Reduced budgets have made it difficult for the University of Missouri to send employees off campus for personal and professional development. However, for several years now, MU’s Human Resource Services division has organized a two-day conference on campus that offers a full range of training opportunities for staff.
This year’s conference, Nov. 3 and 4 at Memorial Union, will feature nearly 50 concurrent sessions on everything from accounts payable and the do’s and don’ts of social media, to stress management and how to take charge of your personal finances. The speakers are primarily MU staff and faculty who are experts in their fields, said Bonnie Gregg, manager of Human Resource Services Support Services.
While the conference is intended for UM System and Extension staff, university faculty are invited to the keynote speech by Betsy Rodriguez, the System’s vice president for Human Resources.
Rodriguez’ speech, “The University of Missouri as an Employer: What Does it Take to be a Great Place to Work?” will challenge faculty and staff to think differently about their work environment, how they interact with coworkers and their role in moving the university forward. Gregg said Rodriguez also plans to talk about opportunities and challenges for making the university an inclusive and productive work place, and how factors such as compensation, workplace efficiency and leadership can influence faculty and staff perceptions of the workplace.
Also open to everyone is a demonstration of a new online learning tool from SkillSoft. The software supplements traditional training methods to provide employees with more opportunities to develop their skills while minimizing the demands on the campus’ limited training resources. Courses include business and desktop publishing skills, legal compliance, environmental, health and safety, IT issues and leadership skills. SkillPort, which will be available on System campuses in early November, also puts thousands of training-related books at your fingertips, Gregg said.
Information about the conference, course descriptions and registration forms are online at hrs.missouri.edu. Click on the training tab, then on HRS training conference in the menu list.
Gregg encourages staff members without access to computers to check with their division or department fiscal office for help in completing and sending paper forms to her office.
There is no registration deadline. For more information, contract Gregg at 882-4840 or greggb@missouri.edu.