2011-12 Professional Development Workshop Series

The Faculty of Graduate Studies is pleased to announce a new monthly series of professional development workshops that will focus on carry-forward skills for our graduate students.

These informal and interactive sessions will be led by Dr. Marilyn Rose, Professor, Department of English, and former Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

To order sufficient refreshments, registration is required by emailing Stephanie McIntosh, Special Projects Assistant, at smcintosh@brocku.ca

Register today for the our final workshop in this year's series:

• WORKSHOP 6: Managing Time/Managing Projects: Sane Approaches to a Fast-Forward World
Wednesday, May 2, 4:30 to 6:45 p.m., e-Classroom (TH 253)
(This workshop was postponed on April 4)
Time and project management are popular topics and various approaches will be identified and discussed. Most emphasize goal setting, organizational skills, and productivity — all good things. However, the task is to find a way of thinking as well as an approach that will work with your personality, your values and your life in general.
This workshop examines the fact that the way many of us are working now is not working for us — and how to turn this around by sharpening our focus and capitalizing on our cognitive strengths so as to get things done with efficiency, flexibility, and time left over at the end of the day.
Transferable skill: Ability to organize one's projects and workdays efficiently, and with calmness and dispatch.

Past workshops

• WORKSHOP 1: Communications 101: Tailoring and Targeting in Writing and Speech

Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, 5 to 6:45 p.m., Pond Inlet 
Academic communication is discipline-specific and tailored to your academic peers, a very small and select audience. 
Communicating with the wider world is something else. 
This workshop focuses on the importance of knowing your audience and targeting your documents and your ways of speaking to its interests and needs. 
Transferable skill: Effectively communicating your knowledge and ideas in different forms for different audiences

• WORKSHOP 2: Managing Conflict: What to Do When Things Come Unglued

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, 5 to 6:45 p.m., Pond Inlet

Whether you are dealing with peer or supervisory problems while in school or with team problems in the workplace, the question is how to resolve conflict constructively — which is to say with grace and finesse, and, in the end, success. 
This workshop focuses on how to make initial moves and how to react to the moves of others in ways that build trust and true collaboration — the gold standard in conflict resolution.
Transferable skill: Strategies for dealing with conflict in group situations of all kinds.

• WORKSHOP 3: Effective Team Leadership: From Chaos to Creating the Conditions for Success
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, 4:30 to 6:45 p.m., TH244
Working with teams is a given in today’s mega-connected world. Whether you are still in school or transitioning to the workplace, achieving results in team environments — which means figuring out how to maximize the potential of every member — is essential. 
This workshop focuses on strategies for leading teams effectively, whatever the organizational context.
Transferable skill: Mapping team tasks and facilitating high performance when work is assigned to groups.

• WORKSHOP 4: Navigating a Diversified World: Strategies for Inclusivity and Productivity
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, 4:30 to 6:45 p.m., Pond Inlet
As our world becomes increasingly globalized, schools and workplaces are becoming more diverse. Intercultural awareness and sensitivity are a must, as is openness to intergenerational work teams and the inclusion of persons with disabilities as well as issues of sexual orientation and gender. Diversity requires inclusivity — and inclusivity means ensuring that the skills and talents of all will contribute to the good of the whole. 
This workshop focuses on dealing with diversity in ways that enhance understanding — and maximize the potential contributions of all with whom we find ourselves working.
Transferable skill: Inclusionary tactics for diversified work environments.

• WORKSHOP 5: The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Imagining and Creating Your Own Opportunities
Wednesday, March 7, 2012, 4:30 to 6:45 p.m., TH244
We all know that it is a tough job market out there. Many dream of creating a job for themselves, and this workshop will address that process. The emphasis, though, will be on the importance of thinking “entrepreneurially” wherever you are — whether in school, in a small workplace, or in a larger organization. The mindset that prioritizes learning, growing, generating new or better ideas, and seeking opportunities is highly valued, if not essential, wherever there is work.
This workshop focuses on how to find a niche in which you can succeed as a pathway to a sustainable career over time.
Transferable skill: Thinking entrepreneurially whatever your environment.