https://swchrs.ou.edu/Webinar-Series Parent Page: Webinar Series id: 34819 Active Page: Communicating with Intention id: 36713 Portal ID: 326
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Communicating with Intention

Build the skills. Lead with confidence.

Communicating with Intention Webinar Series

SWCHRS will be offerinf a five-part webinar series on Communicating with Intention (CWI). This structured, evidence-informed series equips professionals in higher education with the skills necessary to communicate with greater clarity and intentionality across academic and administrative environments. The training focuses on recognizing how communication breaks down across roles and applying practical techniques to strengthen understanding, support productive feedback, and sustain trust.

SWCHRS webinars include interactive sessions that encourage participant engagement and dialogueby providing opportunities for attendees to ask questions, share experiences, and connect with peers and experts in the field. 

Earn your Intentional Communicator Digital Micro-Credential

A red and white shield-shaped badge displaying "Managing Civil Discourse" with a banner stating "Professional Certificate." The badge is marked "SAMPLE - NOT VALID."A digital micro-credential is available to participants who complete the full series requirements. Credential badge shown with watermark for display purposes only. Official badges are awarded upon completion.

These webinars will take place inside of the CVENT platform. Webinar links will be accessed inside of the registrant's Attendee Hub account. This includes access to the session's resources and handout materials.  

Recordings of webinars can be accessed for up to a year, but credential will not be provided for viewing recordings.

Webinars will occur on Tuesdays at 2-4 PM Central Time from September 22nd, 2026, through October 20th, 2026.

Communicating with Intention program schedule: 

  • Sept 22: Foundations of Effective Interpersonal Communication
  • Sept 29: Active Listening and Empathy in Academic Settings
  • Oct 6: Giving and Receiving Feedback Across Roles
  • Oct 13: AI, Communication, and Academic Relationships
  • Oct 20: Sustaining Trust and Psychological Safety in Teams

Communicating with Intention – A Five-Part Training Series

Foundations of Effective Interpersonal Communication

This module covers the foundations of how communication works and why it breaks down. Participants work through a Message Decode Lab — reading five real-style professional emails written in the style of higher education communications and mapping how differently people in different institutional roles interpret the same words. A channel-mismatch case analysis is included, examining situations like a tenure denial delivered by email on a Friday afternoon.

Participants leave with a clear framework for understanding why the same message lands so differently depending on who receives it and what institutional role they hold, and one communication behavior to change that week.

Led by Dr. Anthony Natale

Active Listening and Empathy in Academic Settings

This module is about listening — but not in the way most training programs treat it. Participants complete a Listening Autobiography that surfaces the personal listening habits shaping how they actually listen at work, trace where those habits formed, and identify the one most worth changing. The session includes an advising scenario that contrasts barrier-driven listening with full empathic presence, and precision paraphrase practice in pairs.

Participants leave with a concrete listening commitment for the week ahead.

Led by Dr. Anthony Natale

Giving and Receiving Feedback Across Roles

This module addresses feedback across roles and hierarchy — one of the most consistently reported challenges in higher education. Participants work through a Feedback Autopsy, analyzing four real academic feedback examples and rebuilding them from the structure up. The session includes an annual review role-play from both sides of the table and a Personal Feedback Triggers Journal.

Participants leave with a structured approach to giving and receiving feedback that holds up when the power dynamics are complicated.

Led by Dr. Belinda Biscoe

AI, Communication, and Academic Relationships

This module examines how AI is already reshaping professional communication in academic settings, whether we are paying attention to it or not. Participants attempt to distinguish human-written from AI-generated academic communications in a Turing test exercise, draft a personal AI Communication Policy for their specific role, and conduct an AI Communication Audit on their own recent professional writing.

Participants leave with at least one concrete change to their current AI communication practices.

Led by Dr. Stephanie Salyer Waterman and Jovany Trevino

Sustaining Trust and Psychological Safety in Teams

The capstone module focuses on psychological safety and trust repair — two things that sound abstract until you need them. Participants complete Amy Edmondson's validated 7-item psychological safety diagnostic for their own primary team, work through three realistic trust rupture scenarios in pairs, and build a Trust Repair Protocol for rebuilding professional relationships after communication has broken down. The session closes with full-series action planning.

Participants leave with a personal team action plan and a 30-day series reflection.

Led by Dr. Anthony Natale

Interactive

Each session is interactive, research-backed, and designed for immediate application. All sessions will be available on demand for a year, allowing participants to revisit and reinforce their learning as needed. Participants who complete the full series will be eligible to receive a virtual micro-credential.

FAQs

When and how do I get my certificate?

Participants must attend all five, live sessions and complete the evaluation at the end of the series. Once the evaluation is submitted, staff will record participant attendance and award the CEU certificate, through a download link provide by email. 

Please note: The survey of the series and the evaluation are different. The survey asks for feedback on the series, while the evaluation tests the content learned in the sessions. Participants have 14 days from end of the series to submit the evaluation.  

How long do I have to complete the evaluation and earn my certificate?

Participants have 14 days from end of the series to submit the evaluation. 

Do you have a registration policy/discount?

Groups of 10 or more registered within a single transaction will receive a 10% discount on eligible registrations. Additional participants cannot be added to a previously completed transaction to meet the 10-person minimum or receive the group discount.

How long will I have access to a course?

Participants retain access to the recorded session for one full year from the date of purchase or registration, which allows them to revisit the content.

Please note: CEUs can only be earned by attending the live sessions. 

If I can't attend a session, can I transfer it to someone else?

No. The individual sessions are not available for purchase or transfer, only the event registration as a whole (the full series, five sessions).

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Contact Us

Have questions or need more information? Reach out to us at swchrs@ou.edu.