Professional Development Week 2026

GenAI Initiatives at Tulane: Oracle, TulaneAI and Beyond
 

• Speakers: Mike Griffith (moderator), Mike Pilman, Jai Shankar, Aron Culotta
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: This panel brought together thought leaders from across the various GenAI initiatives underway at the University. Attendees heard about new developments and pending GenAI initiatives across campus and had an opportunity to ask questions about the future of AI at Tulane.
 

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WaveWorks Tips & Tricks: The Fast and the Curious
 

• Speakers: Shannon Aicklen, Michelle Illidge, & Wendy Lyons
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session, offered by the WaveWorks team, shared the latest tips and tricks in general navigation, HR, and Finance. Participants learned how to use overlooked or hidden navigation options, sharpened their search techniques, and picked up practical pointers for recruiting, expenses, and procurement. The session also covered troubleshooting and answers to frequently asked questions.
 

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Tulane IT Research Technology Delivery Overview of Researcher Services
 

• Speakers: Stephen Oglesby, Carl Baribault, & Hideki Fujioka
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session gave a broad overview of the research technology support and services available to Tulane researchers. Topics included data storage options, research software, and consultation services for specialized needs, along with how Tulane IT can help streamline workflows and bolster research projects.
 

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Designing Your System of Self-Care
 

• Speakers: Rebecca Otten & Catheryn Major
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: Participants mapped where their energy was going across various dimensions of self-care, from boundaries and workload to joy and connection, and pinpointed areas ripe for change. They brainstormed possible solutions and committed to concrete shifts they could start right away, with no extra time, budget, or permission required. Drawing on life design, design thinking, Liberating Structures, and coaching methodologies, participants left with a practical self-care worksheet, a felt sense of their own patterns, and facilitation tools to use in their personal and professional lives.

TulaneAI Fundamentals: A Hands-On Introduction
 

• Speakers: Blaine Fisher
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: TulaneAI is Tulane University’s AI platform for faculty and staff. This hands-on workshop helped participants get comfortable navigating the platform and choosing the right options for their work. The session covered starting and managing conversations, choosing between AI models and why some suit certain tasks better, and why TulaneAI is the preferred environment for university work, including responsible use of university information. Participants also got hands-on experience with features like Personal Agents, Projects, Skills, and working with files.
 

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Building the Tulane Vision - Diving Deep into Core Values
 

• Speakers: Bridget Fish & Heather Seaman
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: Tulane’s core values embody our university, support our mission, drive our decisions, and inspire us to do more and be more. In this workshop, LBC Associate Director for Leadership Learning Bridget Fish and LBC Executive Director Heather Seaman explored what Tulane’s values mean to our community. Using LEGO Serious Play, participants engaged in creative thinking and conversation to build a shared vision of what those values look like in action at Tulane.

Note: This session was offered twice. The same content was also presented on Wednesday, 9/23, on the Downtown campus.

Getting to Know the Employee Assistance Program
 

• Speakers: Georganna Sisk, Lucet
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session introduced Tulane’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which gives employees and their household members free, confidential access to a full range of work/life services. Participants learned about the services Lucet EAP offers, including individual, family, and couples’ counseling; family and caregiving referrals (pet, child, and elder care); legal and financial consultations; health and wellness referrals; and convenience services such as event planning, travel, household maintenance, relocation, housing, and more.
 

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Let’s Talk It Through: Applying Restorative Practices in Difficult Conversations
 

• Speakers: Matt Wegmann
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: Difficult conversations are inevitable in higher education. This interactive session introduced restorative practices as a framework for navigating challenging conversations with empathy, accountability, and respect. Participants explored practical strategies for listening, asking restorative questions, managing conflict, and creating space for meaningful dialogue, and left with tools to strengthen relationships, build trust, and support a more connected campus community.

Cultivating Connection & Community: 8 Key Strategies for Sustaining Welcoming Community at Tulane
 

• Speakers: Anneliese Singh & Shelby Norman
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Participants learned how to apply the 8 Key Strategies of Sustaining Welcoming Community to their workplace, with each strategy offering a pathway to learn, connect, and grow across differences in perspectives and experiences. Aligned with the Tulane employee core competency of Cultivating Connection & Community, the Office of Academic Excellence and Opportunity provided tools to help employees create respectful and welcoming environments where all feel supported.
 

