Certificate Programs
Communication
Communication Certificate Program
EVERY FRIDAY, FALL QUARTER
Humanities (2) and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
The Division of Graduate Studies offers graduate students a Professional Communication Certificate Program (GSPCCP or PCCP), consisting of a sequence of classes on how to communicate effectively in one’s academic discipline and profession, use technology tools to enhance communication, improve job prospects, and build a professional network. Participants will create personal, professional WordPress websites, create or update LinkedIn profiles, create presentations about their research, and give their presentations at the final meeting on December 6. The program takes place every Friday of the fall quarter, 1:00–4:30 p.m. Pacific Time, in person in the Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building (corner of McLaughlin and Hagar).
Certification of completion of the GSPCCP will be provided by the Division of Graduate Studies. The UCSC Academic Senate Graduate Council has reviewed and approved the program, and completion of the program is recorded as an official credential on your student record.
On this page
- Principles of Conduct, Introductions, Syllabus and Desired Outcomes, and Networking
- Writing Psychology
- Curating Your Digital Reputation
- WordPress Website Design
- Online Platforms for Presenting Research
- Public Speaking
- Slide Design
- Final Presentations, Certificates Awarded
Principles of Conduct, Introductions, Syllabus and Desired Outcomes, and Networking
Sonya Newlyn, Professional Development Coordinator and GSPCCP Organizer, Graduate Division
September 27 | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
In the first meeting, all participants will contribute to the course principles of conduct for all meetings, go over the syllabus and desired outcomes, introduce one another, and network with one another.
Sonya Newlyn provides professional development programming for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for the Graduate Division. In addition to the Professional Communication Certificate Program, she organizes the winter quarter Graduate Student Leadership Certificate Program and schedules individual professional development events available to all graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. She also organizes the annual Grad Slam and the Graduate Symposium. She received her master’s degree in English literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Emory University, where she also minored in anthropology.
Writing Psychology
Andrea Seeger, Lecturer, Social Justice, Literature, Writing
Oakes College
October 4 and October 11 | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
Makeup sessions: October 14 (Graduate Student Commons) and 23 (Zoom)
Sometimes we can be our severest writing critics and biggest hindrances to writing success. Learn how to overcome psychological barriers and start writing in these two consecutive interactive workshops.
Andrea Seeger received a B.A. in Literature from UC Santa Cruz, an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, and an A.B.D. in English from UC Berkeley. Andrea has been teaching literature, writing, and social justice for over 20 years. She has taught writing and rhetoric in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric at CU Boulder and literature at UC Berkeley. She currently teaches social justice at UCSC’s Oakes College and writing through UCSC’s Writing Program. She is also a lecturer at Cabrillo College, where she teaches English. Andrea is deeply committed to student-centered learning and equitable access to quality education. Andrea’s scholarship focuses on the intersections of racial and gender formation in 20th-century American literature, and her work is deeply invested in social justice.
Curating Your Digital Reputation
Lisa Nielsen, Senior Director of Marketing and Creative Services, University Advancement
October 18, 1:00-4:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
Makeup sessions: October 16 (Zoom) and 30 (Graduate Student Commons)
Your digital reputation refers to your presence on the internet, on social media platforms, and on personal and worksite websites. Learn tips on how to distinguish yourself from the crowd and create a lasting impression in an evolving digital communications landscape. Lisa will also guide the cohort in an interactive update of Campus Directory profiles.
Lisa Nielsen has over 25 years of design and marketing experience in the private sector and with non-profits. From working at Apple Computer as an Art Director to running her own firm in San Francisco for 15 years, she knows what it means to be a good communicator and marketer. From startups to Fortune 500 clients, her adventures in marketing have culminated in a depth of knowledge that she likes to share. As senior marketing director of University Advancement, Lisa oversees a creative team of writers, videographers, and designers.
WordPress Website Design
Jason Chafin, Senior Web Developer, University Advancement
October 25, 1:00-4:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
Makeup sessions: October 17 (Graduate Student Commons) and November 6 (Zoom)
Professional websites can boost your reputation and aid your networking and job search. UCSC provides free access to WordPress (with several design templates) to faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students. Get design tips from Jason and get started using WordPress to make a blog or static website to showcase your graduate work!
