PPD Personal and Professional Development course timetable

Note: Thank you very much for your interest. Unfortunately all University Consultation events are now fully booked.
We received an unexpectedly high volume of interest in these events. In order to allow as many members of the University as possible to engage in the consultation, we will schedule another couple of events to take place in February and March. The additional events will be advertised by email as soon as possible and registration will again be on a first come first served basis.

Please also note that we will shortly launch a website including an online consultation. The website is a crucial part of the consultation. It will allow all members of the University to provide written feedback on a set of questions. The same set of questions will be discussed in the consultation events.

We very much look forward to seeing you at one of the events and/or to hearing from you via the online consultation.

The Vice-Chancellor is seeking the views of all members of the University on key issues facing the collegiate community. He is inviting you to join him for a discussion about the University’s future direction, and to share your ideas on challenges and opportunities for the institution. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

In the workplace there will be occasions when people feel that they have been bullied, harassed or subjected to inappropriate behaviour. This is a practical and important interactive session which is designed to provide clarity and guidance on the University’s Dignity at Work policy and procedures. It will explain the legal framework, and will clarify options and practical measures open to you to help you address Dignity at Work problems if they arise.

If you are new to supervising graduate students at Cambridge (who are studying both for one-year courses or PhDs) the Board of Graduate Studies strongly recommends you to take part in some form of professional development. In collaboration with BGS, Personal and Professional Development offers training and support for newly-appointed supervisors of graduate students and for those new to the Cambridge system. The workshops, which run over lunchtime, are designed to consider reciprocal expectations and duties, as well as approaches to supervising, and to raise awareness of possible issues and where to go for support.

Leadership Essentials is a key programme suitable for all managers, which aims to help them refresh and build their skills and experience in managing others. As well as clarifying key responsibilities, it focuses on critical areas that managers can find more difficult, such as giving and receiving feedback effectively and handling challenging conversations. It incorporates tutor input, opportunities for discussion, reflection and sharing of good practice with other managers.

Before attending, please take some time to review the short films of other University colleagues talking about their role as a manager, Leadership Essentials: Management Responsibilities

Would you like to learn exercises that will reduce vocal strain, improve vocal range, variety, clarity and pronunciation to gain and hold the attention of an audience?

Would you like to make a positive initial impact and keep control of difficult situations?

In this individualised and confidential one-hour session you will determine the objectives and work on exercises to address your specific interests.

Would you like to learn exercises that will reduce vocal strain, improve vocal range, variety, clarity and pronunciation to gain and hold the attention of an audience?

Would you like to make a positive initial impact and keep control of difficult situations?

In this individualised and confidential one-hour session you will determine the objectives and work on exercises to address your specific interests.

Would you like to learn exercises that will reduce vocal strain, improve vocal range, variety, clarity and pronunciation to gain and hold the attention of an audience?

Would you like to make a positive initial impact and keep control of difficult situations?

In this individualised and confidential one-hour session you will determine the objectives and work on exercises to address your specific interests.

Would you like to learn exercises that will reduce vocal strain, improve vocal range, variety, clarity and pronunciation to gain and hold the attention of an audience?

Would you like to make a positive initial impact and keep control of difficult situations?

In this individualised and confidential one-hour session you will determine the objectives and work on exercises to address your specific interests.

Would you like to learn exercises that will reduce vocal strain, improve vocal range, variety, clarity and pronunciation to gain and hold the attention of an audience?

Would you like to make a positive initial impact and keep control of difficult situations?

In this individualised and confidential one-hour session you will determine the objectives and work on exercises to address your specific interests.

Springboard is a personal development programme for all female staff/graduate students. It will give you the opportunity to take stock and consider your personal and professional goals.

During the programme you will explore your future in a practical way and learn how to develop your potential. You will undertake realistic self-assessment and set challenging goals.

Key areas covered include communication skills, assertiveness, self confidence, improving your work/life balance and developing positive skills and attitude. If you want to progress and develop, then this programme is for you.

The programme comprises four days over a three-month period and a workbook to be completed between sessions.

This course will consider the teaching and learning strategies helpful when working with students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD, such as Asperger’s Syndrome). It will help you to reflect on common barriers experienced by students with ASD and ways of removing these.

Note: Thank you very much for your interest. Unfortunately all University Consultation events are now fully booked.
We received an unexpectedly high volume of interest in these events. In order to allow as many members of the University as possible to engage in the consultation, we will schedule another couple of events to take place in February and March. The additional events will be advertised by email as soon as possible and registration will again be on a first come first served basis.

Please also note that we will shortly launch a website including an online consultation. The website is a crucial part of the consultation. It will allow all members of the University to provide written feedback on a set of questions. The same set of questions will be discussed in the consultation events.