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From Ideas to Impact: Navigating the Tulane University Innovation Institute
 

• Speakers: Jillian Delos Reyes & Jay England
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This interactive session introduced participants to the Tulane University Innovation Institute’s mission, programs, and resources for innovators and entrepreneurs across the Tulane community. Attendees explored the entrepreneurship and educational pathways available to faculty, researchers, students, and aspiring founders, from early-stage idea development and customer discovery to commercialization and venture creation.
 

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Speak Up, Show Up, Stay Smart: Navigating Political Expression at Tulane
 

• Speakers: Terina Walker, Tiffany Smith, & Nelle Noble
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Through practical guidance and interactive scenarios, this session helped Tulane employees and supervisors distinguish personal expression from university representation, respond appropriately to campaign-related activities, navigate protests and political discussions, and recognize when workplace conduct may raise discrimination or harassment concerns. Participants left with practical tools to protect free expression, encourage civil discourse, and maintain a respectful, welcoming, and productive workplace.
 

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From Spark to Success: Leading Transformative Change 
 

• Speakers: John Patrick
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: This seminar examined what drives transformative leaders’ success: how they move from idea to action, from action to engagement, from engagement to shared understanding, and from shared understanding to a movement with enough support to succeed. Participants discussed tools and techniques for achieving successful change in their personal and professional endeavors. The session provided a high-level introduction to change management concepts and resources for learning more.

Note: This session was offered twice. The same content was also presented on Friday, 9/25, on the Downtown campus.

Zoom AI Companion: The Features You Didn’t Know You Had
 

• Speakers: Blaine Fisher
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: This hands-on session explored Zoom AI Companion and the features that help users prepare for meetings, stay engaged, capture what matters, and turn conversations into follow-up actions. Participants saw how AI Companion catches you up on what you missed, surfaces decisions and action items, and generates summaries and Smart Recordings. The session also covered how it works with Team Chat, captures in-person and non-Zoom conversations, turns notes into emails and tasks, and powers AI Workflows, Webinar features, and search across past meetings, transcripts, and chats.
 

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From Burnout to Balance: Leading With Your Strengths
 

• Speakers: Bridget Fish
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Participants discovered how their Gallup CliftonStrengths can shape the way they recover from burnout, explored ways to elevate their well-being, and identified steps toward feeling more in control of their overall sense of success.
 

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Leading Your Leaders: How to Build Alignment and Gain Approval
 

• Speakers: Katherine DiLeo
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Gaining approval for an important project requires understanding your request, anticipating stakeholder priorities, and presenting information in a way that makes it easy for leaders to engage and decide. This practical session explored how to manage up and build alignment by tailoring your approach to your audience, identifying key decision-makers, mapping approvals, and establishing a clear project plan. Participants also learned how consistent communication, thoughtful preparation, and an understanding of individual leadership preferences build the trust needed to influence decisions over time.
 

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Just Because We Can AI, Should We AI? Judgment and Disclosure in Everyday Work
 

• Speakers: Melisa Balos & Lisa Hooper
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session focused on judgment: deciding when AI belongs in your work and when it does not, and how to disclose your use of it. Participants worked through everyday situations where AI can help and where its use can go wrong, then built a practical set of questions for deciding when and how to use AI, with the goal of using it on purpose.
 

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Building the Tulane Vision: Diving Deep into Core Values
 

• Speakers: Bridget Fish & Heather Seaman
• Format: In-Person Workshop
   

Session Overview: Tulane’s core values embody our university, support our mission, drive our decisions, and inspire us to do more and be more. In this workshop, LBC Associate Director for Leadership Learning Bridget Fish and LBC Executive Director Heather Seaman explored what Tulane’s values mean to our community. Using LEGO Serious Play, participants engaged in creative thinking and conversation to build a shared vision of what those values look like in action at Tulane.

Note: This session was offered twice. The same content was also presented on Monday, 9/21, on the Uptown campus.

Tulane Time: Nobody Asked If You Were Ready
 

• Speakers: Bonnie Canal
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: This session dug into why change can feel so heavy at your desk, and why that’s not your fault. Participants then learned a 5-point diagnostic to unstick broken workflows in 15 minutes and stop paying the “Hero Tax” on their PTO. Each left with one clear, bite-sized move to protect their sanity going forward.

Performance Management, Reimagined: A First Look at the 2026 Form
 

• Speakers: Javier Pineda
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This hands-on workshop prepared participants for Tulane’s new performance management process. It opened with an exclusive preview of the updated 2026 Performance Evaluation Form, then explored practical ways WaveWorks Talent Development tools help employees live out Tulane’s Core Competencies, including a live example of using AI Assist to draft a development goal. 
 