Jason Chafin graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1993 with a bachelor’s in environmental studies. He earned his master of environmental studies from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and spent over a decade as an environmental planner. He switched gears in 2010 and became a web developer, working primarily with WordPress. He’s been with University Relations as the senior web developer in the Communications and Marketing Department since 2017.
Online Platforms for Presenting Research
Kayla Isenberg, Senior Director, Digital Engagement, University Advancement
November 1, 1:00-2:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259 (Kayla presenting via Zoom)
Makeup session: November 12 (Zoom)
Ready to promote your research on social media? This seminar will help you learn how! Explore how to promote your research and expertise on the text-based social media platforms Threads, Mastodon, and others. We’ll cover how to use each platform, how each works, how to communicate effectively on each platform, and how to pick the right platform for you and your goals.
Kayla Isenberg is the senior director of digital engagement for UC Santa Cruz, where she runs digital strategy for the main campus social media properties and advises on divisional and other social media accounts across campus. She has over 15 years of experience in digital marketing and social media, working for a variety of companies, from startups to Fortune 500. She was listed on the Forbes 40 under 40 list for her work at Warner Bros Records. In her work in higher education, she has won multiple CASE awards for her work in digital marketing and social media at UC Santa Cruz and has been a featured speaker at CASE social media conferences.
Sonya Newlyn, Professional Development Coordinator, Graduate Division
November 1, 3:00-4:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
Makeup session by Eric Curiel: November 18 (Zoom)
LinkedIn is a powerful tool to network and search for jobs. We will go over tips to update your LinkedIn profile to help recruiters find you, explore ways to identify alumni with similar career paths and interests on LinkedIn, and show you how to connect effectively with them to expand your network. We will also go over best practices for searching for jobs.
See Sonya’s bio above for September 27.
Public Speaking
Catherine Carlstroem, Lecturer, Public Speaking, Cowell College
November 8 and 22, 1:00-4:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
Makeup sessions: November 13 and 19 (Graduate Student Commons)
These interactive in-person workshops provide an overview of strategies and best practices for public speaking, including managing anxiety, key delivery techniques, and composition tips for crafting clearer and more focused speeches, with an emphasis on the parameters of Grad Slam’s short (3-minute-maximum) presentations. These workshops and the intervening one about Slide Design by Sonya Newlyn on November 15 will focus on helping the cohort prepare final presentations.
UCSC faculty and alum Catherine Carlstroem (Ph.D. American literature) is a longtime lecturer in Humanities at UCSC (over 30 years) and has enjoyed teaching public speaking for over 10 of these. Along with teaching, she coordinates the Cowell Core Course.
Slide Design
Sonya Newlyn, Professional Development Coordinator, Graduate Division
November 15, 1:00-4:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building, Room 259
Makeup session: November 25 (Graduate Student Commons)
Have you ever inflicted a boring slide presentation on an audience? Learn tips and techniques for using slides the way they should be used, as visual aids to your spoken-word presentation. Prior to attending this workshop, review this slide design page. This workshop and the preceding and following ones on Public Speaking by Catherine Carlstroem (November 8 and 22) will focus on helping the cohort prepare final presentations.
See Sonya’s bio above for September 27.
Final Presentations, Certificates Awarded
Sonya Newlyn, Professional Development Coordinator, Graduate Division
December 6, 1:00-4:30 p.m. | Humanities 2 and Social Sciences Building
Members of the cohort will give a maximum three-minute presentation about their graduate student work. This meeting will conclude with presentations of the Graduate Student Professional Communication Certificates to those cohort members who meet the certificate requirements: attending all presentations (or missing no more than two presentations). Many presentations in the Friday series of the certificate program are repeated during the fall quarter on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday at the Graduate Student Commons and sometimes via Zoom, so a necessary absence (for illness, attendance at an academic or professional conference, for example) from a Friday meeting of the program may often be made up by attending the repeated presentation at the GSC or via Zoom.