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Note: All listings on this page reflect Pacific Time. Unless noted otherwise, classes are held virtually via Zoom.

2026 Winter Cohorts Now Open for Application

2026 UCOP Mentorship Program is an exciting opportunity to share and learn career skills and leadership practices, guide and navigate the UCOP culture, and establish long term professional relationships. Review the program FAQ and register for an info session! Apply to be a mentee or Apply and/or recommend someone to mentor others by December 5, 2025
2026 Take Charge: If you��re an administrative, support or entry-level staff member who’s ready to take your career to the next level, check out Take Charge: Developing a Career Strategy. This six-month L&D-sponsored program will give you the tools you need to thrive in the workplace for years to come. Complete an application November 21, 2025.
2026 Making Power Moves: The President’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (PACSW), in partnership with HR Learning and Development, is pleased to sponsor Making Power Moves: a cohort focused on career advancement strategies with an emphasis on how social and cultural factors influence professional growth and leadership opportunities. This course is designed for UCOP staff who manage projects or people. To learn more, check out the frequently asked questions and course syllabus. Apply today!

Class Spotlight

2026 Mentorship Program Info Sessions 2 more opportunities: Thurs. Oct 23 11:30 am- 12 pm; Wed. Nov 5 12:30-1 pm

Excel Intermediate: online Wednesdays October 15 & 22, 9am-12 pm (PT)

Due to high demand, additional offering of Smartsheet Essentials: Planning Made Easy: Oct 21, 10 am – 12 pm

STEP Deadlines & Resources for the 2025/20206 Performance year

STEP learning resources | Watch the short STEP overview video | Contact your STEP team | FAQs for quick answers

Check-In 1: Complete by August 29, 2025 | Check-In 2: Complete by December 5, 2025

Upcoming Classes and Workshops

Featured

Excel Intermediate/Advanced - Session 1

online: Wednesday, October 15, 9 am- 12 pm

Microsoft Excel has hundreds of features and hundreds of functions. Getting the right feature, at the right time, used in the right way, in the right sequence is very often a problem. In this two-session course you will become aware of a few core Excel features that you can use right away and that other capabilities do exist that you can build on later as your Excel knowledge increases. Knowledge gaps will be filled in and you can rapidly build your skill-sets around the featured tools in this class. We start with these features, and if time permits, cover other interesting features.

SumIFs, AveregeIFs, CountIFs : Get what you need from your data with minimal effort
Tables (with structured referencing): Look good and be organized
Pivot Tables: The easiest, best method to get unexpected and expected answers from you giant, messy data set

Attendance is required for the two sessions. All sessions run from 9 am- 12 pm (PST)

October 15
October 22

UCOP Safety: Basic Awareness

online: Thursday, October 16, 1:00- 2:00pm

Melissa Collins, Program Manager for Security, Risk and Resilience, will facilitate this 30-minute live virtual class that will provide basic safety tips to help employees feel informed, alert, and safe as they travel to and from the workplace. Extra time will be allotted for questions and feedback. Melissa recently joined UCOP after serving 20 years with the UC San Diego Police Department, retiring as a lieutenant, and is a safety expert.

GROW Plus: Accountability Conversations for Managers

online: Friday, October 17, 9:30 am- 12 pm

GROW Plus: Accountability Conversations for Managers is the second part in the required live training series on manager and employee performance conversations. This training answers the question: What do I do when my coaching is not improving performance? In this virtual, live, and highly interactive workshop, we will cover: providing productive critical feedback, managing emotions, creating efficient documentation, and holding effective accountability conversations. Managers will also practice having role Accountability Conversations using the UCOP GROW Plus framework.

Smartsheet Essentials: Project Planning Made Easy

online: Tuesday, October 21, 10 am - 12 pm

Learn the core skills needed to manage projects effectively using Smartsheet. This foundational session is designed for new users and project managers seeking to understand how to leverage Smartsheet for project planning and execution. Through practical demonstrations and hands-on activities, participants will gain the knowledge to set up and manage projects confidently, using features such as Gantt charts, task assignments, and resource allocation. This workshop focuses on the essentials, helping participants create organized workflows and understand best practices for using Smartsheet in real-world scenarios. Whether you’re planning a single project or managing multiple teams, this session equips you with the tools to stay on track and deliver successful outcomes. Key Takeaways:

Understand Smartsheet’s project management basics, including workspaces and sheet creation.
Build and manage Gantt charts with dependencies and critical paths.
Assign tasks and manage resources effectively.
Explore Smartsheet templates for efficient project planning.
Learn best practices for reporting project progress.

FSAP Webinar - Navigating Aggression, Threats, & Digital Harassment in the Workplace

online: Tuesday, October 21, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

In today’s health care and educational environments, professionals are encountering more frequent instances of aggression, threat and digital harassment that can take a toll on personal well-being. This webinar offers practical tools to transform fear into strength. Attendees will learn how to recognize and respond to threatening situations, individual strategies to enhance physical and emotional safety and resources available to support physical safety and personal recovery.