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Making Your Work and Digital Content Accessible
 

• Speakers: Sydney Cone, Bobbie Garner-Coffie, Rachael Kelly, Eunice Ofori, & Izabela Zbyrowska
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: Several offices at Tulane provide resources and training for creating accessible digital content. In this session, Rachael Kelly (University Communications & Marketing), Eunice Ofori (Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching), Sydney Cone (Office for Campus Accessibility), and Bobbie Garner-Coffie and Izabela Zbyrowska (IT/Innovative Learning Center) explained Tulane’s obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act to create accessible digital content. They also demonstrated current accessibility products and software and shared best practices and tips for every employee.
 

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Ask, Don't Tell: How Coaching Changes the Way You Lead
 

• Speakers: Stephanie Barksdale & Tara Desko
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: When someone on your team brings you a problem, solving it feels fast and helpful, but it trains your team to wait for you. This session introduced coaching as a different way to respond. Participants learned what coaching is, how to recognize a coachable moment, and five questions to start asking their teams. They watched a live coaching demonstration and practiced with a partner using a real situation from their own work. The session was designed for managers and mid-level leaders across Tulane.
 

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From Rework to Reuse: Small Habits That Make Everyday Work Easier
 

• Speakers: Denise Kidd
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Many teams lose time answering the same questions, searching for files, recreating instructions, or relying on the one person who knows “all the things.” This session introduced four simple, no-cost habits for turning everyday work into reusable answers, clearer resources, better handoffs, and captured lessons learned, all using tools teams already have. Participants learned to spot common signs of avoidable rework, applied the habits to their own workflows, and chose one practical next step.
 

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The AP Files: Uncovering the Secrets of the WaveWorks Invoice Lifecycle
 

• Speakers: Lisa Leblanc
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session gave WaveWorks users a practical overview of the Accounts Payable process and the full invoice lifecycle, from requisition and vendor submission to receipt matching and final payment. It covered how invoices are entered into WaveWorks, matched to purchase orders, and paid, including payment terms like Net 30 and methods such as ACH and check. Participants also learned how to check an invoice’s status, recognize common causes of payment delays, and know when to follow up or escalate. The session wrapped up with supplier onboarding, available AP reports, and key contacts for common concerns.
 

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Building a Culture of Professionalism
 

• Speakers: Julio Diaz, Nick Douglas, & Sharon Valle
• Format: Virtual Session (not recorded)
   

Session Overview: This session explored key elements of professionalism and strategies for fostering a workplace culture rooted in respect, accountability, and integrity. It covered three primary topics: Respect in the Workplace, Inappropriate Mutual Banter, and Bystander Intervention. Participants gained practical tools to improve communication, workplace conduct, and collaboration.

WaveWorks – Ask the Experts: Human Resources 
 

• Speakers: Shannon Aicklen (moderator), Lauren Adams, Heidi Colwell, & Jennifer Sensat
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Tulane’s WaveWorks HCM subject matter experts hosted a live, interactive Q&A featuring practical tips, guidance, and answers to real employee questions to help participants navigate WaveWorks with greater confidence.
 

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Tuition Waiver at Tulane: What You Need to Know
 

• Speakers: Roland Keller Jr. & Au-Trina Myles
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session covered how the tuition waiver benefit works from start to finish. HR Benefits walked through how employee eligibility is confirmed, including which programs qualify. Financial Aid explained which types of aid may be available in addition to the waiver and how eligible aid can be combined with the benefit. Participants left with a clear understanding of the process, available financial aid options, and who to contact along the way.
 

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Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Gatekeeper Training
 

• Speakers: Rachel Weber
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: In this 90-minute Wave of Support workshop, participants learned the QPR method to recognize and respond to suicide warning signs and received a certificate of completion.

Tech-It-Out: DigiTools for Creating, Collaborating, and Teaching at Tulane
 

• Speakers: Bobbie Garner-Coffie
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: This session provided an overview of the Digi-Tools Tulane offers for creating content, collaborating with colleagues and students, and supporting teaching, learning, and research. Participants learned where to find these tools, how to access them with their TU credentials, and how to incorporate them into everyday work, along with newly available tools, new features, and support and training resources.
 

