USA Funds^® University’s leadership webcast series offers practical advice and valuable guidance to help you grow and enhance your leadership skills.  Designed for financial aid administrators of all levels, the webcast series will help you deal with conflict and change, improve teamwork and motivation, and promote the value of the financial aid office to campus management.

Webcasts are scheduled for 2-3 p.m. Eastern time on the dates listed below and will cover the following topics:

• Oct. 7, 2009 — Addressing Change
• Oct. 14, 2009 — Managing Conflict
• Oct. 21, 2009 — Motivating Staff
• Oct. 28, 2009 — Focusing on Strengths
• Nov. 4, 2009 — Teamwork
• Nov. 11, 2009 — Marketing the Financial Aid Office on Campus
• Nov. 18, 2009 — Marketing the Financial Aid Office on Campus
  

Addressing Change. Change is not always easy. Understand the fundamental elements of organizational change, review practices that help make smooth transitions, hear guidance on doing more with less, and learn how to make the most of the opportunity that change provides.

Focusing on Strengths. Consider “The Strengths Theory” and how differently we feel about ourselves and those with whom we interact when we identify and focus on strengths. Learn how to develop strengths in yourself, your co-workers and customers without the negativity of old messages that focused on your weaknesses. Most importantly, learn to manage weaknesses so the strengths can be free to develop and become so powerful they make the weaknesses irrelevant.

Managing Conflict. Learn to value differences, listen to understand, speak to be understood, negotiate and mediate, and work toward synergy.

Marketing the Financial Aid Office on Campus. Does your campus management value the role of the financial aid office? How can you use the fundamentals of marketing to advance the financial aid office on your campus? Explore some of the latest theories in marketing and find ways to ensure that your campus leadership is aware of the important role you play in student success on your campus.

Motivating Staff. Learn how to motivate your team, examine the attributes people expect in a great place to work, hear ideas for incentives and awards, explore tips for how to teach staff to mentor others and discover sure-fire steps to help staff members stand out and improve themselves.

Teamwork. Learn how to build a cohesive team by developing an understanding of best practices for achieving stronger team commitment, building relationships among team members and making the work place more enjoyable and productive.