Dear Colleagues,With the New Year upon us, now is a fabulous time to put your personal and professional development plans into action and invest in yourself! We have excellent resources right here on campus to help you take those first steps toward creating meaningful change in your personal and professional realms.
Check out these resources:
Free Courses: Have you visited lynda.com, UC Learning Center or University Extension (UNEX) recently? Lynda.com has over 5,500 online training classes available 24/7, while our partnership with UNEX enables staff to take one UNEX course each year at no charge. Did you know those who took advantage of our UNEX courses were 22% more likely to have some kind of career mobility over those who did not? Popular UNEX offerings include project management certification and Moving On Up: Women and Leadership, while lynda.com has everything from skills essential for new managers, to critical time management. We’ve gathered many terrific resources together in one page on Wisdom Cafe so you don’t have to go far to get the ball rolling.
Career Development Workshops: Developing your career is most effective when you make it an ongoing part of your routine. We have specific career-development workshops scheduled for January through May, and watch for new workshop offerings in development coming soon. Plus, we are very excited to announce the launch of a new online career development portal, My UC Career. This self-directed toolkit includes access to job openings across the UC system, an interview-practice tool, resources for creating effective resumes, cover letters, and social media presence, plus research tools for identifying professional associations and databases.
Be Well! Your physical, emotional, and financial health are important factors that affect your work and your life. Be Well at Work covers a wide range of free services and resources to support your health and well-being. With a variety of exercise class types and difficulty levels, Workfit is a great way to kickstart the New Year. To assist with your 2018 financial goals, the upcoming Financial Fair will help you analyze and prioritize your spending habits. We urge you to take full advantage of these wellness resources. And don’t forget our Ombuds office has classes on Workplace Civility and Effective Collaboration, while the Employee Assistance Program is always there for you, providing free confidential counseling and referral services.
Communities of Practice & Staff Organizations: What’s the best way to meet new people and network across campus? Get involved with a Community of Practice or a Staff Org! For example, the Cal Women's Network exists to promote a culture of respect, empowerment, and growth that supports professional development and leadership opportunities for women. And the Academic Business Officers Group studies administrative problems with the aim of improving and simplifying operations at all levels. At Berkeley, you always have support like this on your career journey - be sure to check out our Staff Orgs website to find like-minded communities of practice and affinity groups made up of Cal staff like you.
As you might recall, to underscore the importance of professional development for this fiscal year, we asked each staff member to have a performance goal focused on professional development. While it can be hard to find time for professional development, do know that you are well worth the investment! We encourage you to sign up for classes or a new experience that sounds interesting to you.
And as always, we’re eager to hear your feedback, so please let us know what personal and professional development opportunities are working for you, or if there are courses or programs that we could add to further your wellbeing and development.
Together we can make 2018 a better year for everyone, starting with you!
Warmest regards,
Jo and Claudia
Jo Mackness, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor, Human Resources
Claudia Covello, Assistant Vice Chancellor, University Health Services
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