Professional development
Find training opportunities and resources, and get involved in University councils, committees and affiliate groups.
Find training opportunities and resources, and get involved in University councils, committees and affiliate groups.
Professional development
Mandatory and voluntary training opportunities to help you succeed.
Research & Innovation is focused on providing faculty, staff and student support that enables the University’s vision of producing impactful discoveries and fostering innovation and commercialization. Learn more about the division’s support for research and innovation through the faculty-focused research hub, including:
The University of Nevada, Reno is now a member institution of the NCFDD, an organization offering professional development, training, and mentoring resources to faculty members, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students at colleges and universities across the country.
The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs hosts numerous workshops throughout the academic year in support of faculty. This includes new faculty and department chairs, promotion & tenure, annual evaluations, sabbatical, classroom management, etc.
In addition to workshops for faculty, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs hosts an annual all department chairs retreat. Topics vary on an annual basis, but are timely and strategically selected to promote and encourage vibrant and health departments. The chairs retreat is held the second Friday of the Fall semester.
The Faculty Academic Leadership Program (FALP) is a 12-week program designed to provide:
You must be nominated by your dean, and final participants are selected by the Provost Office. The FALP runs every-other odd year.
In 2016, the University launched its partnership with ACUE to prepare, support and credential faculty members and graduate students in evidence-based teaching approaches that improve student achievement and promote equity through ACUE’s Course in Effective Teaching Practices.
The 25-module, facilitated online course requires that participants learn about and implement the practices across all core teaching competencies, including embracing diversity in the classroom, creating civil and inclusive learning environments, engaging underprepared students, facilitating productive discussions, and helping students persist to graduation, among others. Eight cohorts of faculty and graduate students have been engaged in the program to date as part of the University’s goal to improve student success by promoting instructional excellence campus-wide. Read more in NEVADA Today: University is driving innovation in diversity and inclusivity with new campus initiatives.
Faculty and graduate students do not sign up for this program; they are invited if eligible. For more information, please contact the Office of the Provost.
The Provost sponsors the Teaching Excellence Initiative program which brings together faculty that have completed the ACUE program, teaching award recipients and Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) to share a variety of best practice teaching methods, instructional design/technology uses and offer services such as peer teaching review and feedback for faculty. The program is new in Spring 2020, so keep an eye out for more information.
The Mentoring Mentors workshop series covers best practices in evidence-based mentoring of graduate students and postdocs. The workshops are hosted annually by the Vice Provost of Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School.
All colleges have formal mentoring programs for assistant and associate professors. In some colleges this extends to additional/or specialized mentoring programs in individual departments. The important thing to know is that mentoring is available within your own discipline. Take the initiative and contact your department chair, associate dean or dean to inquiry about unique mentoring programs in your area.
Bridge is an online self-paced training series for Administrative and Financial Administrative Assistants. For more information, please email WorkdayLearning@unr.edu.
The Knowledge Base is a repository of articles for our users to research internal-facing policies, procedures, and how-tos. The Knowledge Base is available 24-7 and is your one-stop-shop for Workday, UNR-specific resources, and online training videos.
Classroom training is offered through various departments on campus, including Human Resources, Advising, Business & Finance, and others. Training topics include Workday, AssetWorks, recruitment, employee relations, and a variety of subjects that change monthly.
Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) provides support to the faculty and staff across campus who use University-supported technologies for teaching, business, and communications. They offer workshops to help you create accessible documents, images, videos, web content, and email – all formats that are required to be compliant with WCAG 2.0 AA per the University Accessibility Policy. We recommend that all faculty, instructors, and administrative employees working with these formats take the following workshops:
Review and register for mandatory and voluntary EH&S training, including Defensive Driving, Laboratory Safety, CPR, and more.
The State of Nevada requires supervisors of classified employees to undergo supervisory training in core areas every three years. Learn more about what topics are required, and how to register.
The Nevada Chapter of College and University Professional Association (CUPA-HR) is free and open to all higher education employees, but may be of particular interest to HR professionals. This chapter exists for the purpose of exchanging best practices, providing a mechanism for networking with others in the field and across campus, and providing meaningful educational opportunities on topics important and relevant to the human resources field.
The Staff Employees’ Council (SEC) represents all classified employees at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Council also serves in an advisory capacity to the president of the University with respect to all matters of classified personnel administration and employee relations, except in matters of formal appeals and hearings. The Council holds monthly meetings to provide a forum for employees' suggestions, questions or complaints, and to provide a means for disseminating information to classified employees of the University. Not ready to run for a seat? Consider joining an SEC Committee.
Faculty Senate is the principle representing body for both academic and administrative faculty. Its membership includes representatives from each academic and administrative major unit of the University. The Council also serves in an advisory capacity to the president of the University with respect to all matters of academic and administrative faculty administration and employee relations, except in matters of formal appeals and hearings. The Council typically holds monthly meetings to provide a forum for employees' suggestions, questions or complaints, and to provide a means for disseminating information to faculty at the University. Not ready to run for a seat? Consider joining a Faculty Senate Committee.
The University of Nevada, Reno Retired Faculty Association is made up of retired academic and administrative faculty, their spouses and partners, who want to maintain a productive relationship with the university. All are welcome to join and participate in helping realize the aims and purposes of the organization: to link, to support, to educate and to advocate for the retired faculty of the University of Nevada, Reno.
The University of Nevada, Reno has several Diversity Committees and Affinity Groups focusing on campus-wide diversity initiatives. They are part of a structure for issues- and constituent-based action to ensure that many groups are working to create a diverse and welcoming campus climate.
The University Diversity Committees are open to all faculty and staff who wish to volunteer to participate in a variety of new and established initiatives and program development opportunities. Membership meetings are normally held monthly Sept.-Dec. and Feb.-May during the academic year.
Undergraduate students have the opportunity to work under a faculty mentor and pursue EPSCoR (or other) funding for research projects. If you are interested, you can reach out to your Chair or one of the other mentors listed in your college.
The Office of the Postdoctoral Affairs has recently required departments to post mentoring plans for postdocs online. These plans are often required as part of grant applications for institutions such as the National Institute for Health and the National Science Foundation. A formal centralized mentoring program does not exist, but you are encouraged to speak with your supervisor or department chair about opportunities for mentorship. Mentors do not need to be from within your own program, department, or college.