Q&A: Amy Levine on professional development

Learn how to explore, access, create opportunities for you, your team

By JAMIE ABELL on August 8, 2024

Roberta, Amy and Macy in a line in front of a window
The professional development team at TU (from left), Roberta Adagbedu, Amy Levine and Macei Horne, is excited to help employees on their professional development journeys. (Lauren Castellana | Towson University)

Amy Levine (pronounced lah-VINE) knows all about opportunity. In fact, Levine, the training and organizational development coordinator in the Office of Human Resources (OHR), and her newly evolved team create opportunities every day for employees to grow professionally and personally. Below, she shares insights on the importance of professional development and how to find opportunities for you and your team.

Why is professional development important?

Professional development is a gateway to growth by opening yourself to more opportunities as an employee at TU. You can hone your current skills and build new ones while networking with people across the university and beyond. Through workshops, classes and more, you can put what you learn to good use. You can achieve goals that you’ve set for your team and for yourself.

What can I learn from professional development?

We have so many workshops, classes, webinars and more for people to choose from! I conduct Clifton Strengths workshops for faculty and staff that focus on team bonding and building better relationships through each other’s strengths. We also offer workshops that support soft skills related to working in an office like navigating conflict in the workplace, giving and receiving feedback and setting boundaries. My team and I also coordinate with partners across campus to provide training on supervising employees, hiring student employees and more.

TU also offers free access to LinkedIn Learning—online, video-based instruction for professionals to develop new business, software, technology and creative skills. You can connect your LinkedIn account with LinkedIn Learning, so when you complete trainings and earn badges, you can put them in your profile. Also, the SafeColleges platform isn’t only for mandatory FERPA and Title IX training at TU—you also have access to their library of instruction. Topics in SafeColleges range from CPR to communications to ethics training.

How can employees find professional development opportunities?

Opportunities hit your inbox every day in TU Today, so make sure you check them out. You can also access workshops and training any time through the professional development website. Here, you will find links to the OHR training calendar, LinkedIn Learning, SafeColleges, on-demand trainings and so much more.

Through the training calendar, you can view all our upcoming workshops that are open to you. I also encourage people to with any questions!

I can’t find any professional development relative to me or my team. What do I do?

. I work with my team and departments across the university to customize sessions based on requests so we can make it applicable to your team. We can leverage the training calendar to cater something specifically to your needs or brainstorm different ideas for sessions so everyone can benefit.

What advice do you have for faculty and staff at TU?

I’m sending a big shoutout to the people already taking advantage of the training calendar and the opportunities available to them! There’s so many ways you can find and develop your niche, and professional development is just a piece of that. Share the opportunities with your team and colleagues!

Professional development opportunities also go beyond learning the topic. You never know who you’re going to share the table with, and, because of that, you never know what leaps your career will take. Opportunity abounds at TU.

Kick off the upcoming academic year by enhancing your skills. Visit the professional development website to learn more about all the opportunities afforded to you by being a TU employee.

Register for a workshop today!

Amy, Macy and Roberta are excited to help you and your team with your professional development journeys. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.

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