Professional Development Updates from UNO Staff Advisory Council

The UNO Staff Advisory Council (SAC) is still looking to support staff members in the Maverick community with the introduction of their new Professional Development Fund.

This one-year, pilot program is designed to support in-depth, job-specific, and domain-specific professional development opportunities for UNO staff that are not currently available through other programs or unit funding. The program is designed to fund a broad array of professional development opportunities for staff across campus, especially those in departments with limited unit funding

In an email to staff, UNO Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., thanked SAC for their efforts.

"Often, professional development is one of the first things that gets delayed or forgotten in the day-to-day responsibilities we each have in supporting UNO's important mission of educating and mentoring the next generation of leaders ... There is no doubt in my mind that access to more training and education for staff members will lead to even better support for our students, faculty and the comminutes that we serve every day."

Each staff member who applies for funding can request up to $2,000 of professional development funding for use during the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Information about how to apply can be found on the SAC website.

To be eligible, a staff member:

• Must be .5 FTE or be a benefits-eligible employee classified as "Office/Service," "Managerial/Professional," or "Non-academic Administrator." This also includes employees of the NU system who spend more than 50 percent of their work time in service of UNO.

• Must be an employee longer than 180 days, past the University's probationary period and in good standing with the University (i.e. not under any disciplinary action).

• Must receive approval for the the requested professional development from their supervisor and respective unit.

Possible uses for the SAC Professional Development Fund include:

• Conference costs (registration fee, lodging, non-local transportation)

• Certification test prep classes and exam costs

• NBDC courses

• Tuition for local community college courses for a specific job skill

• Webinars

• Self-paced classes

• Other job-related or domain-specific opportunities not available to UNO staff through other means

Staff members are also encouraged to sign up for the SAC Professional Development mailing list to receive important updates or provide feedback regarding this new program and other professional development opportunities at UNO.

Questions? Email sacpdfund@unomaha.edu.