Workshop Series

Tuesday, October 5 | 3:30PM Education 7
Staying Motivated | Passcode: ?i091n#J

This talk will present what is involved with procrastination, stress & wellbeing, motivation and strategies to fight procrastination and stress.

Presenters: Jacoba de Boer

I have been working in higher education since 2007 as an academic advisor, instructor, and now learning specialist. I have since developed a strengths-based curriculum to help students with goal-setting, evidence-based study- and time-management strategies, as well as improvement of overall wellbeing to ensure that students can be academically successful. Before coming to UND, I have been a lead-instructor in student success strategies, as well as a program manager for students in an individually tailored career transitioning bachelor's program at the University of Minnesota Crookston. At UND, I have provided the curriculum to train UND tutors in an internationally certified program. Currently, I am researching how stress and procrastination relate to each other for college students and what variables can help moderate academic stress and procrastination and enhance overall wellbeing for college students.

Dr. Xiang Gao | Thursday, April 22

Personal Finance

The talk will provide a brief introduction to the personal investment process, which will help the audience understand the importance of an investment policy statement, learn various types of brokerage accounts, and learn how to trade on margin.

Dr. Xiang Gao is an Assistant Professor at Nistler College of Business & Public Administration at the University of North Dakota. His research and teaching interests include corporate finance, financial markets, financial institutions, investments, and fixed income. Before joined the University of North Dakota, he worked at Pesaka School of Business at Minnesota State University Moorhead for a year.

Duane Helleloid | Thursday, March 11

Watch Entrepreneurship Zoom Meeting

Duane Helleloid is a professor of management, and chair of the School of Entrepreneurship and Management. He has been on the UND faculty since 2003, and previously taught at the Stockholm School of Economics, the Norwegian School of Management, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Maryland. He currently teaches courses in leadership, ethics, and strategic management. In the past he has also taught courses in New Product Development, Engineering Management, Technology Management, and Negotiations.

Dr. Helleloid has a bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, a masters in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Business from the University of Washington. 

Workshop Information

Most of us participate in some negotiations every day, often without really thinking formally about it. Whether it is with those we live, our colleagues at work, or friends we get together with, negotiations take place.  Some negotiations are clearly win-lose - if you are selling a car and I am interested in buying it, when we haggle back and forth over a price, someone will be better off while the other person will be worse off. But some negotiations are less about winning and losing, or simply determining who gets what share, and more about trying to decide how everyone can be better off. Maybe you are looking to sell your car because you simply want to save some money, and will instead buy an older or smaller car with better gas mileage. And maybe I have an older car that no longer serves my purposes and am looking to upgrade. We might be able to reach some deal where we are both better off. This example with a car is rather simple, but the basic ideas apply in many negotiation settings. In work, and particularly in developing new products and services, there are always trade-offs over different priorities, with some negotiation essential to deciding what is completed on what schedule, and what is left out.

 This workshop will describe some basic concepts of negotiation, and provide a few scenarios where you can try out your negotiation skills. 

Frank Witmer | Watch Project Management Zoom

Frank Witmer is an Airman Leadership School Instructor at the Etchberger Airmen Leadership School at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. He has been serving in the Air Force for over 12 years and throughout that time, he has gained experience not only in Leadership and Professional Development, but also Law Enforcement and Firearms Instruction. In 2020, he received his Master’s in Project Management from the University of Mary and plans to further his experience outside the realm of the military.

Throughout his career he has led various teams through change management, contingency planning and various projects. Frank loves to learn and share concepts that better prepare himself and others to build stronger connections with those around them. When there is no work to be done, he enjoys playing video games, trying new things, and spending time with his wife and two daughters.

Abstract

Though the students are coming up on completing their projects, I feel it is still important to cover the basics from start to finish. I am unaware of their current knowledge of managing a project so I feel that providing a brief overview of the process is applicable. Additionally, I would like to provide information on why projects may fail or miss the mark. Further, since they are designing new products, understanding how to speak to Stakeholders (whether that be investors, customers, or other), communicating with others could be a key factor in success or failure. Discussing the significance of the prioritization chart or goals is also critical in the end game, so I will discuss how risk assessment and looking at what should, can, and cannot be done when the time crunch comes and you need to.  

• Charter
• Prioritization of Goals/Chart
  • Delegation
• Risk Assessment
• Schedule
  • WBS, prioritizing last minute objectives
• Stakeholders (i.e. investors, customers, etc.)
  • I want to inform them on what the common problems that arise that may disrupt development and delivery timelines
• Communicating your design/proposition effectively
• Know what type of music they prefer

Thomas A. James |  Watch Making Decisions About Intellectual Property

Thomas A. James is an intellectual property litigator in Chicago, and an electrical engineering graduate of the School of Engineering and Mines. After undergraduate, Thomas served as a patent examiner with the USPTO for a number of years and attended law school. During his time at the University of North Dakota, Thomas was engaged in a number of student groups including IEEE and the Dakota Venture Group. As a senior design project, Thomas participated in the NASA’s Lunabotics mining competition as part of a multidisciplinary engineering team led by Dr. Jeremiah Neubert and Dr. Naima Kaabouch.