UCOP Creating Accessible Documents 1: MS Office

online: Wednesday, October 22, 1:00- 2:30 pm

Digital accessibility is about ensuring users with disabilities can easily access and engage with any digital content. In this course, you will learn the principles of digital accessibility, how to generate accessible Microsoft Office Documents and how to export these to PDF. This is the first course in the series and a prerequisite for UCOP Creating Accessible Documents 2: PDFs

Mentorship Program Info Session

online: Thursday, October 23, 11:30 am - 12 pm

Come learn about the UCOP Mentorship Program. The Mentorship Program is an exciting opportunity to share and learn career skills and leadership practices, guide and navigate the UCOP culture, and establish long term professional relationships. The goal of the Mentorship Program is to create mentor–mentee pairings that provide a supportive structure for UCOP employees to cultivate contacts, explore challenges and enhance their effectiveness as they grow both personally and professionally.

Other session available on Wednesday Nov 5, 12:30-1 pm

UCOP Wellbeing: 6: Strategies and Practices for Managing Stress

Online: Friday, October 24, 12:10 - 12:55pm

Take a mindful pause in your day and join us for this virtual monthly series for individual and collective wellbeing. There will be space for reflection, discussion, and real-life application. Bring

Oct 24: Strategies and Practices for Managing Stress Come learn and discuss the latest research about effective strategies to manage stress

Additional Topics

Nov 21: Thriving in a VUCA World – Embracing Positive Perspectives

Subtle Acts of Exclusion

online: Wednesday, October 29, 9:00 am- 12:00 pm

The term “microaggression” has become widely used, yet just as widely misunderstood. Join us as we reframe microaggressions as Subtle Acts of Exclusion (SAE). Explore the SAE framework and participate in group dialogue on how to normalize interrupting these acts and engage colleagues in discussion. In this session, participants will: Reflect on socialization and its impact on our outlook, attitudes, and behaviors Understand the shift in language from Microaggressions to Subtle Acts of Exclusion Explore the Subtle Acts of Exclusion Framework Participate in group dialogue on best practices to interrupt SAEs

GROWing Your Check In Conversations for Managers

online: Thursday, October 30, 10 am - 12 pm

This workshop is the first session of a two-part series required for managers and supervisors. GROW is a popular conversation framework used around the world for problem solving, goal setting and performance improvement. This interactive session provides managers the opportunity to discuss and practice using GROW framework as a strategy and tool to support engaging employee-manager conversations.

Manager Essentials at UCOP: Compensation

online: Tuesday, November 4, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

This course is required for all people new to a management or supervisory positions at UCOP since 2020 (internal promotions and external hires). All experienced managers are welcome to attend as well. For more information about ME@UCOP, read the series overview.

This session is a live, virtual, instructor-led session where we will discuss UCOP Compensation policies and procedures.

ME@UCOP Managing in the Modern Workplace

Broadway, 4001: Wednesday, November 5, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm

In this session, we will discuss UCOP processes and strategies that support building inclusive and engaged teams. Topics include: -Managing remote and hybrid teams, People Development, and Fostering Community and Belonging as a Manager This is part of the Manager Essentials at UCOP (ME@UCOP).

Box Fundamentals

online: Wednesday, November 5, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

This course will give you an overview of Box, the cloud-based service that provides secure file storage and file sharing.

How to use Box
How to collaborate with UCOP and non-UCOP people
Commenting directly on files, folder permissions, shared links, and many other tips that will help you when using Box.

Administrators from IT will be on hand to answer your questions and review the best features of Box. More info on Box can always be accessed on our webpage.

Difficult Conversations

online: Wednesday, November 5, 1:00- 3:00 pm

Ever had a disagreement with someone where the conversation didn’t go quite the way you wanted it to? As conflict is inevitable, join us in exploring strategies for navigating difficult conversations in both your personal and professional life. In this highly interactive course, you will learn Core Principles to successfully navigate disagreements and apply them through practice role-playing. By the end of the workshop, you’ll feel more confident in approaching difficult conversations with anyone in your life. This course is part of the UCOP Communication series certificate.

Influencing Without Authority: Leadership as an Individual Contributor

online : Thursday, November 6, 10 am - 12 pm

Author and CEO coach Kim Scott says that there are two types of star employees: “superstars” and “rockstars.” While superstars are gunning for promotions, rockstars are grounding themselves as experts in their roles. According to recent research, most individual contributors (62%) plan to stay in IC roles over becoming a manager. How can ICs take ownership of their career growth, leverage their knowledge and skills, and make an impact without climbing the ladder? In this workshop we’ll dive into the leadership skills all “rockstars” need to become influential contributors: building trusting workplace relationships, managing up, carving out a niche area of expertise, and connecting the dots from your role to the organizational mission.

