Nominations open for UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development until Oct. 14

Vanity Campbell and Mary Ciricillo were among the UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development participants in 2018.

Nominations are now open until 11:59 p.m., Oct. 14, 2020, for the 2021 UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI). 

As in the past, ANR will be sponsoring women academics and staff to participate in the 2021 program. UC WI is committed to enabling the full participation, success and advancement of woman-identified professionals at the University. The program is open to all who support and are committed to this mission. 

The UCWI program is designed to:

• Cultivate a professional network that spans the UC system
• Provide access to top UC leaders — women and men — to learn about their diverse leadership approaches and journeys
• Strengthen skills and confidence through hands-on practice with a range of tools in the areas of: 
• Professional development and impact
• Strategic relationship building
• Developing and delivering a compelling narrative regarding one's professional accomplishments and vision
• Negotiating at work
• Peer coaching

The ideal participant:

• Is mid-career faculty, staff or academic employee
• Has demonstrated potential for advancement
• Supports woman-identified professionals and seeks to learn concepts that improve their effectiveness at work and hear about the career journeys of established UC leade

The schedule - four online sessions during:

• January-March 2021, or 
• April – June 2021
• For exact cohort dates/workshop sessions, see last 3 pages of this document.

Program overview:

Six cohorts of 30 participants each with representatives from every UC location, come together for interactive sessions jointly led by a Coro Northern California facilitator and a UC Facilitator. UC facilitators are past graduates of the program who share their experience and expertise and add a UC perspective. The final session of each cohort program will be a combined capstone event that allows participants to make systemwide connections.

Nomination instructions

Please use this nomination form.

1. Nominate someone, yourself, or more than one person.

• You can nominate more than one person without having to fill out a new form each time. 

2. A letter of recommendation is suggested but not required. 
3. Combine – if there are multiple letters of recommendation – into a single PDF.
4. When prompted for an FAU account – enter “999”

• Once candidates are selected the Learning & Development Coordinator will send the proper accounting information.

If you have additional files, please send them to ucwomensinitiative@ucop.edu.

If you are interested in participating in this program, please talk to your supervisor. Supervisors are asked to send in nominations by close of business October 14th, 2020. Late or incomplete nominations will not be considered.

The program is a collaboration between the UC Systemwide Advisory Committee on the Status of Women and UC Human Resources, and is delivered by CORO, a nonprofit leadership-development organization that has worked with UC for the past decade. UC President Napolitano supports and partially funds the program. ANR will cover registration fees and reimburse travel expenses and half the lodging for those selected.

Testimonials

Dawn Kooyumjian, UCCE Master Gardener Program coordinator, Alameda and Contra Costa counties:

"The UCWI was much more than I expected. Rather than simply being something like "10 Tips for Success" the format of the course combined readings, presentations, deep thought, and time to reflect and share with other participants in a way that I found meaningful and useful both professionally and personally."

Vanity Campbell, proposal development coordinator, Office of Contracts & Grants:

"The program is a truly exceptional way to get to know and grow with other University of California professionals from across the system….Through these personal connections, I built upon and extended my professional network – creating and leveraging opportunities for both personal and professional growth."

Wendi Gosliner, project scientist, Nutrition Policy Institute:

"I found the program to be … a practical experience in which I gained new tools to help me advance professionally, and an overall inspiring educational journey that left me feeling like we each have the ability and the power to build and cultivate the relationships and supports needed to achieve our professional goals."

Mary Ciricillo, Director of 4-H Foundation:

"UCWI enabled me to think more broadly about my career …. it gave me the tools to expand upon and improve my skillsets in the workplace. I would highly recommend this conference to women looking to strengthen their performance in their current position as well as those who have long term aspirations to elevate their career."

If you have questions about the program, please contact Jodi Azulai.

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