What is Professional Development?
Traditional professional development opportunities take two forms: 1) enhancing the skills necessary to carry out one’s current responsibilities effectively; and 2) learning about new areas to support growth for future roles.
What makes Professional Development at PLU unique?
Our approach recognizes something fundamental: that effectiveness and satisfaction at work are deeply connected to overall well-being, sense of purpose, and personal growth. We’re taking an integrative and holistic approach that connects the dots between different aspects of your professional life. Some of the opportunities we offer may help you grow in your current role, others may support your thinking about new possibilities, and still others may simply ground your understanding of different aspects of the university by connecting you with others.
Jump to sections:
Events for All PLU Employees (Faculty & Staff)
Teaching Resources
Leadership Resources
Affinity & Community Resources
Wellbeing Resources
Asynchronous Resources
PD Days
Fall Professional Development Days (Save the Dates)
- Tuesday, 10/20
- Wednesday, 10/21
- Thursday, 10/22
We are currently beginning to plan for specific sessions! Please let us know if there are topics you’d love to see and/or if you or someone you’d nominate would be a great presenter by completing this brief form.
More information, including the full schedule and registration link, will be available in the coming weeks.
Spring Professional Development Days (Save the Dates)
- Tuesday, 3/2
- Wednesday, 3/3
- Thursday, 3/4
Coming soon! We are in the process of creating a digital hub for PD Days sessions materials and recordings of selected sessions.
PLU Events
PLU All-Campus Events
There are several events throughout the year that are “all-call” opportunities, meaning all hands are welcome and encouraged to engage, promote, and/or implement these events! Throughout the year, you will receive emails with more information about how you can volunteer, attend, or otherwise support these events!
Although these may not seem like traditional “PD”, through these volunteer and engagement opportunities, employees can gain new and deepened University connections, sometimes with colleagues they don’t get to interact with all the time, and new skills by trying on different roles to support these events.
Fall Preview Day
Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | 10:00am – 3:30pm
LUTE Welcome: New Student Orientation
Dates: Friday, September 4 – Tuesday, September 8, 2026
We welcome new Lutes to campus during LUTE Welcome! Please keep a look out for new Lutes and their supporters and help welcome them to campus! If you have questions about NSO, please email engage@plu.edu.
Convocation
Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
The ceremony takes on special meaning as students convene together in Olson Auditorium to participate in the first commemoration of their academic experience at PLU. All employees are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Convocation schedule for Tuesday, September 8, 2026:
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9:30 a.m. — Faculty begin to line up at Mortvedt Library for processional down the hill
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9:45 a.m. — University offices close to allow all employees to attend Convocation
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10:00 a.m. — Convocation ceremony
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11:15 a.m. — University offices reopen
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12:15 p.m. — Classes begin
Homecoming & Family Week
Dates: Friday, October 9 – Sunday, October 11, 2026
Bjug Day of Giving
Dates: Tuesday, October 13 – Wednesday, 14, 2026
Spring Commencement
Dates: Thursday, May 27 & Friday, May 28, 2027
Dialogue Groups
Seminar & Reading Groups
Seminar and reading groups are professional development cohorts that meet ~monthly for a semester or full academic year for discussion about a topic or theme.
“Well That Wasn’t So Bad After All”: Becoming More Conflict-Forward
Lead by Dream Gonzales, Community Director, Academic & Student ExperienceThrough a series of readings and discussions, we will explore what it means to become a more conflict-forward professional, moving forward in conflict with openness, confidence, and goals of restoration. We will:
- Reflect on our personal understanding of conflict and approach to conflict navigation/resolution
- Explore the role of check-ins and feedback as a tool for relationship building before, during, and after conflict
- Engage concepts of restorative communication and practices
This group will meet once a month for the fall semester. Each meeting will be 1.15 hours with nibbles and sips provided.
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
In a world without white people, what does it mean to be Black?
