As students and faculty across the university are learning and teaching remotely, many of the staff at Case Western Reserve University have been asked to transition to remote work as well.
“This new landscape, where so many of us are working remotely, can really help us gain appreciation for our students and promote positive change,” said Provost Ben Vinson III. “We should look at this time to consider professional upscaling, develop our leaders and sharpen the skills of our entire team.”
The Office of the Provost, in partnership with the Department of Human Resources, is sponsoring expanded resources to help Case Western Reserve staffers develop themselves professionally while working from home.
“The resources we’ve compiled are designed to enhance skills and knowledge, prepare staff for future opportunities, enhance collaboration, promote wellness, beat procrastination and much, much more,” said Carolyn Gregory, vice president of human resources. “We recognize that for some of our team, workloads may be temporarily lighter,” she said, “so what better time to further develop our leaders?”
Members of the Case Western Reserve community are encouraged to visit the Remote Learning Resources page on the human resources website for learning opportunities ranging from webinars and YouTube videos to multi-unit courses. Sources include CWRU’s Professional Development Center, University Wellness, Siegal Lifelong Learning, Impact Solutions, LinkedIn Learning and more.
Staff members are strongly encouraged to take at least one course and to discuss professional development activities with their supervisors
“We are demonstrating new skills during these times of uncertainty: adaptability, resilience, resourcefulness, problem-solving and more,” said Vinson. “These times present new growth opportunities, and we encourage all staff to take advantage of our current situation to engage in these professional development offerings.”
Now, the team has further expanded opportunities by partnering with Academic Impressions to provide Focused Learning Plans on topics such as identifying talent, building resilience and working with introverts.
Each carefully designed plan takes one to three hours to complete and includes several short activities (like videos, blogs or webcasts) and a set of questions that help you reflect on what you’re learned. The training and questions can be accessed from a single PDF to track progress and notes. Completed plans may be submitted to Academic Impressions (and your supervisor) for a certificate of completion.
Any member of the CWRU community with a valid case.edu email address may explore this, and hundreds of other opportunities, by creating an account at academicimpressions.com. If you have ideas or suggestions for future learning opportunities, contact Kimberly Justice, performance manager in the Department of Human Resources at kimberly.justice@case.edu.