Past Events-2023
In Gratitude
We’re grateful for all of you!
See 2023’s events below, or click on another button to find other events.
Atomic Habits at Work
Held December 5, 2023, online
CSN’s Rich Gassen co-presented with Jenny Erickson on the topic of Atomic Habits at Work at the Information and Technology Leadership Conference (I&TLC). The conference was held in person (at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery) and virtually.
Networks that work! Creating a culture of wellness and tools that encourage self-confidence and resilience to meet life’s challenges and transitions
Held October 18, 2023, at Union South
CSN members joined forces with employee assistance and the retirement issues committee to present at the Learning and Management Development (LMD) Conference at Union South.
This panel discussion began with an introduction to EAO, RIC, and CSN. We covered the programs and resources each group provides, and their impact on developing a strong campus network that encourages strong relationships and wellness for supervisors and staff. Attendees were invited to ask questions throughout the session.
Panelists from CSN, the Retirement Issues Committee, and the Employee Assistance Office answered questions and provided guidance on having sensitive discussions, empowering employees to ask questions, and encouraging employees to advocate for their own financial/mental/emotional development to build resiliency and resources to manage inevitable transitions such as job changes, health issues, and retirement. We also listed many resources that are available to build a culture of well-being for ourselves and those we lead.
Some photos of our event:
CSN @ the Employee Resource Fair
Held October 3, 2023, at Union South
CSN was once again at the Employee Resource Fair. At our booth, we raffled off five leadership books, handed out thank you cards and notepads, and talked with managers on campus about the services and sessions we offer.
CSN Summer of Gratitude Gathering
Held August 17, 2023, at the Memorial Union Terrace
Campus Supervisors Network ended the Summer of Gratitude with a casual gathering at the Memorial Union Terrace, where we celebrated eight years of CSN events. There was food, free books & gratitude packs, and the terrace even had a visit from Bucky Badger!
Gratitude Encounters with Kevin Monroe
Held July 11 and August 1, 2023, online
Want to take your gratitude to another level? Join Kevin Monroe for a Free Gratitude Encounter™, a 60-minute guided exploration, and expression of gratitude. People describe these as energizing, heartwarming, reinvigorating, and soulful. Our encounters happen on the first Tuesday of every month.
What is that? A time to explore, express, and experience gratitude through a guided encounter. These encounters prove to be heart-expanding experiences every time, so consider this event for yourself!
- Held the first Tuesday of every month
- Register at https://www.kevindmonroe.com/free-gratitude-encounters
This was featured as part of the Summer of Gratitude event series.
Note: This is not a UW-sanctioned event, but members of CSN’s planning committee attended in July and August.
Gratitude Nature Walk
Held July 27, 2023, at Allen Centennial Gardens
Several CSN members braved the heat during the Summer of Gratitude by joining us at the beautiful Allen Centennial Garden on the UW campus. We networked with peers while strolling the grounds, and expressed our gratitude for nature in this hidden gem. Discussions ranged from the lifespan of Koi to how our roles in leadership changed during the pandemic.
Summer Book Club-The Art of Active Listening: How People at Work Feel Heard, Valued, and Understood
Held July 12 and 26, 2023 Online
When employees, colleagues, and customers are not being heard, organizational culture, employee happiness, and overall organizational success will suffer. How well do you listen?
Active listening is the doorway to increased belonging, loyalty, profitability, innovation, and so much more. It is the difference between thinking we understand what people want and knowing what they want. Want to build stronger relationships, avoid misunderstandings, and anticipate problems before they surface at work?
All you have to do is listen.
The Art of Active Listening introduces a 5-step framework that shows you how to listen successfully and act upon what you are hearing. Readers will discover how to:
- Recognize the unsaid
- Seek to understand
- Decode
- Act
- Close the loop
Backed by her review of over 30,000 employee and customer surveys and facilitation of 100 focus groups, Younger discovered one universal truth: We all want to be heard. We want our voices to matter. We want the work we do to matter. When we get this right – when we listen to our employees and customers and care about them not just for what they can do but for who they ARE – they can and will move mountains.
