Course Catalog

Course Listings & Registration

To see and register for current offerings, please visit the Upcoming Classes page.

This page displays the courses and workshops available and previously taught to UC Santa Cruz staff and offered by Learning & Development (L&D). We also advertise and support professional development and training opportunities offered through other Departments.

You can register for all Learning & Development courses through UC Learning Center, UC Santa Cruz’s online learning management system for staff. Remember to use your CruzID and gold password to gain access. Hint: Be sure to disable your popup blocker (or add uc.symtotalsystems.com to the list of allowed sites in your pop-up browser settings).

For fee-based courses, you will need to provide a Fund, Organization, and Account information (known as a FOAPAL). For questions or concerns, feel free to email LearningCenter@ucsc.edu .

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Course Programs

Benefits Orientation & Workshops

Career Development

Diversity & Inclusion

Interpersonal Workplace Skills

Job Skills

Leadership, Management & Supervisory Development

Performance Appraisal Training

UC Compliance & Policy

Work-life & Wellness

Benefits Orientation & Workshops

Career Development

Managing My UCSC Career   
This is the first of three career development workshops offered by Learning & Development. The goal of this session is to introduce employees to the ‘My UC Career Portal’ (a free online career development tool, available to all UC employees) and the benefits of working with a career coach. This class is taught by Debbie Melnikoff, Third Wave Career Coaching. Topics will include:

• The importance of managing one’s own career in today’s marketplace
• The tools and resources available at UC Santa Cruz (online portal and career coaching) for employees to manage their careers
• How to sign up for career coaching including prerequisites for coaching

Talent Readiness and Continuity (TRaC)
The Talent Readiness and Continuity (TRaC) initiative will help to recognize the talents and aspirations of our community, and prepare them for achieving their personal and professional goals.

TRaC will provide managers and supervisors with the tools to follow staff careers, and encourage internal movement and growth. It helps managers to identify skills and map possible career paths. It can potentially shorten the time to hire qualified professional staff, and will foster continuity and the retention of organizational knowledge across campus.

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Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program
The Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offers training to educate academic and staff employees about best practices aimed at creating an environment that values diversity and inclusion, is free from bias, and in which all employees are able to succeed.

UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development
The UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI) is a unique, experiential, systemwide professional development program to support the success and advancement of mid-career, woman-identified professionals and is open to all employees who support and are committed to this mission. The program brings together participants from every UC location. Participants represent faculty, academic personnel and staff, people managers and non-people managers.

Interpersonal Workplace Skills

UC Managing Implicit Bias Series
The UC Managing Implicit Bias Series is a six-course online training series designed to increase awareness of implicit bias and reduce its impact at the University. The series reinforces the UC diversity, equity, and inclusion values that enable the University to attract and retain a top talent workforce, and it further supports the UC commitment to developing effective leaders and managers of people. It is intended to supplement existing location programs and resources.

Are You Being Bullied?
Recent California legislation (AB 2053) has described abusive conduct (or workplace bullying) as, “conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business interests.” This short workshop, intended for staff members who have concerns about bullying behavior, will explore what you can do to protect yourself and where you can find support.

Speaking up to Bias 
How do you respond when you hear a prejudicial statement in the workplace? Afterward, do you regret what you said, or the fact that you didn't say anything at all? This workshop will explore ways of speaking up against bias without shaming, blaming, or alienating the speaker. Please bring your own examples.

Managing Your Boss
Is your boss brilliant and focus-challenged or a procrastinator who makes thoroughness impossible? This seminar will give participants tools to analyze their skills and work habits as well as their boss'. Participants will be able to create a game plan, including communication tools, to make work meaningful and productive.

Respectfully Requesting Change
At some point, we all encounter behavior or communication patterns that interfere with our ability to do our best work, or be at our best in the workplace. In this workshop, we will review a simple template for respectfully requesting change, and practice applying it to common workplace situations - both lateral and hierarchical. Participants should not attend this workshop with their direct reports.

Conflict Management for Supervisors
At some point in your work as a supervisor, you will be asked to help resolve a conflict between two supervisees. When an employee comes to ask for your support, how do you respond? This workshop will prepare you to sidestep common mistakes and avoid getting in over your head. It offers practical strategies for intervening early, assessing the situation, and coaching employees to take constructive action. This session is intended for managers and supervisors. Participants should not attend this workshop with their direct reports.

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Job Skills

Approaches to Customer Service
While many organizations intend to deliver an incredible customer experience, some are better at delivering than others. This course will cover the critical elements of customer service that, when practiced, leaves customers feeling good about the conversations and assistance provided. Participants will learn specific techniques to apply in their roles.

Becoming a Better Learner
Lifelong learning means taking the time to explore the things that interest you and establishing a growth mindset. We will explore what a mindset for learning looks like and how to adopt one. This course prepares participants to become actively engaged in conversations at work, at home and in social settings.

Professional Writing Skills
Writing is an integral part of most of our jobs here at the University. This workshop will be devoted to writing letters of recommendation, of persuasion, of refusal, or of action, that reflect current word usage and up-to-date formats. You can also learn some basics about writing business cases, proposals, and reports.

Spreadsheets: Advanced Essentials
Advanced Essentials will mainly work in Excel, with some crossover into Google Sheets. This course is aimed at people who actively use spreadsheets and would like additional tools for sorting, organizing and analyzing data. This is not a beginner course, and we will not be going over spreadsheets basics. This is a short course that will introduce participants to formulas, functions, pivot tables and macros.