We very much look forward to seeing you at one of the events and/or to hearing from you via the online consultation.

The Vice-Chancellor is seeking the views of all members of the University on key issues facing the collegiate community. He is inviting you to join him for a discussion about the University’s future direction, and to share your ideas on challenges and opportunities for the institution. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

This programme offers an introduction to management skills and is externally accredited by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). It is highly participative and there is a strong emphasis on applying new learning to your work situation for the benefit of your team and your department

The course is primarily aimed at those who currently have management responsibilities for others (including managers, team leaders or supervisors) or equivalent responsibilities (e.g. for managing services, projects, resources). All participants must have the opportunity to meet the assessment requirements which are specified by the ILM – please see further details below

Please note that there is currently a waiting list for this programme. If you are interested in attending please complete the application form at the link below and send a signed paper copy to PPD. Your application will be considered and your name will be added to the waiting list if you are eligible. When a place becomes available we will contact you to confirm your place

Level 3 Award in First Line Management Application Form - your application to attend the programme will not be considered until it has been approved by you line manager - please ensure that you enter their email address correctly into the form.

Engage in Learning is a theory and practice informed supervisor development programme on how to build supportive learning relationships. It is aimed at supervisors of Cambridge students with a minimum of three to five years’ experience of teaching in higher education.

Participants will explore approaches and challenges to building supportive supervisory relationships through dialogical learning activities — small group discussions, reflection exercises based on experiences, film clips, case studies and dilemmas drawn from practice. Readings will be provided prior to each workshop. The programme will emphasise building on participants’ own experiences. Between each workshop participants will be asked to observe and keep a written log of specific experiences of supervision; these will be discussed in the subsequent workshop.

Workshops (key topics covered)
A maximum of 12 participants will attend four two-hour-long workshops. Each workshop will be held between 16:30 to 18:30.


25 January 2018
Workshop 1 (Principles 1 & 2)
Relationships for learning: theory, context. Building supportive relationships

• Attachment theory
• Mindfulness
• Institutional identity
• Communication

22 February 2018
Workshop 2 (Principles 1, 2 & 3)
Empowering and facilitation growth

• Growth mindset
• Relational power
• Transformational learning
• Self-efficacy

***22 March 2018*** - NOW RUNNING ON 28 MARCH 2018
Workshop 3 (Principles 1, 2, 3 & 4)
Maintaining a supportive relationship

• Boundaries
• Balance
• Dialogical reflection

19 April 2018
Workshop 4
Engaging in learning together

• Synthesis of themes and topics

Prior to registration please make sure that you are available on each of those days.

All workshops will be held at the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning, 25 Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QA. The map gives directions to PPD, where the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning is located.

Delivering training and facilitating workshops can be a daunting prospect. This workshop aims to develop the skills and knowledge needed to facilitate such sessions effectively and with more confidence.

Would you like to gain nationally recognised accreditation of your teaching experience? Many UK universities now expect teaching staff seeking tenure to have undertaken or to undertake a structured teaching and learning development course accredited by the HE Academy. This session provides an overview of the route by which those with some experience of teaching in Higher Education may gain accreditation. It also provides a short introduction to the HE Academy itself.

The Vice-Chancellor is seeking the views of all members of the University on key issues facing the collegiate community. He is inviting you to join him for an open meeting discussion about the University’s future direction, and to share your ideas on challenges and opportunities for the institution. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Increase your confidence and skills in one-to-one communication with this highly participative course. Effective communication starts in your head and it isn’t just about the words you say. Your tone of voice, facial expression and body language all communicate a message. This course will help you get your message across more clearly. You will also have the opportunity to practise communication skills on a one-to-one basis.

We all experience difficulties and challenges in our lives, and we may often feel out of our depth and overwhelmed by the pressures whether it is work demands, life’s transitions, traumatic events, bereavements, relationship problems and so on. Stress builds up when we can’t get our needs met, and when we feel we don’t have the resources, capabilities, insights or understandings to feel prepared to respond in the best way to these.

This course will offer the possibility of exploring ways in which we can build resilience in the face of stress and make a difference. It will also introduce you to the key concepts of resilience building in order to manage stress as well as incorporating some empowering tools to deal with this.

This course is aimed to increase your understanding of the issues surrounding disclosures of sexual assault and harassment of students, the support available locally and the new University Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Procedures.

To book please follow this link. Please note that you must meet the eligibility criteria for the session.

This participative workshop will enable attendees to confidentially discuss their reactions to students in emotional distress and consider effective ways of supporting them while managing attendees' own boundaries.

The workshop will be conducted in a relaxed and open way and will result in those attending feeling more confident in these interactions.

The workshop will also update attendees on available sources of local support for students.