One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charlie Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he’s now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn’t even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old left behind by her white mother and step-family.
Together we will:
- Reflect on our social identities and how we show up in spaces
- Examine the characters, and then ourselves, through the lens of Racial Identity Development
- Analyze how white supremacy culture shows up in this book as well as at PLU.
- Reimagine PLU as a university
Topics on Tap
Topics on Tap
Topics on Tap are monthly, casual conversation with PLU staff, while you enjoy a beverage of your choice! Join us for community engagement and learning together. All Topics on Tap will be at 4:00p at 208 Garfield. Nibbles provided; drinks on your own. Register HERE
Interactive Book Report: Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature (with Magdalena Stickel, Assistant Director of DJS)
Thursday, October 22
What can nature teach us about thinking differently and dreaming beyond our current labels, systems, and status quo? No need to have read the book, no need to be queer, this meet-up will be a conversational reflection prompted by tidbits from Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian’s Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature.
Are We Cooked Chat? (with Dream Gonzales, Community Director)
Tuesday, November 3
Do you advise/supervise students? Join us for a conversation on the laughs (and sometimes tears) that comes with working with students in this capacity. We’ll chat through challenges, points of pride, and strategies on finding authentic connection with students while working in an advisory/supervisory role.
Becoming CRITICAL CREATIVES: Scholar Outside the Lines (with Dr. Jes Takla, Assistant Provost for Strategic Initiatives)
Wednesday, December 2
Everyday creativity, or small “little-c” creative acts and daily problem solving, is a skill that anyone can cultivate! When applied with a critical (i.e., DJS-oriented) intention, everyday creativity can steward positive change for ecological and social justice and support mutual flourishing. Join us as we “scholar outside the lines” in this fun, interactive, and creative Topics on Tap session!
Enneagram
Enneagram Lunch & Learn
Enneagram Lunch & Learn is a weekly, casual lunch conversation group that explores the Enneagram as a tool for personal and professional growth and interpersonal relationship building. The Enneagram is a powerful tool that helps us understand our motivations, core beliefs, and unconscious patterns that drive our behavior. There are 9 core Types; one of the Enneagram Types is dominant for each of us. Topics in this lunch series have included identifying your Type, team dynamics and Types, and other creative explorations of this model.
Email Jes Takla (jes.takla@plu.edu) to be added to the weekly Google Calendar invitation.
Queer Affinity
Queer Affinity Programs
Affinity spaces are for folks who share a particular social identity. In this case, these programs are for Lutes who identify as LGBTQIA2S+. There are biweekly opportunities to engage. Queer Coffee/Walks, for faculty and staff only, once per month. And Queer Connections, for students, faculty, and staff once per month.
Queer Coffee has been an employee affinity space where faculty and staff can meet monthly! Sometimes gathering at various locations across campus for a warm beverage and sometimes taking it to the campus via a Queer Walk, these opportunities provide space to gather, connect, and celebrate all that is queer! Email Magdalena Stickel (mks@plu.edu) for more information and to be added to the Google Calendar invitation.
First Queer Connections: Friday, September 11, 2026 from 11am-12:30pm.
Come join us for a queer meet and greet, enjoy some treats, and find out how you can get involved with PLU’s queer community. This is the first queer program of the year and an awesome way to wrap up the first week of school! We welcome our new and returning 2SLGBTQIA+ students, staff, and faculty to join us. Accessibility: We will be in the Center for DJS, where there is a variety of seating and bathrooms across the hall. Low level music may be played. The space is accessible by ramp, stairs, and elevator. For questions please email djs@plu.edu
Save the Dates for Upcoming Queer Connections:
- October 11 (topic & location coming soon!)
- Week of November 9th (for Gender & Sexuality Week — date, topic, and location coming soon!)
Fun Groups
Employee Social Groups
Employee social groups span a range of fun topics that bridge building community for social wellbeing with other topics of interest, such as: creativity, physical movement, board games, and more! Email Magdalena Stickel (mks@plu.edu) for more information about these opportunities!
