We're excited to announce that the College of Continuing and Professional Studies is expanding its popular free webinar program, bringing you even more opportunities for career-boosting insights. Each webinar offers a fresh, engaging look at topics vital for today's professionals—from effective communication and leadership strategies to promoting workplace wellbeing—and wraps up with a Q&A. Our presentations are crafted and led by University of Minnesota instructors, all of whom bring decades of on-the-ground experience and expertise directly to you.
This expanded series reflects the University of Minnesota's deep-rooted commitment to excellence and our "Maroon and Gold" standard of quality in education. We believe that continuous learning shouldn't be a luxury, but an accessible pathway to advancing your career and personal growth. By offering these free, expert-led sessions monthly, we aim to provide timely and relevant guidance that helps you stay ahead in a constantly evolving professional landscape. Join us each month to connect with leading minds and gain practical knowledge you can apply right away.
University of Minnesota employees can receive 200 wellness points by viewing a CCAPS professional development webinar. The form to collect wellness points will be included in an email to webinar registrants after the webinar.
Beyond the Chatbot: Build Your First AI Automation (No Coding Required)
Presented by Bryce P. Kayanuma
Thursday, Nov. 12 | noon–1 p.m.
Most professionals use AI the same way every day: ask a question, get an answer, copy, paste, repeat. But today's AI tools can do something far more valuable. They can build small, working automations that take repetitive tasks off your plate entirely, and you don't need any technical background to make it happen.
In this live, interactive session, you'll watch a real automation come to life from start to finish: identifying a tedious task, describing it to AI in plain language and running the finished automation live. Along the way, you'll learn a handful of simple prompting techniques that dramatically improve what AI produces. These are techniques you can start using in your own work the same day, whether you manage projects, analyze data, coordinate operations or run reports. You'll also learn how to decide which tasks are safe and smart to hand to AI, and which ones should stay in human hands.
In this webinar, we’ll:
- identify the repetitive tasks in your own work that are strong candidates for AI automation.
- apply simple, structured prompting techniques that get noticeably better results from any AI tool.
- flip the script and have AI interview you, so the task is fully understood before anything gets built.
- turn a plain-language task description into a working automation, even if you've never touched code.
- decide which tasks are appropriate to delegate to AI, based on data sensitivity and accountability.
Bryce P. Kayanuma, PhD, draws on extensive background in cloud architecture, AI system design and adult learning. He works as an independent AI architect, designing enterprise AI systems for clients in pharmaceutical training and higher education. His coauthored research on AI as a thinking partner for adult learners earned the 2026 DLA Best Paper Award.
SEO, GEO and Getting Found by AI
Presented by Valerie Lockhart
Wednesday, Dec. 9 | noon–1 p.m.
Search is no longer just about ranking on a page of blue links. Increasingly, people are discovering information through AI-generated answers, conversational search, summaries, recommendations and other experiences that may never result in a traditional website click.
In this webinar, we’ll explore how AI is changing the way people search and what that means for marketers responsible for content and digital visibility. We’ll break down the relationship between traditional SEO, answer engine optimization (AEO), and generative engine optimization (GEO), and look at the characteristics that can make content easier for both search engines and AI systems to understand, trust and surface.
Participants will leave with a practical framework for evaluating their existing content and identifying where their search strategy may need to evolve, without abandoning the SEO fundamentals that still matter.
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Differentiate between SEO, AEO and GEO and explain how each relates to changing search and content-discovery behavior.
- Evaluate a piece of digital content for AI-era search visibility, including clarity, structure, authority and relevance.
- Identify practical changes to their current content strategy that can improve discoverability across traditional search and emerging AI-assisted search experiences.
Valerie Lockhart is a digital strategist, educator and communications expert who helps entrepreneurs, nonprofits and organizations tell their stories with clarity, confidence and impact. She has deep experience developing curricula and training individuals in the responsible use of AI and how to get better at prompting large language models, while staying focused on creating authentic, user-centered content.
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University Employee Wellbeing Points
CCAPS's Free Webinar Series is partnering with the University's Employee Wellbeing Program. For each free webinar attended, you may earn 200 points towards your goal.
How many points will I receive after attending a webinar?
1 hour webinar = 200 points
Are there limits on the number of CCAPS professional development webinars I can listen to in order to receive Wellbeing points?
No. You can now receive points for attending unlimited webinars per program year.
How do I request my Wellbeing points?
CCAPS will also provide a link to the request form at the end of each webinar. A link to the request form should also appear in the YouTube description of past webinars.
When will OHR process my Wellbeing points request?
Point requests will be submitted on the 1st Tuesday of the month following the webinars. If you have any questions or are not seeing your Wellbeing points reflected, please contact [email protected].
How do I check my current points rewards status?
You can check your current status by visiting the Wellbeing Program page, or you can email [email protected].
Can I obtain Wellbeing points for listening to past webinars?
Yes. You can obtain points for listening to past webinars. You can access our past webinars by visiting CCAPS's Professional Development Webinar Archive. You will need to submit a separate request for each webinar you listen to, the wellbeing form can be found in the webinar description on our YouTube channel.
Who do I contact if I have questions about the Wellbeing Program?
Visit the Wellbeing Program website or email your questions to [email protected].