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Future Ready with LinkedIn Learning: Accelerating Your Growth at Tulane
 

• Speakers: Anna Mrowka, LinkedIn Learning
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This interactive workshop helped staff unlock the full power of LinkedIn Learning to master new skills and shape their professional journeys at Tulane. Participants explored LinkedIn Learning’s AI coaching and role-play features, practicing real-world scenarios like giving and receiving feedback, presenting with impact, and navigating performance evaluations. The session also showed how LinkedIn uses job data to help learners spot skill trends and map out development paths tailored to their roles and aspirations.
 

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Beyond the Basic Survey - Tips, Tricks, and Creative Uses for Qualtrics
 

• Speakers: Lisa Dilks
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: This session explored creative uses of Qualtrics beyond basic surveys. Topics included linking surveys to keep answers anonymous while still recording participation, setting up automatic reminders and thank-you notes, and using attention checks. The session also covered running randomized survey experiments, scoring graded assessments or quizzes, and prescreening for participant characteristics before full data collection, along with ways to enhance Qualtrics’ basic survey features.
 

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You’ve Grown! Now What? Turning Leadership Development into Career Opportunity
 

• Speakers: Tiffany Smith (moderator), Dale Hall, Myriam Huet, Shannon Aicklen, Dwan Adams, & Bethany Branson
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: In this candid panel discussion, alumni from the Emerging Leaders Program and Intercultural Leadership Program shared how they translated their program experiences into promotions, new roles, expanded responsibilities, and other career opportunities. Panelists reflected on the successes, challenges, and pivotal decisions that shaped their journeys, including how to recognize and prepare for new opportunities, advocate for yourself, communicate your value, and navigate the growing pains of career advancement.
 

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WaveWorks – Ask the Experts: Finance

• Speakers: Michelle Illidge (moderator), Pavan Bachu, Pete Simonson, Jessica Bourne, Laney Armstrong, Derek Toten, & Lori Rigby
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: Tulane’s WaveWorks ERP subject matter experts hosted a live, interactive Q&A with practical tips, helpful guidance, and answers to real employee questions to help participants navigate WaveWorks Finance with greater confidence.
 

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Developing Charity: Campus, City, and the Future of Downtown Tulane
 

• Speakers: Jeffrey Stolier
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This presentation provided an update on design and construction progress at Charity Hospital, featuring in-development visuals of academic spaces, common areas, and amenities. It also positioned Charity as a transformative campus and civic project, one that will help define Tulane’s Downtown Campus, connect existing and future university assets, and catalyze broader development toward Canal Street, Poydras Street, the lake, and the river.
 

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Work Smarter Together: Leveraging Microsoft Teams for Collaboration, Communication, and Connection
 

• Speakers: Shanna Harper
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: This interactive session explored how to use Microsoft Teams as a central platform to drive operational excellence and streamline everyday work. Aligned with Tulane’s Competency Framework, it went beyond basic chat to show how Teams can support purposeful collaboration, productivity, and connection across departments. Participants learned practical strategies for channel organization, task management, and asynchronous collaboration, and left with digital habits to reduce email clutter, improve team transparency, and build stronger cross-departmental bridges.
 

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From Spark to Success: Leading Transformative Change 
 

• Speakers: John Patrick
• Format: In-Person Session
   

Session Overview: This seminar examined what drives transformative leaders’ success: how they move from idea to action, from action to engagement, from engagement to shared understanding, and from shared understanding to a movement with enough support to succeed. Participants discussed tools and techniques for achieving successful change in their personal and professional endeavors. The session provided a high-level introduction to change management concepts and resources for learning more.

Note: This session was offered twice. The same content was also presented on Tuesday, 9/22, on the Uptown campus.

Explore Globus for Research Data Transfer
 

• Speakers: Stephen Oglesby, Carl Baribault, & Hideki Fujioka
• Format: Virtual Session
   

Session Overview: This session showed how Globus is the recommended solution for transferring research data, from small files to large datasets, between Tulane-approved systems like Box, Qumulo Central Storage, workstations, and Cypress. Participants got a first-hand look at how the tool streamlines workflows and file migration, with plenty of time for Q&A.
 

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AI: What It Could, Can, and Will Soon Do for You
 

• Speakers: Knud Berthelsen
• Format: Hybrid Session (in person & virtual)
   

Session Overview: This session first covered what today’s AI tools can do that last year’s could not: remember who you are, work from your own files, search the web, and reason through a problem. Live demonstrations then showed the more advanced side, including AI that knows your calendar and files, runs jobs on a schedule, and finishes multistep tasks on its own, along with everyday uses like trip planning and family calendars. The session closed with a discussion of where AI is heading and what that might mean.
 

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