Changes to POD's Certificate Program
Ujima Donalson, Assistant Vice President, Total Talent Management
What does it take to achieve excellence? For those working in administrative positions across the University, a wide set of skills must be honed. These employees are often called upon to be generalists and specialists; a single individual might interact with customers, schedule meetings, and format a report while also being asked to lead a project team, initiate complex processes in Workday, or administer a federal grant.
With the implementation of Workday, as well as the increase in shared services across the University, we’re seeing fewer dedicated fiscal specialists and a greater need for those who can excel in multiple administrative and operational areas. In response to this shift, POD is retiring the Fiscal Management Certificate and introducing a certificate in Administrative Excellence.
Winding Down the Fiscal Certificate
The Fiscal Management Certificate has changed with the times; there is not a single core course in the current curriculum that was on the certificate fifteen years ago. Policies and procedures have changed, more tools and help content is available online, and classes and resources are regularly offered through the Integrated Service Center, UW Research’s CORE program, and other areas. In short, the need for POD to present many fiscal classes has diminished along with the abundance of content needed for a robust certificate.
Earlier this year we communicated with employees who had enrolled in the Fiscal Management Certificate between 2013–2017, alerting them to this change and letting them know we would support them in completing their certificate. We also encouraged those who had not yet made substantial progress with the Fiscal Management Certificate or whose role has shifted to consider the new certificate in Administrative Excellence.
Creating the New Certificate
With TAP, Workday, and other initiatives over the past several years, we have seen an increased focus on operational efficiency and improved administration. In fact, Executive Vice President Jeff Scott referred to “a new era of administrative excellence” in his year-end email message last December. We created the certificate in Administrative Excellence to help UW employees develop in key areas and be able to better respond to the current environment.
Quite fittingly, members of POD’s administrative team helped develop this new certificate. The core requirements include more than 40 hours of classes that focus on time, task, and project management as well as customer service and relationship building. Electives are offered in three tracks—Communication & Collaboration, Fiscal Management, and Operational Excellence—which can be taken in combination or in concentration.
Development for the Future
Creating an administrative culture where each individual is empowered, service-oriented, ethical, and accountable is necessary and timely, as is creating a pipeline for the administrators, managers and leaders of tomorrow’s UW. Employees often ask those of us in Human Resources for guidance with career pathing, and our Certificate Program responds to that need by providing developmental paths in specific areas. Along with the new certificate, we continue to offer certificates in Human Resources Administration and Supervisory Skills, and successful completion of any POD certificate counts towards six months of related experience for positions here at the UW.
I encourage you to consider the development opportunities offered through our certificates when engaging in succession planning, performance reviews, and goal setting with your team members. You can learn more about our Certificate Program, including changes and specific requirements, on the web.
