VPFA Leadership Excellence and Development Series

Jamie Moffitt

 

"As supervisors it can be both challenging and rewarding to lead teams. Research shows that the care and commitment that we all take in managing staff is absolutely critical to the success and well-being of our employees and the institution. For some time, I’ve been envisioning a program that could support and strengthen the skills of VPFA supervisors to manage the complex challenges of leadership across a wide variety of operational areas. I’m excited to share that vision has come to fruition. The VPFA Leadership Excellence and Development Series (LEADS) has been developed as an investment in our supervisory staff to help each of us thrive in our roles as team leaders."

Jamie Moffitt, Senior VPFA and CFO

Training Content

The pilot cohort of LEADS was held January-June 2023, and the sixth cohort of supervisors will start a new round of training in July 2025, meeting monthly through December 2025.

VPFA LEADS was designed with three areas of focus:

  • Soft skill development such as effective communication, engagement, and conflict resolution,
  • Technical skill development in areas such as labor relations, including information about UO-specific labor contracts, that supervisors need to be effective in their roles, and
  • Networking opportunities for supervisors across different departments.

Each cohort is guided through seven skill-development sessions over the course of six months. The content areas are as follows:

July 2025

Half-day sessions (monthly: august through december 2025)

Half day: Orientation to VPFA LEADS

Half day: Effective Communication

Full day: Situational Leadership Essentials 

Employee Engagement 
Conflict Resolution 
Process Improvement 
Change Management 
Employee and Labor Relations (ELR) and Performance Management

Training Dates for July - December 2025

All sessions are scheduled as in-person training--there are no remote participation options at this point. Full-day sessions will include breakfast and lunch. Half-day sessions will include breakfast. These are the dates for the July-December 2025 LEADS sessions--it is unlikely but possible that these dates will change.

  • Wednesday, July 9: 8:30am-5pm
  • Thursday, July 10: 8:30am-5pm
  • Wednesday, August 13: 8:30am-1pm
  • Wednesday, September 10: 8:30am-1pm
  • Wednesday, October 15: 8:30am-1pm
  • Wednesday, November 12: 8:30am-1pm
  • Wednesday, December 10: 8:30am-1pm

Apply for the LEADS Summer 2025 cohort by end of day on Friday, June 6
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Which VPFA (Finance and Administration) supervisors are required to participate in the LEADS training?

Content is designed to be interactive and valuable for supervisors in every stage of their career, from emerging managers to seasoned leaders. VPFA LEADS will will continue to be offered twice yearly to allow all VPFA supervisors an opportunity to participate. See the VPFA org chart to understand more about the departments that are part of the portfolio.

How much does the program cost?

There is no department cost for this program.

I am a supervisor in the VPFA portfolio. I want to participate but I am unable to attend all of the scheduled trainings. May I still sign up?

Participants are asked to commit to attendance at all sessions. If you have an unavoidable conflict with one of the sessions, please let us know. Depending on which session you are unable to attend, we may be able to offer a make-up opportunity at a later date.

Is there a remote or hybrid attendance option?

Sessions are currently being held in person. A fully remote training program will be held in the future to accommodate VPFA supervisors whose workplaces are not located on the Eugene campus and are therefore unable to attend a the training series in person.

How do I apply for the program?

Please complete the online application by end of day on Friday, June 6.

Who has participated in the LEADS trainings to date?

Over 100 supervisors in the Finance and Administration portfolio have completed LEADS so far. If you would like an idea of people in your area who have completed the training, reach out to Debbie Sharp at dsharp@uoregon.edu.

Who do I contact if I have other questions?

If you have further questions about VPFA LEADS, contact Deborah Butler at deborahb@uoregon.edu or 541-346-3046.

People standing and sitting in a well-lit room with big windows; people are talking and smiling in groups and pairs
LEADS training participants in an engagement exercise
Erik Girvan (white man with brown hair and goatie) leading a conflict management session; slide in the background reads Designing a Constructive Conflict Management Strategy
Erik Girvan of the School of Law leads a session on conflict management strategies.
Two men and two women standing talking with papers in their hands; sunlight streams in windows to their left
Members of the summer 2024 cohort completing an exercise
Situational Leadership groupwork - people stand and sit while one writes on a flipchart
Workshopping Situational Leadership concepts
Groups of 6 people seated around tables; Deborah Butler at the front of the room speaking on a microphone; Process Improvement slide projected behind her
Deborah Butler welcomes participants to a new session
LEADS participants standing in a hallway talking animatedly in pairs
LEADS participants in a Situational Leadership exercise
Room of people seated at desks working on laptops or paper assignments; some talking animatedly; one man with glasses standing observing.
Chuck Kalnbach, Senior Instructor in Management, College of Business, in a Change Management exercise
Jon Marchetta, AVP for FASS, leads the group in a session on process improvement
Jon Marchetta, AVP of FASS, leads the group in an exercise on process management 
Woman in red shirt and black jacket addresses a room of people seated in groups of four
Jamie Moffitt, Senior VPFA and CFO, welcomes the second LEADS cohort in July 2023
Groups of people deep in discussion looking at flipcharts
Groups discuss Situational Leadership principles in January 2024
LEADS participants work through conflict management scenarios
LEADS participants work through conflict management scenarios
Groups of supervisors reflect on and discuss employee engagement tools
Groups of LEADS supervisors discuss employee engagement tools
VPFA Jamie Moffitt opens the LEADS training session: woman in a black jacket and grey trousers at the front of the room talking to about 20 seated people with their backs to the camera
VPFA Jamie Moffitt welcomes the first LEADS cohort in January 2023
Six seated LEADS participants looking intently at laptop screens and documents while completing a change management simulation
LEADS participants work through a simulation on change management
Woman with long sandy hair and a gray jacket addresses a seated group; slide reads Engagement - What does this even mean?
Sandee Bybee (HR) talks with the group about employee engagement

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