Organizational Development & Training

We believe in the power of every person. The most important asset at the University of Nebraska is its people — students, staff, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty. It is critical to provide access to individualized professional development and effective mentorship for all members of the university community.

Meaningful and impactful professional development for all reinforces that every person and every interaction matters.

NEW for Spring/Summer 2024!

Professional Development Series is cosponsored by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. 

Open Enrollment Learning in Bridge

You can find a variety of training topics in Bridge, the university's learning management system for employees. Any employee with an active NUID can utilize Bridge. When you first log in to Bridge (nebraska.bridgeapp.com or the tile in Firefly), you will see three primary menus on your Learning page.

  • My Learning - this page mainly provides access required or compliance training that has been assigned to you, courses you have enrolled in but not completed, and completed training.
  • Learning Library - used to search for and find optional content based on various categories/interests.
  • Training Calendar - is primarily a representation of upcoming live training opportunities (including virtual events). 

You can use the Search bar at the top of all three areas to look for a topic or training. You can also find relevant items by filtering results using Filter by and the tag Tags to the right of the Search bar. Try this out by opening Bridge and search for "Introduction to Bridge for learners" and enroll. It will guide you through using the application.

Topics found in Bridge:

  • Bridge System Training
  • Business & Finance Systems (P2P eSHOP, ePAF, PCard, SAP, and Business Intelligence Reporting)
  • Compliance (Search Process, ADA/504, FERPA fundamentals)
  • Faculty Development
  • Human Resources (Communication, Firefly, Professional Develpment Planning, Employment Law Essentials, Teamwork, Management Basics, Critical Thinking)
  • IT Security
  • P2P – Procure to Pay (Ariba)
  • Professional Development
  • Research

Training by Request

Live (in-person or webinar) training sessions in a variety of topcis that can be requested for your department or group.

From Human Resources

Request any of the following

  • Building a Culture of Feedback [45-60 minutes] How to effectively give, seek, receive, and act upon feedback.
  • Creating a Professional Development Plan [1.5-2 hrs] A Professional Development Plan (PDP) is a valuable document that establishes both your career development goals and a strategy for meeting them. In this hands-on session, you will learn the three steps to creating an individualized professional development plan. By the end of the session, you will have started creating a useful roadmap for your growth and success.
  • (Customer) Service, the Nebraska Way [45-60 minutes] Help employees discover ways to create a great experience for every moment of contact. Learn tactics to listen, empathize, act and restore the relationship to come to a conclusion that will satisfy all involved when conflict does arise.
  • Guide to Performance Evaluations [90 min.] Supervisors will receive guidance for completing UNL staff employee performance evaluations and having an effective evaluation meeting. We’ll share best practices on writing meaningful and effective evaluations, SMART goal setting, handling difficult and unique situations, and legal compliance considerations. Although the UNL HR Performance Evaluation Form template is used in the session, supervisors in units using a different evaluation form or process are welcome to attend.
  • Guide to Retention & Engagement Conversations [1.5-2 hrs] Supervisors will learn how to have retention and engagement conversations. This is an opportunity for supervisors to connect with employees outside of the formal performance appraisal process, raise employee retention rates and improve the employee experience.
  • Performance Management for Supervisors [3.5 hrs] Supervisors will learn and practice strategies for engaging employees through performance management by: Setting the right tone through planning, establishing goals and setting expectations Using effective feedback and coaching techniques Understanding performance documentation and developing action plans that help improve performance

From Employee Assistance Program

Request any of the following

  • Employee Assistance: What is it? [10-20 minutes] EAP is a benefit for faculty and staff. Learn about all our different services, how we can help, who is eligible, and where to access services.
  • Helping Supervisors Use EAP [25-30 minutes] Learn about employee assistance and the different ways EAP can help supervisors. Reminding employees to seek mental health services is only one example. Have you ever needed help preparing for evaluations or difficult conversations? It's always helpful to get an outside perspective to think about problems in multiple ways. Begin to understand why employees do not reach out to and how to partner with EAP for performance improvement.
  • Create a Stress Resiliency Action Plan [45 minutes] Each participant will have the opportunity to create their own resiliency plan. The five areas of the plan include learning about resilience, reducing anxiety, practicing positive thinking, starting the practice of gratitude, and creating a plan for exercise.
  • Effective Communication: Email, Nonverbal, and Verbal [45-60 minutes] This training contains guidelines for professional email, texting, non-verbal and verbal communication skills. Learn the importance of building quality work relationships by communicating with civility and professionalism. Explore concepts of active listening, perception, and giving feedback.
  • Purposeful Time Management [50-60 minutes] With so many responsibilities, tasks and preferences competing for our attention, time management suggests an oxymoron. However, we can reduce the distress of distractions and harness time as one of our most valuable assets. Time is a universal, daily resource to guide our attention toward productivity and purpose. This presentation reviews several popular, focus-friendly strategies with self-reflection exercises to increase awareness around sustainable time management practices.
  • Tricky Conversations with Employees [30-45 minutes] Each participant will receive a supervisor's guide for difficult conversations using emotional intelligence. This training will help supervisors focus on emotional regulation, learn patience, and assist employees with problem solving skills. This training is helpful to new supervisors as well as experienced supervisors that would like to develop their emotional intelligence.
  • The Journey of Managing Stress and Change [60-90 minutes] Learning to manage stress can be a lifelong journey. Small and large amounts of change create a stress response and learning our physiological reaction is critical. This presentation will focus on learning the basic components of the stress response and learning several techniques to manage that response.
  • Improve Your Team Culture by Having More Fun [45 minutes] Is your office all work and no employee interaction? Do your teammates know much about each other? Does your team have stressful interactions that could be balanced with positive interactions? "FUN" is important in so many ways and ultimately it helps us to be happier humans. This training will provide many ways to incorporate FUN in your busy work schedules and help the team connect to become a higher functioning and more productive team.
  • Understanding Depression [30-45 minutes] Learn about the different types of Depression and the specifier of Seasonal affective disorder. Distinguish between feelings of sadness, grief and depression as well as learn about a variety of treatments options. Self-help strategies included with self-reflection and interactive exercises.
  • Work-Life Balance [30-45 minutes] Learning to set boundaries to achieve work-life balance can be difficult. Components of time management, leisure management, purposeful behavior, and the exploration of personal priorities is helpful in adjusting your work-life balance.
  • Self-Care, Don't Forget Self [30-45 minutes] Does your life become busy taking care of others, being a highly effective employee, and working to maintain all your responsibilities? This training provides information about several types of self-care and provides strategies to change unhealthy habits that derail self-care. Becoming a more balanced human will help everyone enjoy life and prevent burnout.
  • Reach Out to Prevent Suicide [20-30 minutes] Gaining a better understanding of the myths and facts relevant to suicide prevention is valuable for all faculty and staff. This presentation will also include warning signs, both verbal and behavioral, and important questions to ask.

Receive tuition assistance

through the employee scholarship program

Full-time and retired employees who wish to continue their education may be eligible for tuition assistance through the employee scholarship program. Spouses and dependent children may also be eligible for this benefit.

Training Elsewhere on Campus:

If you see any training on campus that is not on this list but should be, please email training@unl.edu.

Online learning from trusted sources: