Attention graduate students and postdoctoral fellows:
Now is the perfect time to enroll in the spring 2018 Professional Development Program (PDP) modules for the second half of the semester, to further professional skills. The 7-week professional development modules are open to all Hopkins graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and come at no additional tuition for students in full-time JHU programs. See course names and full descriptions below.
Second Half Modules: EN.663.626 Improvisation for Enhanced Teamwork and Communication EN.663.644 Writing Articles and Technical Reports EN.663.645 Improving Presentation Skills for Scientists and Engineers EN.663.649.02 Continuing Dissertation Writing Workshop EN.663.652 Emotional and Cultural Competency EN.663.654 Commercializing Your Invention or Idea EN.663.660.02 Managing People and Resolving Conflicts EN.663.661 Searching the Academic Marketplace EN.663.664 Marketing Strategies EN.663.670 Project Management EN.663.671 Leading Change EN.663.674.02 Fundamentals of Management EN.663.675 Communicating in a Crisis EN.663.676 Demand Discovery: Finding and Creating Customer Value
Improvisation for Enhanced Teamwork and Communication Th 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM | East Baltimore Campus Following the lead of innovative communities and businesses, this course turns to improvisation techniques to develop communication skills, encourage creative problem solving, and support teamwork. Designed for students without any acting experience, there are no prerequisites to participate. In a non-threatening, judgment-free atmosphere, students will begin with improv fundamentals to help students master the subtleties of communication through voice, expression, and body language. As students experiment with imaginative movement and play, they learn to respond spontaneously and confidently to unforeseen challenges. Working together in pairs and small groups, students build trust and operate as fluid and dynamic team members. Throughout the course students build skills to minimize stress, overcome rejection, find comfort in fear, unleash creativity, and trust in their ability to communicate effectively.
Writing Articles and Technical Reports M 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Shaffer 302 Professionals in almost every occupation write - for multiple audiences in various information formats and for many reasons. Estimates of time spend writing in various occupations range from 25% to 35% of total work time. With so much time invested in the activity, it is imperative to learn to write effectively and efficiently. This Module addresses critical skills including how to find and qualify publishing opportunities; understanding and adjusting to different requirements; matching text to various audiences; developing striking visuals; and dealing with issues of clarity, coherence and style. This is a 7-week course and is not open to undergraduates.
Improving Presentation Skills for Scientists and Engineers
M 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM | Homewood Campus, Krieger Laverty This course is designed to help scientists and engineers improve their oral presentation skills in a practice-intensive environment. Students will learn how to hone their message, to craft presentations that address both technical and non-technical audiences, and create clear, compelling PowerPoint presentations. All presentations will be recorded for self-evaluation, and students will receive extensive instructor and peer feedback. Graduate students only. This is a 7-week course and is not open to undergraduates.
Continuing Dissertation Writing Workshop M 04:00 PM - 06:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Maryland 309 This workshop provides continuing dissertation writers with the structure of a traditional classroom environment to help facilitate work on the dissertation and to provide a framework of personal accountability in meeting personal writing goals. This course is only open to students who have taken EN.663.648 Introduction to Dissertation Writing. PhD students only.
Emotional and Cultural Competency Th 04:30 PM - 07:00 PM | Homewood Campus, Krieger Laverty Society lives in increasingly diverse communities and an increasingly connected world. Times require new skills and awareness; "smarts" as defined by IQ is no longer sufficient for success. Instead, an understanding of other cultures, a willingness to explore the positions of various stakeholders in situations, the capacity and willingness to exercise empathy, and the ability to identify and work with the feelings of self and others are keys to successful participation in the workforce. This Module addresses these skills in theoretical and practical ways so as to expand the awareness and capacities of participants.
Commercializing Your Invention or Idea [-] Th 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Hodson 305 It is one thing to have an idea and quite another to move the idea from idea and basic research to use in the world of business or manufacturing. This course addresses the process and skills required to make that transition. Among the topics addressed in this class are the following: recognizing the potential of ideas, addressing the patent landscape, understanding markets, determining resource requirements, design and prototypes, and finding financing. Graduate and Post Doc Only.
Managing People and Resolving Conflicts [-] W 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Shaffer 303 Students who have deal with a difficult person at work or in the lab know what frustration feels like. Those who have been a member of a team on which team dysfunction was so bad that it made television sitcoms look normal, really understand frustration. Why are some companies much more productive and pleasant to work with than others? Students who want to understand techniques of persuasion and how to participate effectively in negotiations should consider enrolling in this course. These topics are among the ideas students will develop and practice in this class, using a combination of seminar style reading and discussion, lecture and in-class activity. Graduate students only.