Attendees will:

Gain insight into their unique position of influence within the organization.
Explore the leadership skills of relationship building, managing up, honing expertise, and aligning work to the organizational mission.
Identify one skill they want to strategically focus on for the next month.

Mastering the Logistics of Hybrid Meetings

Hybrid: Thursday, November 6, 1:00- 2:00 PM

Effectively facilitating hybrid meetings can be technically challenging. Come learn how to set up hybrid meetings to fully engage both remote and in-person attendees. In this training, we will walk through how to prepare effectively and set up all technical components including audio, camera, and the use of Zoom features. This course is offered both in person in Oakland and on zoom.

People Leader Forum: Fostering Resilient Teams during Uncertain Times

Online: Friday, November 7, 1pm- 2 pm

The People Leader Forum is a monthly opportunity for people managers to connect with one another to develop leadership skills, build community, share best practices, swap strategies for navigating current challenges and learn to better support themselves and their teams.

Nov 7: Fostering Resilient Teams during Uncertain Times

Dec 5: Team Wellness

Excel Power BI - Session 1 of 3

online: Wednesday, November 12, 9 am- 12 pm

In this class, users will learn about and practice using Power BI. Users will learn how to: Connect to data sources. Perform data cleaning, profiling, and shaping. Visualize data with Power BI. Create interactive visualizations. Enhance reports and dashboards. Publish and share reports and dashboards.

Note: This is a three-session course. Participants must attend all sessions. Next sessions are:

Thursday Nov 13, 9 am – 12 pm
Wednesday, Nov 19 9 am – 12pm

Self-Care in the Workplace

online: Friday, November 14, 9:00 am- 11:00 am

Adapting the necessary tools of self care improves emotional, cognitive, and spiritual capacity, while offering the opportunity for connection and thoughtful partnership. Creating the spaces and opportunities to care for yourselves opens the possibility of sustainability, longevity, and healthy personal and team dynamics. Facilitated by Dr. Nicole Williams Browning, participants will identify the different components of self care, identify key attributes of each component, highlight self care specific for leaders, and create a plan for better self care.

Brainstorming and Decision-Making in Hybrid Meetings

Hybrid: Thursday, November 20, 9:00- 11:00 AM

It’s critical for all team members to have a voice when it comes to collaborative processes like brainstorming and decision-making. Facilitating collaborative meetings can be especially challenging in a hybrid environment. In this workshop, we will learn step-by-step protocols to implement in the hybrid environment that are inclusive, engaging, and ignite participation. Leave with new tools and practices to ensure all members of your team have a voice and your hybrid meetings are productive!

This course is offered in person in Oakland and on zoom.

Gratitude in Action: How a Daily Practice Can Change Your Brain- FSAP Webinar

online: Thursday, November 20, 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM

Over the last 20 years the wealth of research supporting Mindfulness and Gratitude practices has been steadily rising but finding the right practice (and the time to do it) can feel daunting. Focusing on the specific needs and experiences of our UCSF and UCOP communities, this presentation reviews the most recent research supporting the benefits a daily gratitude practice and offers brief intervention tools that can have a profound impact on how your brain interprets the world. Please join us to:

Learn about the recent research supporting the benefits of practicing Gratitude
Explore the available options for creating a daily Gratitude practice
Review common barriers to starting a new practice • Create an individual plan for implementing a Gratitude practice
Try out a few different ways of practicing

Gratitude Presenter Biography: Jessica Allanson, PhD, MA, is a licensed clinical psychologist with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program at UCSF and runs the FSAP Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program.

Additional Classes

Impactful Storytelling: Making Your Presentation Captivate

online : Tuesday, November 18, 1:00 - 3:30 PM Register for Impactful Storytelling: Making Your Presentation Captivate on Tuesday, November 18

This workshop is designed for people seeking to master storytelling as a strategic communication tool. Through interactive exercises, participants will discover how to effectively use storytelling to clarify their vision, motivate teams, and drive organizational objectives. The workshop highlights the critical role of understanding your audience, crafting engaging narratives, and applying storytelling principles. This course is part of the UCOP Communication series certificate.

Key Takeaways:

Effective narrative crafting techniques for a broad organizational audience.
Utilization of psychological principles to deepen audience engagement and message retention.
Customization of storytelling to align with audience needs and organizational goals.
Hands-on experience in refining and presenting stories for maximum impact.
Integration of storytelling into regular business communication and strategic presentations.

Using the UC Learning Center

Registration: Log in to the UC Learning Center using your UCOP login and password. In the Search box on the left, enter the name of the class you want. Select the session you want, then select the Register box and Submit.

Cancellation: You can cancel your registration through the UC Learning Center. We ask that you cancel 48 hours before the scheduled class time so that others may sign up, or contact the Learning & Development Team.

If you require any assistance or accommodation with finding, registering or attending a class please email the Learning & Development Team.