Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies (SWCHRS)

Communicating With Intention On-Demand

Build the skills. Lead with confidence.

Welcome to the SWCHRS On-Demand Webinar Series

Learn with us – The SWCHRS On-Demand Webinar Series offers a range of webinars that address critical topics in professional development, institutional effectiveness, and community engagement. These webinars feature expert speakers and provide practical strategies and insights for educational professionals. Each series consists of five sessions available on demand for one year.

Registration Now Open – Sessions Available January 2027

Registration for the Communicating With Intention On-Demand Series is now open! The prerecorded sessions and course materials are currently being finalized and are expected to become available in January 2027.

Participants may register now and will receive an email notification with instructions for accessing the series once it becomes available.

Learn at Your Own Pace

This fully on-demand series includes five prerecorded sessions, totaling approximately 10 hours of professional development. Participants can watch the sessions at their convenience, revisit materials throughout their one-year access period, and complete the accompanying workbooks and quizzes independently. No live attendance is required.

How the On-Demand Series Works

The Managing Civil Discourse On-Demand Series allows participants to complete professional development training at their own pace, on their own schedule.

Five Prerecorded Sessions: Access five training sessions, each approximately two hours long, featuring practical strategies for navigating challenging conversations and resolving conflicts.
Learn at Your Own Pace: Watch the sessions when it's convenient for you, with the flexibility to pause, review, and revisit the material.
Workbooks and Quizzes: Each session includes a workbook and quiz designed to reinforce key concepts and help participants apply what they've learned.
One Year of Access: Participants have access to the complete series for one year from the date of registration.
Earn a Digital Badge: Participants who successfully complete all required components of the series are eligible to receive a digital micro-credential recognizing their professional development.

Accessing Your Training: All sessions and course materials will be available through the Cvent Attendee Hub. Registered participants will receive instructions for accessing their training.

Who Should Attend?

This series is designed for higher education professionals who want to strengthen their communication, conflict resolution, and leadership skills.

Participants may include faculty, administrators, department chairs, student affairs professionals, human resources staff, and other campus leaders who regularly navigate challenging conversations, workplace disagreements, and institutional decision-making.

Whether you are managing difficult discussions, addressing conflict within a team, or working toward collaborative solutions, this series provides practical strategies you can apply in your professional role.

Communicating With Intention On-Demand Sessions

MCD_Professional Certificate Digital Badge Logo_Sample(Not Valid) SWCHRS offers a credentialed five-part training on Communicating With Intention (CWI). This structured, evidence-based series equips professionals in higher education with the skills necessary to navigate challenging discussions effectively. The training focuses on selecting the right conflict resolution model based on situational needs and applying proven techniques to maintain productive dialogue in professional and academic settings.

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.

All prerecorded sessions and course materials will be accessible through the Cvent Attendee Hub

Webinars can be accessed for up to a year.

Communicating With Intention program schedule:

Session 1: Foundations of Effective Interpersonal Communication
Session 2: Active Listening and Empathy in Academic Settings
Session 3: Sustaining Trust and Psychological Safety in Teams
Session 4: AI, Communication, and Academic Relationships
Session 5: Giving and Receiving Feedback Across Roles

How Do I Earn My Digital Badge?

Participants who complete all five sessions and the required learning activities are eligible to earn a digital micro-credential.

To earn your badge, you must:

Watch all five prerecorded training sessions.
Complete the accompanying workbooks and quizzes.
Complete the final course evaluation.

Once all requirements have been verified, participants will receive instructions by email for accessing their digital badge.

Participants have one year from their registration date to complete the series and earn their badge.

Communicating With Intention On-Demand – 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.

Facilitator: 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.

Facilitator: Dr. Anthony Natale

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.

Facilitator: Dr. Anthony Natale

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.

Facilitator: Stephanie Salyer-Waterman, PhD, MFA

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.

Facilitator: Dr. Belinda Biscoe

Workbook and Quizzes

Each session includes a workbook and quiz designed to reinforce key concepts and encourage practical application of the material. Participants will complete these activities independently and submit their completed workbooks and quizzes as part of the series requirements.

All five sessions will be available on demand for one year from the date of registration, allowing participants to revisit the training materials as needed. Participants who successfully complete all series requirements will be eligible to earn a digital micro-credential.

FAQs

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.

OU faculty and staff receive a 10% discount. OU employees should email swchrs@ou.edu to request the discount code.

Are the sessions live or prerecorded?

All five sessions are prerecorded and available on demand. Participants can complete the training at their own pace without attending scheduled live sessions.

How long will I have access to a course?

Participants retain access to the series for one full year from the date of purchase or registration.

What work is required to complete the course?

Participants should complete all 5 sessions (each session is 2 hours long), submit the completed workbook and quiz for each session, and submit the course evaluation. Once all of these are done, the course is considered completed.

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

Participants have one year from the date of registration to complete the series and earn their digital badge.

When and how do I get my digital badge?

Participants must complete all five sessions, complete and submit the workbook and quizzes, and submit the final evaluation at the end of the series. Once the evaluation is submitted, staff will verify completion requirements and award the Digital Badge, through a download link provided by email.

Please note: The course evaluation and participant feedback survey serve different purposes. The evaluation assesses what participants have learned throughout the series and is required to earn the digital badge. The feedback survey allows participants to share their experience and provide suggestions for future programs.

Where do I submit my workbook?

After completing each session, participants should email their workbooks to Swchrs.Submissions@ou.edu

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Contact Us

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