We’re sketchy people doing sketchy things. Which includes drawing and moves beyond “I can’t draw (& other lies I’ve [been] told about creativity).” We embrace a more expansive understanding of creativity and explore how, through be(com)ing critical creatives, we can use everyday creativity in our daily lives for joyful connection and purposeful support of diversity, justice, and sustainability.
Open to all PLU staff and faculty. A casual moment to take a mid-week pause and stretch our sketching muscles in company every 2 weeks. No drawing experience necessary! Hosted by Magdalena & Jes. This is a great opportunity to explore creative ideas for work projects and lean into be(com)ing critical creatives! Supplies provided but feel free to bring your own. If it’s too cold or rainy for Red Square we will meet in the AUC grey area. Email mks@plu.edu to join the gcal invite or with any questions
A monthly staff/faculty board game meet-up. We will have games, but feel free to bring your own too! This is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues from across campus who you might not have met before, a perfect team-building space for future cross-campus partnerships! Email mks@plu.edu with any questions or to join the gcal invite
Silent Book Club is a global community of readers with 2,200+ chapters in 70 countries. There’s no assigned reading — it’s bring your own book. More than a million members gather in person, online, and in destinations around the world to read together and swap stories. All readers are welcome! The PLU chapter will meet twice each month, with one on the first Tuesday morning of the month and the other on the 3rd Wednesday evening of the month. Email mks@plu.edu with any questions or to join the gcal invite.
Blue Zones
Blue Zones Programs
Blue Zones programs are sponsored by the PLU Wellbeing Committee. These weekly events or on-your-own opportunities support PLU’s designation as a Blue Zones Workplace, part of the Blue Zones Project Parkland-Spanaway. Blue Zones Project is a community-wide, evidence-based approach to improving health and well-being that makes healthier choices easier for everyone living in Parkland-Spanaway.
Join us for weekly yoga and/or walking moai programs or engage in our parking challenge to get more steps on your own!
Foundations Yoga for PLU students, faculty, & staff. Free class. Beginners welcome.
Tuesdays 12:15 to 12:45 pm
We are thrilled that one of PLU’s own, Rachel Howard with the COHP, will be partnering with Blue Zones in leading the 30 min Yoga Series being offered every ‘Tuesday’ at 12:15-12:45 pm.
The upcoming yoga series will incorporate breathwork and meditation, alongside a gentle yoga sequence. A survey will be provided to attendees, pertaining to yoga styles and offerings. Remember, the practice of yoga is the practice of grace and openness. Therefore, there are no wrong answers. Merely curiosity on how we can meet the interests, grow excitement, and have some fun.
Yoga is for the mind, body, and soul – and all are welcome, whether you are new to yoga, or an experienced yogi. The hardest part is to make it to the mat (or chair), but we are stronger together and your presence is magical. Rest assured that this 30 minutes of wellness is restorative, not high endurance. No need for athletic gear, as you can return to your regular schedule without fearing the effects of an intensive (and smelly) workout.
Learn more on the PLU Calendar.
Wednesday Walking Moai: meet at the Martin Luther Statue in Red Square at a new time at 12:15 pm every Wednesday and join PLU colleagues in a 30-minute stroll around campus. What is a moai? Pronounced “mo-eye”, it is a social support group that originated in Okinawa, Japan and it translates to “meeting for a common purpose.”
Learn more on the PLU Calendar.
Join PLU staff and faculty in a friendly Blue Zones Parking Challenge! Park in one of our two designated parking spots to get in a few extra steps on the way to your office. Fill out this form when you use one of the spots. Each month, Blue Zones will select a recipient of a prize. You can enter more than once – one entry per day that you park in a Blue Zones parking spot. There are two designated spots: One in Morken and one in Mordtvet lots (pictured in form linked here –>). Use this form to submit your entries!