Using the tools provided in this book, you can implement active listening, regardless of whether you’re in-person or virtual, that benefits all team members and customers, strengthens overall engagement, improves organizational culture, and creates a space for everyone to have a voice. When those at work feel heard, they will do whatever it takes to achieve outcomes that serve your relationship and your organization.
Student Employment Summer Summit
Held July 12, 2023, online
Featuring Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, author of the award-winning College Students’ Sense of Belonging
The 4th annual Student Employment Summer Summit is complete. This event brought together supervisors, hiring managers, and others who support student employment at UW-Madison and beyond. The Summit provided space for colleagues to connect while sharing knowledge, best practices, and engaging in different perspectives on various Student Employment topics.
Topics included:
- Student Employee Recruitment & Onboarding
- Supporting Neurodiverse Student Employees
- Student Employment as leadership development
- Navigating mental health crisis
- …and More!
CSN Bite-Size Book Club —
Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager’s Guide to Getting Results
Held June 6, 2023, online
Campus Supervisors Network’s Bite-Size Book Clubs are a one-session discussion, on portions of a book.
The book “Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager’s Guide to Getting Results” by Alison Green and Jerry Hauser comes highly recommended by a wide variety of top executive directors of non-profits, and is designed to teach managers the fundamental skills of effective management, including managing specific tasks and broader responsibilities; setting clear goals and holding people accountable to them; creating a results-oriented culture; hiring, developing, and retaining a staff of superstars.
- Offers nonprofit managers a clear guide to the most effective management skills
- Shows how to manage the “in-between” of culture, develop people, and the right way to exercise authority
- It gives guidance for managing time wisely and offers suggestions for staying in sync with your boss and managing up
- Delegation usually starts by handing off specific tasks and projects, but the true power of delegation emerges when you can hand off broad responsibilities
- Most managers should spend less time actually doing work than they probably spend, but more time guiding other people through their work than they probably spend
CSN covered a handful of chapters in our time together. This vital resource also contains 41 resources and downloadable tools that can be implemented.
CSN Presents: Gratitude Revealed
Held May 24, 2023, at the Marquee Theater in Union South
CSN hosted a screening of this full-length film on the power of gratitude in nature and in our lives.
An epic journey forty years in the making, Gratitude Revealed from acclaimed filmmaker, Louie Schwartzberg, the director of Fantastic Fungi, takes us on a transformational, cinematic experience of how to live a more meaningful life full of gratitude through his intimate conversations with everyday people, thought leaders, and personalities revealing gratitude is a proven pathway back from the disconnection we feel in our lives; disconnection from ourselves, our planet, and each other.
CSN kicked off the Summer of Gratitude with this fantastic production. Attendees enjoyed some popcorn as they watched the film on the big screen in The Marquee Theater at Union South.
We also had some giveaways at the event—thank you card packs, gratitude journals, and other CSN items.
CSN Book Club: The Long-Distance Leader — Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership
Held May 1 and 22, 2023, online
Do you supervise a team remotely (or even hybrid)? Do you enjoy leadership development opportunities with your peers? Then this Campus Supervisors Network book is for you!
As more organizations adopt a remote workforce, the challenges of leading at a distance become more urgent than ever. In The Long-Distance Leader, authors Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel show leaders how to guide their teams by recalling the foundational principles of leadership, whether their teams are scattered globally or just working from home a few days a week.
The authors’ “Three O” Model refocuses leaders to think about outcomes, others, and ourselves –– elements of leadership that remain unchanged whether employees are down the hall or halfway around the world. By pairing it with the Remote Leadership Model, which emphasizes using technology as a tool and not a distraction, leaders can navigate the terrain of managing teams wherever they are.
With models and strategies that ensure projects stay on track, keep productivity and morale high, and build lasting relationships, The Long-Distance Leader is the go-to guide for leading effectively, no matter where people work.