Searching the Academic Marketplace [-] T 04:00 PM - 06:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Maryland 202 The academic job search can be especially vexing, given the fewer graduates that actually enter that market as opposed to private industry. This class offers opportunities to generate search strategies and skills to help students find that academically based position. Among the topics students will explore are building their CVs, interviewing, networking, and search listings.
Marketing Strategies [-] M 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Maryland 201 This course, designed for students who have no prior instruction or experience in marketing, provides students with the opportunity to develop skills in formulating, implementing, and controlling a strategic marketing program (including sales and profit forecasts) for a given product-market entry. Using a structured approach to case analysis, students will learn how to make the kinds of strategic marketing decisions that will have a long-term impact on the organization. Through textbook readings, students will learn how to identify appropriate marketing strategies for new, growth, mature, and declining markets and apply these strategies as they analyze a series of marketing cases. The supplementary readings, from a broad spectrum of business periodicals, are more applied and will allow students to see how firms are addressing contemporary marketing challenges. And, one or more guest speakers from different functional areas of marketing, will be invited to speak to the class. In addition to analyzing cases individually, each student will be part of a team that studies a case during the latter half of the semester, developing marketing strategy recommendations with corresponding financials and presenting them to the class.
Project Management Th 04:00 PM - 06:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Shaffer 2 Projects are temporary activities devised to achieve very specific goals in a designated timeframe for a specified amount of resources. Often they involve disparate activities, frequently separated by distance and sometimes involving different staff and materials. For the project to successfully meet its objectives, all these items must be planned, coordinated and orchestrated. This module explores the processes and tools available to those who must manage projects to optimize outcomes within the primary constraints of time, quality, scope and budget. Class time involves presentations, examples and discussion.
Leading Change W 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Hodson 211 Change happens, like it or not!! It is necessary for progress and the result of innovation, yet change makes individuals and organizations so uncomfortable that most people and groups within organizations vigorously resist change. So the questions become how to cause, how to embrace and how to lead constructive change in themselves, their organizations and their communities - in ways that colleagues and would-be colleagues support and contribute toward success. The primary format for learning in this course is seminar style with reading, researching and sharing of information as well as structured, experiential activities designed to build skills through practice and interpersonal exchange. Class time is devoted to discussion, observation, feedback, additional exercises and presentation. Additionally, participants engage in reflection and explanation of their considerations as the course progresses. GRADING: P/F for most students; letter grades for MSEM students. No undergraduates allowed except enrolled MSEM combined bachelor's/master's students.
Fundamentals of Management MW 12:00 PM - 01:15 PM | Homewood Campus, Krieger 309 Managers must juggle knowledge of and tasks associated with operations, finance, information technology, strategy, and projects. Much of managerial success, however, depends less on managers' direct input - the sweat of their brows - than on their ability to enlist the active involvement of others: direct reports, other managers, other team members, and those above them on the organizational chart. It is imperative that managers be adept at influencing those over whom they have no formal authority as well as guiding and directing those who report to them. In this course, students will learn and practice the concepts and skills necessary to manage, direct, and guide others as well as content associated with building strategy and structure in organizations.
Communicating in a Crisis W 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM | Homewood Campus, Hodson 305 A crisis is a major occurrence with potentially negative consequences. In Chinese, the word "crisis" means "dangerous opportunity," signifying that an individual or an organization can emerge stronger from a crisis - not without damage but stronger - with the right management and communication deployed effectively to the right audiences in the right channel. In this course, students will explore what managing a crisis well actually means. Using the case method, live simulations, and real-world examples students will distinguish the factors that create opportunities from crises from those that deepen the danger.
Demand Discovery: Finding and Creating Customer Value Th 04:00 PM - 06:30 PM | Homewood Campus, Hodson 211 Students who love their smartphones are not alone. Steve Jobs knew how to design products that customers fell in love with. So did Henry Ford. So why is it so hard? This course focuses on real-world methods of discovering and profitably delivering value to customers. At the heart of any successful business is the identification and profitable satisfaction of unique customer needs. And the ongoing process of identifying, developing, and delivering new value propositions is the basis for continued growth. But this formula can be elusive for new ventures and existing businesses alike. The course presents leading edge methods and techniques to identify sources of opportunity, design new value propositions, and develop profitable and scalable business models - all while reducing venture risk. Developed from techniques used by entrepreneurs and innovative product managers, this course teaches key principles of offering development and innovation, through a combination of readings, case studies, and real-world exercises. The course will involve practical projects for students to identify and design offering concepts, as well as to test and price them. It is designed for students interested in business, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, product management, technology management, venture capital, and management consulting.
