UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI)

The UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI) is a unique, experiential professional development program committed to enabling the full participation, success, and advancement of woman-identified professionals at the University. The program is open to all employees who support and are committed to this mission. Participants represent faculty, academic personnel and staff, people managers and non-people managers.

The program was created by the President’s office and the Systemwide Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (SACSW) and offered by Systemwide Human Resources in partnership with Coro Northern California and SACSW. UC Berkeley's participation in this program is sponsored through a joint effort from UC Berkeley People & Culture, UC Berkeley's EVCP office and the Vice Provost for the Faculty.

2023-2024 Program Overview

The UC WI schedule coincides with UC’s academic/fiscal calendar. For our northern campuses, three cohorts of 30 participants come together for four interactive, all-day sessions, jointly led by a Coro Northern California facilitator and a UC Facilitator. UC facilitators are past graduates of the program who share their experience and expertise and add a UC perspective.

The 2023/24 program will be delivered fully virtually.

Participant Outcomes

The program has been designed to:

  • Cultivate a professional network that spans the UC system
  • Provide access to top UC leaders to learn about their diverse leadership approaches and journeys
  • Strengthen skills and confidence through hands-on practice with a range of tools in the areas of:
    • Building Strategic Relationships
    • Actively communicating your value to the organization'
    • Developing and delivering a compelling narrative regarding one’s professional accomplishments and vision
    • Advocating for your own needs at work
    • Increase awareness of diverse UC career paths
    • Coach others to demonstrate their value to the organization

Participant Criteria for the Berkeley Campus

  • Is a current mid-career faculty, academic personnel, or staff member from the UC Berkeley campus
  • Has a minimum of 10 years of professional experience, including 2 years at UC Berkeley
  • Demonstrated potential for advancement
  • Is a woman-identified professional or supports woman-identified professionals and seeks to learn concepts that improve their effectiveness at work and hear about the career journeys of established UC leaders
  • Represents the diversity of our campus
  • Represents different functions and departments of our campus
  • Is able to commit to the program with full attendance and participation at all sessions
  • Is able to complete intersession assignments which require up to two hours between seminars
  • Has the written support of their supervisor

NOTE: Eligible staff employees are those who meet the requirements for the Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) program. This includes PPSM (PSS or MSP) employees and Teamsters (CX) employees.

Participation Expectations

  • Participate fully - The UC Women’s Initiative is experiential and relies heavily on full participant contribution
  • Attend all program sessions in their entirety - Locations will be charged for participants who do not complete the program
  • Complete Pre-Work and Pre-Program Survey before the first day of their assigned cohort
  • Complete up to 2 hours of additional work assigned between program sessions

Program Costs

  • The program fee is $1,250 per participant. This fee covers virtual program delivery and all program resources, tools, and support.
  • The cost of participation in this program is covered by a joint effort from UC Berkeley People & Culture, UC Berkeley's EVCP Office, and the Vice Provost for the Faculty.
    • Upon returning to in-person delivery method, we expect the fee to increase to it's original $1,950 per participant or higher based on the cost of in-person delivery.

Program Overview

The UC WI schedule coincides with UC's academic/fiscal calendar. We will offer three cohorts with the nomination and selection process running February - April of 2023.

UC Berkeley has been allotted 12 spots (which includes 3 faculty, 3 academic personnel and 6 staff).

Monday, February 27, 2023 UC Berkeley nomination process opens (click here for nomination form)
Friday March 24, 2023 UC Berkeley nomination process closes
Monday, April 17, 2023 Nominees will be notified of their selection status
Monday, April 24, 2023 The UC Systemwide Talent Management team sends initial participant communication w/cohort selection survey by the end of the day
Friday, May 5, 2023 Participant survey responses are due to UC Systemwide Talent Management team 
May 8 - May 11, 2023 UC Systemwide Talent Management places participants into cohorts
May 12 - May 15, 2023 Final cohort placement communicated to participants and locations
September - November 2023

Cohort 1
January - March 2024 Cohort 2
April - June 2024 Cohort 3

Note: UC Berkeley participates in the North Cohorts.

UC Berkeley Nomination Process

In order to be considered as a UC Berkeley candidate for UC WI, all nominees must follow UC Berkeley's nomination process. Please review the information below before submitting your nomination. 

Each UC location is allotted a specific number of seats in each cohort to ensure systemwide representation. Each UC location manages their own nomination process to align with the systemwide nomination timeline. UC Berkeley has been allotted 12 participants (which includes 3 faculty, 3 academic personnel and 6 staff).

Nomination Form Details

Nominations can be submitted via this form. The nomination form will ask for the following information:

Nominee Information

  • Name, Title, Department, Classification (Faculty, Staff, or Academic Personnel), Primary/Payroll Title and Years of Service
    • Primary/Payroll title can be found in UCPath and UC Berkeley Regional Portal, People Cards.
    • In UCPath, you will see your primary/payroll title on the main screen in the top left hand blue box.
    • In the UC Berkeley Regional Portal, People Cards, you will see your primary/payroll title listed directly below your name.
  • Nominee responses to questions via Google Form 

In 500 words or less per question

    • Please share why you would like to participate in this program at this time and how the UCWI provides a unique opportunity for your career growth?
    • How will you contribute to the campus and other women-identifying professionals upon completion of the program?
    • How will you balance the time commitment to this program in addition to your work responsibilities and other committees/projects that you are a part of?
  • Letter of Support
    • In 500 words or less, please describe the following: 

Why do you think your nominee should participate in UC WI?

How might your nominee benefit from the program?

How will UC Berkeley benefit if your nominee is selected to participate?

* Note: Please prepare this information before filling out the form to avoid any accidental incomplete submissions!

Nomination Selection Process

This year's selection committee will meet to review all nominations. Selection criteria will be based on the following questions: 

  • Has a compelling case been made for why this potential participant should participate, including why now?
  • Is it clear how the potential participant would benefit from participation, including whether the individual seems ready to quickly integrate lessons learned into career growth or change?
  • Has a compelling case been made for how our campus might benefit from this potential participant attending the program?

Note: People who were nominated for the program previously and not chosen can be re-nominated using the current nomination form.

PLEASE NOMINATE YOURSELF HERE BY FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023.

For more information regarding the UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI) Systemwide Leadership Collaborative, visit: https://www.ucop.edu/human-resources/womens-initiative/.

Nomination Form

Click here!

2023/2024 Program Resources and Tools

UC WI Resource Links

Past UCWI Program Participants

UC Berkeley Participant Roster

Systemwide Participant Roster

Internal Contacts

Deepak Sharma 

Learning & Development Specialist

deepak_sharma@berkeley.edu

Angela Stopper

Chief Learning Officer & Director of People and Organization Development

astopper@berkeley.edu

Program Contact

Terry Barton

Director, Systemwide Career and Development Programs

teresa.barton@ucop.edu

(510) 587-6297