Career Development
POD Courses are for You!
Autumn quarter registration for Professional & Organizational Development (POD) opens on Monday, August 23. All UW staff and faculty are eligible to attend POD programs, courses, and events, including employees of UW Seattle, UW Tacoma, UW Bothell, UWMC, HMC, and UW employees at other locations (Children's Hospital, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the VA, etc.). Learn more about who is eligible and how to register for POD classes.
Your supervisor may suggest POD training classes for you, or you may request approval for classes you'd like to take. To register, you must have approval to use a UW departmental budget number or be prepared to pay for the class out of your own pocket (see POD's website for more information on fees and payments). Your department may have a process for you to follow to request training approval; if in doubt, ask your supervisor or department administrator.
Training is also subject to the UW Release Time Policy. Under this policy, UW employees may be provided with release time to participate in training programs that assist employees in learning new job skills, improving job performance, and increasing promotional opportunities. In this case, "release time" means "time during which an employee is released from normal work duties and compensated at the regular rate of pay."
Keep in mind that supervisors have a number of things to consider when reviewing training requests, including budget/cost, time away from the office and coverage of duties, and how the training applies to employees' development needs and goals. Be sure to provide your supervisor with ample time to consider your training requests and to communicate how a particular class may help you on the job or with your professional development goals.
To help you plan ahead, POD provides an online list of all of its regularly offered courses. We hope to see you in one of our classes soon!
