing you learned from it, then ask yourself: How have I used this—or how could I use it—to make a difference in my work?
Professional Development Opportunities
To help with your planning, the following includes information about a variety of workshops, courses, and resources to support your ongoing growth. 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 with pam5w@virginia.edu, and we'll include them in future communications!
Coursera
Remember that we have access to Coursera, 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. If you are requesting departmental funds, make sure you have approval before you register for or enroll in any offering.
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."
*NEW — Learn about AI*
- UVA ITS Workshop: Microsoft Copilot at UVA: Copilot Chat & Copilot Premium Foundations — October 5 (morning and afternoon sessions). Will be held at the UVA School of Education and Human Development.
- NACUBO: Refresh Your Workflows by Turning AI Into a Thought Partner — October 30, 1-2 pm.
NACUBO*
Washington Updates
- September 23, 3-4 pm (recording will be available after the session)
- August 19 Recording (What you Need to Know about the Uniform Guidance Proposal)
- June 29 Recording
Conferences and Forums
- 2026
Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum – October 5-7 in San Diego, CA
(Coronado)
- Virtual
Option – October 5-7
- 2026 Tax Forum –
October 25-27 in Indianapolis, IN
Upcoming Programs – some sessions are free to NACUBO members, which we are, although you need an individual account.* Some also offer CPE credits.
- Virtual Option – October 5-7
- 2026 Tax Forum – October 25-27 in Indianapolis, IN
- Build Campus Resilience, Protect the Budget, Power the Mission – October 19, 2-3 pm
- Refresh Your Workflows by Turning AI Into a Thought Partner – October 30, 1-2 pm
- 2027 Intermediate Accounting and Reporting – January 27-29 (Online)
- Strategic Higher Education Finance and Planning ($595)
- F&A Short Form ($150)
- Essentials of College and University Accounting ($125)
- Facilities Management ($49)
- Endowment Fundamentals ($49)
- New to Higher Education ($49)
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.
SACUBO
- 2026 Fall Conference – November 11-13, Myrtle Beach, SC. Deadline for early bird registration is 9/30/26 ($685 for members); full registration deadline is 10/21/26 ($805 for members)
- 2027 Leadership Forum – Save the date! February 24-26, 2027, in Houston, TX
- 2027 Annual Convention – Save the date! April 4-6, 2027, in Atlanta, GA
EACUBO
- 2026 Annual Meeting – October 12-15, 2026, Buffalo, NY. (Registration closed).
Additional Professional Organizations and Resources
The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Professional Development Programs
- Virtual Events (many are on-demand and/or free)
NCCI (Network for Change and Continuous Innovation)
NCCI positions higher education institutions to be agile, lifelong learning models to transform lives and communities around the world. All efforts of NCCI trace back to the goal of advancing sustainable excellence in higher education by promoting successful practices and approaches used to drive change, innovation, and continuous improvement across academic and administrative functions.
AGA
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 – note that this company is in Australia.
UVA Organizations
-
UVA Organizational Excellence has many learning opportunities, resources, and articles.
- Subscribe to OE’s newsletter.
- In a Good Place: How to align your workspace with your psychological needs - and everyone else's – September 30, 11-12 in Newcomb Hall Commonwealth Room
- UVA Miller Center always has interesting programs.
- UVA Human Resources offers many free programs and courses.
- Learning Tracks | UVA HR – HR offers three learning tracks: Aspiring Managers, New Managers, and Personal Growth (for individual contributors). These are about a year-long commitment and require completion of an online form.
- 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 – UVA staff get a 50% discount on the cost of registration for programs. Use the discount code UVA50 when registering. (The prices listed are for the full cost. Confirm the discount before registering!) 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 $2,000.
- University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business online programs; many are $1,000 or less.
- Stanford University Executive Education
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 UVA’s Education Benefits information 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).
Questions?
UVAFinance team members – if you have questions about Professional Development opportunities, please contact Patty Marbury, pam5w@virginia.edu.
Article on Leadership
The Top 20 Leadership Challenges—this informative article provides many links to other articles and resources. ( Center for Creative Leadership)
Please feel free to share other opportunities you come across and I’ll include them in future communications!
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