Professional Edge events offer one-time professional development experiences where skills meet opportunity.
Professional Edge hosts a variety of dynamic, hands-on events and interactive workshops throughout the year tailored to your future career goals. These events are designed to help you explore new tools, sharpen your professional abilities, and gain confidence in your next steps.
Upcoming Events
noon
This free, ten-part workshop series will introduce you to the fundamentals of programming in Python through interactive programming exercises. Develop core programming skills that will allow you to write Python scripts for your own work. No experience required!
Topics covered include the following:
- variables and data types
- mathematical functions
- Jupyter notebooks
- reading data into Python
- plotting data with Pandas
This hybrid, interactive course is intended for beginners to programming. Not sure how to install Python? Our first day will focus on installing Python and configuring your coding environment.
Our curriculum is available to read and reference any time. Save the link and refer to it often. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
1:15–2:45 p.m.
Want more control over your map design, or just to learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator? Come to Your Maps in Illustrator and learn the GIS to Illustrator workflow! Topics covered include exporting from GIS to Illustrator, cleaning up GIS files in Illustrator, and basic Illustrator functions. Bring your own maps, or use ours! Computers are provided. This workshop is free and open to UO students, faculty and staff. Note: this workshop does not cover ArcGIS Maps for Creative Cloud.
noon
This free, ten-part workshop series will introduce you to the fundamentals of programming in Python through interactive programming exercises. Develop core programming skills that will allow you to write Python scripts for your own work. No experience required!
Topics covered include the following:
- variables and data types
- mathematical functions
- Jupyter notebooks
- reading data into Python
- plotting data with Pandas
This hybrid, interactive course is intended for beginners to programming. Not sure how to install Python? Our first day will focus on installing Python and configuring your coding environment.
Our curriculum is available to read and reference any time. Save the link and refer to it often. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Think PowerPoint is just for bullet points and slide transitions? Think again. In this fast-paced, hands-on Professional Edge workshop, you'll discover the powerful features that can elevate your presentations from basic to brilliant. Whether you're building decks for meetings, events, or instruction, this session will introduce you to the tools that make your slides more engaging, professional, and easier to manage.
This isn't about adding animations or picking a font. It's about mastering the design and organizational features that save time and make your message shine.
- Slide master and layouts demystified: Learn how to create consistent, professional slide designs using slide master and custom layouts. No more formatting each slide manually.
- Themes and variants: Discover how to apply and customize themes to give your presentation a cohesive, polished look.
- Smart organization with sections: Use sections to structure your presentation for easier navigation and editing.
- Precision design tools: Get hands-on with smart guides, gridlines, and Designer to align content and create visually appealing slides effortlessly.
- Infographics made easy: Explore how to use shapes, icons, and built-in tools to create compelling visual stories without needing graphic design software.
- Presenter view and slide notes: Learn how to use presenter view to stay on track during delivery and leverage notes for smoother presentations.
- Quick access toolbar customization: Speed up your workflow by tailoring your toolbar with the tools you use most.
- Templates and reusability: Understand how to build and reuse templates that save time and ensure consistency across presentations.
This workshop is perfect for anyone who uses Microsoft PowerPoint regularly but suspects they're missing out on features that could make their work easier, faster, and more professional. Discover what you've been missing!
1:00–2:00 p.m.
Want to use Python to analyze data? This UO Libraries workshop series on Pandas is designed to follow our Introduction to Python workshop series or a comparable introductory Python course like CS 122. Participants will develop the skills they need to clean, analyze, and visualize tabular data with Pandas by working through hands-on exercises with real data in Python across six workshop sessions.
Topics include:
- Reading data into Python from multiple input formats
- Data cleaning and standardization
- DataFrame selection and manipulation
- Aggregating and transforming data
- Data visualization
Before this workshop, you should be familiar with variables, data types, functions, and data structures in Python. As a refresher, we recommend reviewing our version of the Software Carpentries Python curriculum.
Whether you join in-person or remotely, please come with a Python environment with the Pandas and JupyterLab packages installed. If you would like assistance configuring Python, please arrive 15 minutes early for the workshop or schedule a consultation.
Student Clubs and Organizations
We partner with student clubs across the Lundquist College of Business and beyond to co-create custom workshops and events that align with members' career aspirations. Whether you're interested in industry-specific training, leadership development, or technical skills, we'll work with you to design a session that supports your goals.
Popular event formats include:
- Industry tool trainings
- Communication and leadership development workshops
- Industry-specific upskilling
We love working with student leaders to support your club's mission and strengthen your members' readiness for life after college. To explore a collaboration, contact Trish Dorman at trishd@uoregon.edu.