Spreadsheets 101
Spreadsheets are one of the most widely used and effective tools for tracking and reporting information. This course is intended to help computer users get up to speed with Excel and Google Sheets. We will cover different features of the interface, show users how to print, cover some simple scenarios, and cover the basics of formatting.

Introduction to G Suite: Docs, Drive, Sheets and Slides
G Suite is Google’s office productivity suite. This course is designed to help any novice G Suite user come up to speed quickly on the featured applications. Topics covered in this course include how to log into a G Suite account, navigate its interface, and use its component apps to complete common productivity tasks. Specific applications we will cover are Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides.

Introduction to G Suite: Gmail, Calendar, Forms and Hangouts
G Suite is Google’s office productivity suite. This course is designed to help any novice G Suite user come up to speed quickly on the featured applications. Topics covered in this course include how to log into a G Suite account, navigate its interface, and use its component apps to complete common productivity tasks. Specific applications we will cover are Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Forms, and Google Hangouts.

Communication Strategies
The purpose of this workshop is to help participants understand the impact that their communication skills have on other people. Participants will explore common communication issues and develop skills to become more effective communicators in the workplace.

Problem Solving & Decision Making
This course will explore key concepts in problem solving and decision making. Including how to analyze information to clearly describe problems, identify appropriate solutions and put things together in a way that works.

Effective Strategic Planning
Strategic plans naturally become harbingers of change. In this course, participants will explore the concept of strategic planning, be introduced to the pyramid strategic plan structure and learn how to use a SWOT analysis. The goal of this course is for participants to identify where they currently are and what they need to do to get where they want to go.

Project Management Fundamentals
Whether Project Management is in your job description or not, you are often expected to take on extra assignments, and to get that additional job done well, done under budget, and done on time. This course will familiarize participants with the most common terms and practices when working on projects.

Keys to Collaboration
Collaboration is increasingly important as we evolve into connected global citizens. In this session, you will understand what collaboration means, common obstacles and the qualities effective collaborators possess.

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Leadership, Management & Supervisory Development

Leadership Academy
The Leadership Academy is offered once per year, with participants meeting weekly over a three month period between January and March. Each session highlights specific issues and challenges faced by leaders at UC Santa Cruz. Through presentation, discussion, and experiential learning, participants will broaden their understanding of how the campus operates while honing their leadership skills and abilities. The Leadership Academy provides a unique opportunity for participants to create new networks, and for dialogue with the Executive Vice Chancellor and other campus leaders. A few sessions each year are held jointly with the Graduate Student Leadership Program.

For more information on dates, eligibility, and the application process visit: Leadership Academy 2020

Management Skills Assessment Program
The Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP) is offered in two cohorts, Fall and Spring, per year. MSAP is a four-day residential program designed to strengthen the engagement and preparation of high potential UC supervisors, managers, and professionals early in their careers. The program offers an intensive assessment and behavioral feedback experience. The goal of the Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP) is to address skill deficits and grow competencies to prepare internal employees for future opportunities in their UC workplaces.For more information on dates, fees, eligibility, and the application process visit: Management Skills Assessment Program

Performance Appraisal Training
Staff Human Resources provides the following resources to support managers and supervisors in completing the appraisals: Standardized appraisal forms are provided at our Procedures page: Performance Appraisal Instructions for Supervisors. Your ELR Analyst can provide you with advice and assistance in writing performance appraisals and consultation in advance of the official appraisal meeting with employees. We expect managers and supervisors to consult with their ELR Analyst when writing a performance appraisal that is less than satisfactory or if performance issues exist. Employees may also direct questions to appraisals@ucsc.edu. Training will be offered in the following format:

UC Conducting Performance Appraisals: eCourse
This course provides the fundamentals of performance management, including important tools and resources needed to support UC managers in their roles. Learners are encouraged to download the Participant Playbook found within the course and use it to help capture key concepts, complete exercises, and use as a reference back on the job.

ABCs of Supervising Others Series
What this series aims to teach and build upon is the role of how to be an effective supervisor. The skills are from making the transition from sole contributor to establishing credibility or managing conflict. As well as many other skills needed to be an effective supervisor in your department, this could be as new supervisors with limited or no experience and individuals who aspire to a supervisory role.

Addressing Bullying & Abusive Conduct for Managers
In a 2016 statement, University of California President Janet Napolitano wrote, “The University does not tolerate abusive conduct or bullying. Regardless of circumstances or setting, staff at all levels found to be engaging in abusive conduct should be held accountable.” As a manager, one of your responsibilities is to protect staff members from abusive conduct in the workplace. In this short workshop, we will review the basics of preventing and managing bullying at UC Santa Cruz. Topics will include

• Informing staff of University guidelines and expectations
• Responding to individual complaints about bullying Effectively intervening in patterns of abusive conduct
• Providing appropriate resources and referrals to those who have engaged in bullying, and those on the receiving end
• Finding the information and support you may need along the way
• Note: Please bring a laptop or tablet to class

Management Development Program
The Management Development Program is a dynamic systemwide training program designed to enhance and strengthen your leadership capabilities in the UC Core Competencies and ensure you have the skills, knowledge and resources to effectively lead, engage, and develop your team. The program consists of completing four modules focused around the UC Core Competencies of people management, employee engagement and change management.