Instructor Led Programs

Serving Those Who Served – Penn State Veteran Services

This session is a companion session to Penn State’s Military Cultural Competency IDP course. This course provides information on the programs and services that the university provides to support the military-connected community at Penn State. We will give a snapshot of what the military-connected community looks like at Penn State and discuss the various programs and services provided by the university to support both the student and faculty/staff military-connected community at Penn State. We will also talk about how you can get involved in supporting military-connected Penn Staters both on the student and faculty/staff side of the university.

Accessibility 101 @ PSU -- An Introduction

This session introduces the main points of accessibility policy and guidelines and uses demos of assistive technologies, such as screen readers, and testing strategies and tools to show how following accessibility guidelines benefits everyone. The session ends with information on how to learn the skills and strategies to successfully implement accessibility guidelines based on your job duties and technological environment.

Understanding Transgender Identities—Support and Advocacy

The Transgender Identities workshop is designed to provide participants an opportunity to better understand nuances around the transgender and gender diverse communities. Included in the session: language regarding gender diversity, challenges faced by the community, and most importantly how to support trans and gender diverse folks in the community.

Accessibility 102 @ PSU - Accessible Word Templates

In this session, we will walk through using a Word template to create accessible documents using Microsoft Word with templates as an example. We will reformat a report so that it includes headings, image ALT text, accessible tables, and an accessible bar chart with a description. We will also discuss how to share an accessible template for multiple documents and how to modify the styles of a template.

Interfaith Education: Interpersonal Understanding

We live in a world with an incredible diversity of beliefs and belief communities. This diversity is often not discussed or engaged with when we talk about inclusion. There are a lot of needs and considerations that come with working with such a large diversity of beliefs and belief communities. It is very helpful to understand the fundamentals of religious, spiritual, and secular inclusion to better serve the people you work with and provide services for. This program helps prepare participants to engage with that diversity in an inclusive and positive way.

Interfaith Education: Societal Understanding

Higher Ed is facing many changes and challenges. We can make a difference in Penn State’s success through our everyday interactions.

Whether you’re helping a colleague with a request, coordinating with a vendor, answering questions from another department, or assisting a student—exceptional customer service is essential to Penn State’s success.

This two-hour live virtual session focuses on practical, real-world tips to improve how you communicate, collaborate, and respond in service-oriented situations—no matter where or how you work. You’ll explore simple but powerful strategies for delivering excellent service across channels (email, phone, Zoom, or in person), staying calm under pressure, and building a professional reputation as someone people trust and enjoy working with.

Accessibility 103 @ PSU – Accessible PowerPoint Template

The focus of this session is building accessible PowerPoint slides so that all audiences can access the information. Starting with some basic Penn State PowerPoint templates, we will explore how to insert image ALT text, tables with headers, usable links and text with proper reading order for a screen reader. We will also show how you can use the Slide Master tools to expand the template with new layouts and color options.

Note: It is highly suggested that you participate in the Accessibility @ PSU 101 – Intro session prior to attending this training.

Work Culture: Practices in Developing Inclusive Environments

There are many approaches to developing inclusive work environments. This session will approach creating an inclusive environment using a 3-level framework that will be applied to creating more inclusive spaces.

Activities will be facilitated to prompt personal reflection as well as provide tools to consider how one’s values and roles may influence organizations of which they are a part. You will walk away with a personalized action plan to start creating a more inclusive organization.

Tools for Compassionate Communication

In this session, we’ll explore the foundations of compassionate communication. Participants will examine different communication styles, consider how culture and identity inform communication, and practice strategies for listening, speaking, and responding with intention. The session closes with space to share individual commitments for bringing more compassion into everyday dialogue.

This workshop supports anyone looking to build inclusive environments rooted in respect, empathy, and understanding, including classrooms, team meetings, and one-on-one conversations.