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W&M Professional Development Initiative
About the Initiative
The W&M Professional Development Initiative is a modern summer tradition that invites faculty and staff to prepare for the coming academic year through dynamic programming featuring university experts.
At Â鶹Æƽâ°æ, we say “If you come here, you belong here.” Every faculty and staff member – from lecturers to technicians – strengthen the university’s culture. Together, we cultivate trust, ignite partnerships and commit to work that endures beyond the moment.
2026 Registration is Open!
Register now for The Power of Connection: Building Relationships, Networks, and Community for Greater Impact, featuring W&M Business Professor Inga Carboni. Choose between 1-4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 17, or 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesday, Aug. 18; lunch is provided.
Carboni is author of Connect the Dots: How to Build, Nurture, and Leverage Your Network to Achieve Your Personal and Professional Goals. The at no cost through W&M Libraries.
Engaging Across Differences
The future of democracy depends on active citizens who can engage effectively across differences. Better Arguments at Â鶹Æƽâ°æ is a university-wide initiative based on the Aspen Institute's civic framework. Together these five principles provide the W&M community with a common language and shared norms for navigating conflict and disagreement.
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Take Winning off the Table
Lead with a desire to understand and learn, rather than to win.
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Prioritize Relationships & Listen Passionately
Focus on building honest connections. Arguments are improved when we listen, not just advance our own points of view.
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Pay Attention to Context
Acknowledge the many factors that may influence beliefs. Civic debates don’t take place in a vacuum, but rather in the context of lived experiences, access to information, culture, and more.
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Embrace Vulnerability
Consider the benefits of opening up in an argument. When we are vulnerable, we can open new avenues for human connection.
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Make Room to Transform
Be open to new and varied perspectives. By making room to transform, we often walk away with more nuance, fewer assumptions, and better solutions.
Past Session: Navigating Conflict
The W&M 2025 Professional Development session is available in full. Programming centers on navigating conflict with confidence and compassion.
Looking for more? The Professional Development Committee shared by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen as a common read.
What's Your Conflict Style?
Learn more about how you respond when things get tense at work. This short survey was developed by W&M's director of conflict resolution & education to help employees understand their habitual responses to conflict.
Past Session: Handling Vulnerability
Professor Atwater offers helpful tips on how best to negotiate the situation when you or others lack certainty, control, or both. This session was recorded during the 2024 Professional Development Days.
Also available: Atwater's specific suggestions on awareness, personal well-being, community well-being and communication during times of vulnerability.
Need more background? Watch his presentation on .
About the Initiative
The W&M Professional Development Initiative reinforces the university's commitment to foster a culture of professional well-being and substantive, respectful and compassionate engagement with one another and our students — a tradition that stretches from the birth of the Alma Mater of the Nation through Â鶹Æƽâ°æ’s Year of Civic Leadership.