Faculty Development Opportunities at UC-COM

The Office of Faculty Affairs & Development have created new development programming for our faculty in the areas of professional development, research development, teaching and education development, and wellness. Programs in these four tracks will be offered on a monthly basis during the academic year. Complete listing of development programs being offered 2026-2027 Programs (PDF).

October 2026

October 6, 2026 Understanding your UC & UCP Benefits

Facilitators: Sheila McCormick, Mary Uhl, & Melissa Slater
Via:  Microsoft Teams
Time: 12-1:00pm

Learning Objectives:

1. The Healthcare Benefits You Didn’t Know You Had: Uncommon Perks Revealed
2. Exploring the World with Confidence: Travel Assistance Benefits Explained
3. Mental Health Matters: How EAP and Resources Support Employee Wellness
4. Maximizing Paid Parental Leave: What Employees and Supervisors Need to Know
5. Tuition Remission: Unlocking Opportunities for Employee and Family Education
6. Understanding your Retirement Savings Opportunities

October 7, 2026 Belonging Matters: Strategies to Increase Persistence, Confidence, and Mastery in Medical Students

Facilitator: Kimber Andrews, PHD
via: Zoom
Time: 12pm-1:00pm

Description: Belonging is a foundational concept in education, with important implications for student learning, persistence, confidence, and mastery.  In the competitive environment of medical education, students report struggling with imposter syndrome, loneliness, and lack of social connections that can negatively impact learning. In this workshop, we will explore the role of belonging in student success and three evidenced based strategies for increasing belonging in the classroom including fostering psychological safety, encouraging persistence through high impact feedback, and designing structured peer interaction.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize how factors such as imposter syndrome, loneliness, and limited social connection can undermine students’ sense of belonging and negatively affect learning
2. Explain the role of psychological safety, high-impact feedback, and structured peer interaction in fostering a more inclusive and supportive classroom environment
3. Identify 1-2 practices to integrate into the classroom that increase student belonging

October 13, 2026 Mentoring Graduate Students

Facilitator: Sean Davidson, PHD
Via: Microsoft Teams
Time: 12-1:00pm

Learning Objectives:

1. Defining the roles of a graduate student mentor in the 2020’s
2. Goals of a mentor
3. Milestones of a successful mentor/mentee relationship
4. Attracting graduate students to your lab
5. Success requires being part scientist and part psychologist

October 14, 2026 Understanding the UCCOM Budget Process

Facilitator: Neil Holsing, MBA
Via: Microsoft Teams
Time: 12-1:00pm

Learning Objectives:

October 20, 2026 Flourishing in Medicine: From Surviving to Thriving

Facilitator: Aviad Haramati, PhD; Director, Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education (CENTILE) Georgetown University School of Medicine
via: Microsoft Teams
Time: 12pm-1:00pm

Description:

This presentation addresses the reality of the difficult toll that medical and health professions training, and healthcare itself, takes on faculty and staff, as well as learners, leading to high stress conditions, loss of empathy for self and others, and a rise in burnout scores for faculty and trainees. Furthermore, there are limited opportunities in most curricula and the workplace to be authentic with each other and share the challenges and joys of training and professional practice. Simply put, it is increasingly difficult to flourish and thrive in our academic health centers.

Dr. Haramati will describe an experiential course that operationalizes several related frameworks including The Kern National Network for Flourishing in Medicine, and builds on the work of VanderWeele. Specifically, while physical and mental well-being are vital, human flourishing consists of a broader range of domains such as happiness, life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, character, close social relationships and spirituality and transcendence. Awareness of self and recognition of these elements can help faculty, students and staff thrive in the environment where they learn and work.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe two frameworks of Human Flourishing (Vanderweele et al and the Kern National Network)
2. Share strategies on how these concepts have been operationalized into a unique experiential course comprising 8 domains that is designed to foster self-awareness, and also provide life skills for faculty, staff and trainees
3. Develop approaches to improve the learning and work environment at the medical center to benefit faculty, students and staff

October 27, 2026 NIH Updates

Facilitators: Teresa Reyes, PHD and Sandra Newman
Via: Microsoft Teams
Time: 12-1:00pm

Participants Will Be Able To:

1. Describe the new multi-component NIH grant structure and activity codes (e.g. PF5, RF2/UL2) required for proposals involving foreign components after January 25, 2026
2. Explain the requirement for training senior/key personnel on full disclosure of other support (active and pending) in NIH applications and how institutional policies should support compliance
3. Navigate and preview the new NIH Common Forms (Biosketch, Current & Pending / Other Support) in SciENcv, and distinguish their functionality from the existing forms
4. List and explain the standardized security, operational, and transparency requirements NIH imposes on controlled-access data repositories (CADRs) under this notice
5. Articulate the restrictions and allowable exceptions for sharing NIH funded human biospecimens (from U.S. persons) with institutions in countries of concern, including documentation obligations

November 2026

• November 03 | Tips and Tricks for Time Management: Productivity, Well-being and Beyond
• November 10 | Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials
• November 17 | Calm in the Storm: Understanding Anxiety, Stress, and Whole-Person Healing