Summer Staff Professional Development
Get Ready to Level Up Your Skills This Summer!
This year, we’re redefining professional development with brand-new learning tracks designed to help you build essential workplace skills, explore cutting-edge technology, and strengthen your leadership abilities. Whether you want to deep dive into a specialized area or broaden your expertise across multiple topics, we’ve got you covered!
Five-Themed Tracks – Choose from carefully curated learning tracks designed to target high-impact workplace skills:
- Soft Skills & Workplace Effectiveness – Master adaptability, communication, collaboration, and more.
- Accessibility & Inclusive Workplace Practices – Learn how to make your workplace and materials more inclusive.
- AI & Technology in the Workplace – Discover how AI can streamline work while ensuring ethical and responsible use.
- Practical Applications & Productivity Tools – Boost efficiency with smart strategies and digital tools.
- Leadership & Career Development – Gain the skills to lead from any role and advance your career.
How to Earn Your Summer Staff PD Days Certificate
Track-Specific Certificate – Complete three out of five sessions in a single track and earn a specialized certificate in that area. Perfect for those looking to build expertise in a key professional skill.
Career & Skills Enrichment Certificate – Prefer to mix it up? Take one session from each of the five tracks and earn the Workplace Excellence Certificate, recognizing your commitment to being a well-rounded, forward-thinking professional!
- Expert-Led Sessions – Learn from experienced facilitators and industry professionals.
- Hands-On, Practical Learning – Walk away with real-world skills you can apply immediately.
- Networking Opportunities – Connect with colleagues across the College and expand your professional circle.
- Flexibility & Choice – Choose the sessions that fit your interests and schedule.
Ready to Learn, Grow, and Lead? Mark your calendar and join us for Summer Staff PD Days 2025!
- Agility in the Workplace: Thriving in Times of Change
- Building Workplace Relationships: Collaboration & Teamwork
- Navigating Difficult Conversations with Confidence
- Accessible Social Media & Marketing: Best Practices for Inclusion
- Creating Video Captions Using YouTube
- Disability Inclusion & Workplace Accommodations: What Every Employee Should Know
- Digital Literacy in the AI Era: Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies
- Smart Automation: How to Use AI to Reduce Repetitive Tasks
- Collaborate and Brainstorm with Microsoft Whiteboard
- Creating Fillable PDF Forms with Adobe Acrobat
- Email & Calendar Management: Inbox Zero & Smart Scheduling Tips
- Smart Visuals: Making Data Speak with Excel and PowerPoint
- Building Emotional Intelligence for Effective Leadership
- Coaching & Mentorship: Helping Others Grow While Advancing Your Own Career
- From Individual Contributor to Leader: Transitioning with Confidence
- The Art of Giving & Receiving Feedback in the Workplace
Please see the list of classes, dates and times below and follow the links to register!
Agility in the Workplace: Thriving in Times of Change
Dates: June 17, 2:00-3:00 p.m. | July 21, 11:00 a.m.-Noon
Facilitator: Dr. Tracey Smith Bryant
In today’s fast-paced work environment, adaptability is key. This session explores strategies for staying flexible, embracing change, and building resilience to thrive in uncertain situations.
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Building Workplace Relationships: Collaboration & Teamwork
Dates: June 25, 2:00-3:00 p.m. | July 31, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Facilitator: Dr. Christine Crefton
Strong teams don’t just happen—they’re built. In this fast-paced, interactive session, you’ll learn how to create stronger, more trusting relationships at work. We’ll explore how intentional collaboration and trust-building can enhance productivity, spark innovation, and create a more supportive work environment. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to strengthen team dynamics and foster a culture of mutual respect and shared success. Whether you work with a large team or just want to improve daily interactions, this session offers simple, actionable strategies you can use right away.
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Navigating Difficult Conversations with Confidence
Dates: June 25, 11:00 a.m.-Noon | July 31, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Billy Struemke
Difficult conversations are an inevitable part of the workplace. This session provides tools to approach these discussions with confidence, professionalism, and emotional intelligence.
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Accessible Social Media & Marketing: Best Practices for Inclusion
Dates: June 3, 11:00 a.m-12:00 p.m.| July 7, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Facilitator: Stephanie Krasnoff
Digital communication should be accessible to everyone. This session explores how to create inclusive social media and marketing content that aligns with accessibility standard
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Creating Video Captions Using YouTube
Dates: Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 9:30-10:30 AM | Thursday, July 17, 2:00-3:00 PM
Facilitator: Nghi Nguyen
Attend this workshop to learn how to use YouTube Studio to create captions for your videos. You’ll explore how to upload your video, add a transcript to generate captions, edit existing captions, and manually create captions to improve accessibility and viewer engagement.