During this two-session book club, we discussed:
- Why leading remotely requires you to lead differently
- How the Three O Model and the Remote Leadership Model work together
- The importance of building trust in teams, and especially remote teams
- To choose the best tool for long-distance communication
- and more!
Atomic Habits at Work Presentation
Held April 12, 2023, at the Administrative Professionals Conference at Union South
Presented by Rich Gassen, print production manager, Digital Publishing & Printing Services; and Jennifer Erickson, capacity building lead, Office of Strategic Consulting. This event was co-hosted by the Campus Supervisors Network.
This discussion-based session focused on building better habits in your work life, using the #1 New York Times bestseller, “Atomic Habits,” by James Clear as a guide. Clear writes about habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His book has sold over 8 million copies worldwide and translated into over 50 languages.
“Thank you for a great session! Atomic Habits was absolutely one of my favorite sessions. And it is definitely the one that I think will have the most impact on my day-to-day life, both at work and at home.”
“Atomic Habits” describes several proven techniques for building new habits (or ending bad ones), which will be covered in the session. Topics of this session included identity-based habits, changing the cues to direct you to better decisions, habit stacking (building upon habits you already have), and environmental design improvements. The presenters shared some stories, as well as additional resources for you to explore the topic further on your own.
Leadership @ UW Open House
Held March 2, 2023, online
Campus Supervisors Network was at the La Fête de Leadership Festival at Gordon Dining Hall, where the Leadership @ UW team showcased their services and leadership framework. They also had several other groups on campus that support student and employee leadership development. Our booth was full of giveaways, and we were able to share our services with members of campus who were not familiar with us.
CSN has a long-standing partnership with the Leadership @ UW framework and resources.
CSN Coaching Circle Training Exercise
Held March 29, 2023, online
As a supervisor, you are often trying to find answers, solve problems, mentor and/or give advice to support your direct reports. In this session, we introduce you to a tool that does not require you to have any answers or solutions. In fact, thinking you might have the answer or solution is discouraged. The tool is Coaching Circles. These circles aren’t about getting advice or merely having a place to vent. They aren’t about someone else solving your problems. They are spaces of deep listening and deep learning. New perspectives opening up to new possibilities. The best way to learn is to experience for yourself. In this session, we discussed the logistics, roles, and steps involved in participating in a Coaching Circle. Then we tried it out! Absolutely no coaching experience or special knowledge is required. We walked through everything you need to know and ended by talking about ways you might get your employees involved in coaching circles, or how you yourself might want to be a part of a circle.
Facilitated by Theresa Kim of UW-Madison Learning and Talent Development.
Academic Staff Mentoring Group Discussion
Held March 21, 2023, online
Rich Gassen joined a small mentoring group from Academic Staff to discuss leadership development on the UW-Madison campus. Rich shared his journey from the private sector to the university and then into management, and also discussed different resources to help individuals develop their own leadership skills, including books, CSN events, and other resources.
Of course, we recommended they sign up for the CSN newsletter to see weekly reminders of resources that to take advantage of, and also check out our Book Barn and TED talks! One of the other attendees mentioned a book he was reading called Leadership Strategy and Tactics which he felt was helpful too.
CSN Coaching Circle Training Exercise
Held January 31, 2023, online
As a supervisor, you are often trying to find answers, solve problems, mentor and/or give advice to support your direct reports. In this session, we introduce you to a tool that does not require you to have any answers or solutions. In fact, thinking you might have the answer or solution is discouraged. The tool is Coaching Circles. These circles aren’t about getting advice or merely having a place to vent. They aren’t about someone else solving your problems. They are spaces of deep listening and deep learning. New perspectives opening up to new possibilities. The best way to learn is to experience for yourself. In this session, we discussed the logistics, roles, and steps involved in participating in a Coaching Circle. Then we tried it out! Absolutely no coaching experience or special knowledge is required. We walked through everything you need to know and ended by talking about ways you might get your employees involved in coaching circles, or how you yourself might want to be a part of a circle.
Facilitated by Theresa Kim of UW-Madison Learning and Talent Development.