84 Courses to Build Your Professional Skills in 2025

“We are now able to provide multi-modal delivery to our diverse learners,” said Keisha Williams, Assistant Vice President for Learning & Organization Development (L&OD), a unit in Duke Human Resources. “We have offerings that are virtually engaging, we have self-paced learning and face-to-face learning that takes place on-site. This allows us to meet our learners where they are in an environment conductive to how they learn best.”

Also new this year is the SHRM Certification Prep course, which will help Duke’s human resources staff members prepare for the professional certification exams from the Society for Human Resources Management.

The course will be offered in two 25-person cohorts – one in the spring and one in the fall – that will get practice questions and supplemental instruction over 10 sessions leading up to when the exams are offered.

“SHRM offers learners the option to self-study for the exam or also engage with an instructor-led course,” said L&OD Associate Director for Organization and Workforce Development Shannon Ashford, who is organizing the course. “Data shows the power of learning in community with others, so we saw an opportunity to create a Duke-only cohort of individuals who can learn and network with one another as they prepare for the exam.”

During her eight years at Duke, Duke University School of Medicine Grants & Contracts Manager Cris Kopper has turned to L&OD whenever she’s needed to build a new skill.

Early on, Kopper, who is from Brazil, used the Communicating with Diplomacy & Tact course to better grasp the nuances of English work conversations.

When she needed to get more adept with Microsoft Excel, she got help from the technology courses offered by L&OD.

And when she became a manager, the Moving from Peer to Supervisor course helped her navigate the transition.

Now working on the Supervisory Certificate of Excellence, Kopper said courses such as Situational Leadership II have taught her how to apply different leadership styles to different team members in order to help them thrive.

“This is a very helpful resource that people should take advantage of,” Kopper said. “The courses may take a little time, which can be hard with deadlines, but they are very valuable.”

Fees for L&OD courses range from $60 for specific Microsoft Excel features to $600 for the three-session Crucial Conversations: Mastering Dialogue course.

Among the most widely useful courses on the 2025 schedule is the “CliftonStrengths for Managers” (February 27 and October 1) and for individual contributors (May 20 and August 27). These courses use a comprehensive assessment to find the signature skills each participant has and develop strategies to maximize them while also finding areas for growth.

“We’ve been running this for more than a year, and it’s an outstanding class,” said L&OD’s Associate Director for Leadership & Professional Development Joy Birmingham, who teaches several courses. “There are versions for managers and direct reports, but the thing we are discovering is that if small teams take the class together, they can get all of the information at the same time and continue afterward building on what they’ve learned.”

In addition to the courses on individual topics, L&OD is also offering Certificates of Excellence programs that give participants a set list of courses to take which, upon completion, can demonstrate mastery of topics such as communication, training and self-leadership.

The Certified Executive Administrative Professional (CEAP) program will also be offered in 2025. Designed to build the skills of elite administrative professionals, the cohort-based program that provides a nationally recognized designation, is enrolling its 2025 class, which will begin in March.

Find L&OD’s full 2025 course list here.

Send story ideas, shout-outs and photographs through our story idea form or write working@duke.edu.

Follow Working@Duke on X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram and subscribe on YouTube.