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Disability Inclusion & Workplace Accommodations: What Every Employee Should Know
Dates: June 5, 9:30-10:30 a.m. | July 9, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Kristen Roe and Rowena D’Souza
Fostering an inclusive work environment benefits everyone. This session provides an overview of disability inclusion, legal requirements, and best practices for workplace accommodations.
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Digital Literacy in the AI Era: Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies
Dates: June 5, 2:00-3:00 p.m. | July 9, 11:00 a.m.-Noon
Facilitator: Abi Sogunro and Grace Gu
Digital literacy is important for every person in the modern world. Anyone who uses a computer or searches online needs the skills covered in this workshop. This workshop will uncover the fundamentals of what digital literacy is, navigate a framework to better understand your digital information needs, and work through scenarios to apply digital literacy skills.
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Smart Automation: How to Use AI to Reduce Repetitive Tasks
Dates: June 9, 9:30-10:30 a.m. | July 15, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Evelyn Cordova
Automating routine tasks can save time, reduce workload, and enhance efficiency. Discover AI and automation tools that streamline workflows, enhance communication, and eliminate repetitive tasks – all without needing advanced tech skills. This beginner-friendly session will show you how simple, practical tools can boost productivity and help you work smarter with ease and confidence
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Email & Calendar Management: Inbox Zero & Smart Scheduling Tips
Dates: June 9, 2:00-3:00 p.m. | July 15, 11:00 a.m.-Noon
Facilitator: Fariha Alam
Managing emails and schedules efficiently can improve productivity. This session provides strategies for decluttering inboxes and optimizing calendar management.
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Smart Visuals: Making Data Speak with Excel and PowerPoint
Dates: June 23, 2:00-3:00 p.m. | July 29, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Arlene Blaylock
Data visualization helps make complex information easier to understand. This session demonstrates different Excel and PowerPoint tools and techniques for effective data presentation.
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Collaborate and Brainstorm with Microsoft Whiteboard
Dates: June 16, 2:00-3:00 p.m. | July 22, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Nghi Nguyen
Microsoft Whiteboard is a versatile collaboration tool designed to enhance teamwork, brainstorming, and project planning. Available to all MC employees, it offers a digital canvas similar to Padlet and the discontinued Google Jamboard. This workshop will introduce you to Whiteboard’s key features and demonstrate how to integrate it with Microsoft 365 applications like Teams. Learn how to streamline idea-sharing, improve collaboration, and boost productivity within your unit. This session is ideal for employees looking to enhance team meetings and explore visually engaging ways to organize and present ideas.
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Creating Fillable PDF Forms with Adobe Acrobat
Dates: Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 2:00-3:00 PM | Thursday, July 17, 11:00 AM-Noon
Facilitator: Nghi Nguyen
Learn how to convert static forms, such as those created in Microsoft Word, into interactive, fillable PDF forms using Adobe Acrobat. This workshop will guide you through the process of designing a form in Word, importing the DOCX file into Acrobat, and adding fillable fields such as text boxes, checkboxes, and dropdown menus.
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From Individual Contributor to Leader: Transitioning with Confidence
Dates: June 17, 11:00 a.m.-Noon| July 29, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Facilitator: Elysse Meredith
Moving from an individual contributor role to leadership requires new skills, mindset shifts, and the ability to inspire others. This session will help participants prepare for leadership responsibilities and navigate the transition successfully.
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Coaching & Mentorship: Helping Others Grow While Advancing Your Own Career
Dates: June 17, 9:30-10:30 a.m. | July 21, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Vincent Briley
Want to support your colleagues and boost your career? This virtual will show you how. We'll explore coaching and mentoring basics, learn the easy-to-use GROW model, and learn how to build relationships that benefit everyone. You'll walk away with practical tips to help you and your team "Lift as you climb".
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Building Emotional Intelligence for Effective Leadership
Dates: June 16, 11:00 a.m.-Noon | July 22, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Facilitator: Shawn Sanders
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a critical leadership skill that enhances communication, teamwork, and decision-making. This session explores how to develop self-awareness, empathy, and interpersonal effectiveness to become a more impactful leader.
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The Art of Giving & Receiving Feedback in the Workplace
Dates: June 16, 9:30-10:30 a.m. | July 22, 11:00 a.m.-Noon
Facilitator: Richard Forrest
Constructive feedback is essential for professional growth, yet it can be challenging to give and receive. This session provides a framework for delivering feedback with clarity and receiving it with openness to foster a culture of continuous improvement.
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Please join us for a 2-day immersive art class that is designed to demystify art/drawing and explore how those concepts can be applied to leadership. There will be hands-on activities but there will also be articulate visual demonstrations to better explain the concepts to the participants. No artist skills required. All supplies will be provided. The goal of this class is to begin to learn to see like an artist and then applying those lessons to learnership.
Dates: June 23, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | June 25, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Location: Rockville Campus, Arts building
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If you have questions, please reach out to Richard Forrest.
Updated 5/28/2025