Abstract

The presentation will teach students the basics about intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, and trade secrets in a story driven format that emphasizes decision making around intellectual property by a start-up intent on bringing their products to market.

Mock Job Interview Zoom Meeting

• Chris Dougherty
• Marvin Susanne Straus, Minnkota Power Cooperative
• Joseph Hartman, UND Professor of Geology & Geological Engr.
• Greg Helma, UND Alum, retired from LyondellBasell
• Mary Feller, UND Career Services
• Coby Kison, UND Student
• Marie Bergelin, UND Student
• Hannah Otten, UND Student

Human Resource and Career Service professionals provide practical advice on moving forward in the job and internship market. This session will be recorded and made available to online students and others who want to participate in these workshops and are not otherwise able to attend.

Mark Jendrysik |  The Necessity of Ethics Zoom Meeting

Mark Stephen Jendrysik is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. He has been a faculty member at the University of North Dakota since 1999. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His B.A. is from Providence College. He is proud to share Chicopee, Massachusetts as his hometown with famed utopian author Edward Bellamy. (Be sure to read Looking Backward someday). Prior to his appointment at UND he held visiting positions at Bucknell University (1996-98) and the University of Mississippi (1998-99). He also held a post-doctoral appointment at the Center for Survey Research of the University of Virginia (1995-96). He likes to say that he was “seeing America one college at a time.”

Abstract

Education in ethical reasoning should be understood as providing a foundation in theory for actual practice. Without a foundation in theory, each ethical question becomes an event with no connection to other events. An analogy might be to mathematics where, without a basis, in theory, each problem seems like a unique event. So training in ethics makes us able to recognize an ethical question, analyze it in broader terms, and act in accordance with best practices. A solid theoretical foundation also allows us to examine cases to determine where ethical reasoning failed and why bad outcomes happened.

Empathy Zoom Meeting

Presenter: Amy Whitney, Director, Center for Innovation, UND

Abstract

To solve real problems and challenges engineers are better served when developing a deep understanding and context of the situation from the perspective of the user, stakeholder and person(s) impacted, both real and perceived. This deep understanding is developed through the use of empathic practice.  This session will discuss the empathy strategies, review its role as part of design and creative problem solving and include an experiential case study to help students practice using the tools described in the session. Empathy is the heart of innovation and design.

Clifton Strength |  Clifton Strength Zoom Meeting

What is CliftonStrengths for Students?

The CliftonStrengths for Students is an online assessment of normal personality from the perspective of positive psychology. Invented by Don Clifton, the CliftonStrengths assessment presents individuals with 177 items, each consisting of a pair of potential self-descriptors. Think “I read instructions carefully” vs “I like to jump right into things.” The individual chooses the descriptor that best describes themselves and the extent to which that chosen description describes them. Think “What do I prefer 99.9% of the time” or “What do I do 99.9% of the time.”

CliftonStrengths™ is:

• A way to identify the sources of our strengths
• A common language to describe human strengths
• A way to understand behavior
• A path to a strengths-building environment

Instructions for completing CliftonStrengths for Students Assessment

The assessment will present you 177 items and each item lists a pair of potential self-descriptors. You will have 20 seconds to respond to each item and if you do not respond within the 20 seconds, automatically neutral is selected as your answer. Go with your first instinct. There is no right or wrong answers. Choose the self-descriptor that best suites you. It is highly recommended that you avoid choosing neutral as much as possible as your results may not resonate with you as much if you do.

If you participate in this workshop you will be given a complimentary access code to take the survey.

Here are your step by step instructions for completing the assessment after you receive the code.

1. Visit StrengthsQuest
2. Copy and paste the access code that is given to you into the available field, and then click Continue.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions to create a Gallup Strengths Center account. You will need to create an account to move forward!
4. Once registered you will be able to take the CliftonStrengths® assessment. Please give yourself 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to complete it. You need to complete the assessment in one sitting.

Emily Holth | Dealing with Difficult People Zoom Meeting

Emily is the founder and owner of Sustainable Solution Services, LLC, a Grand Forks firm specializing in workplace mediation, coaching, and team development, which provides people with a confidential service where they can feel safe in speaking about difficult situations, complaints or inquiries.

Construct: The key to the puzzle of dealing with difficult people is managing ourselves and making better choices under difficult circumstances. In this workshop, we will explore how to do that and what works for you. Better choices creates better interactions overall and leads to better professional and personal relationships. Puzzle-solving demonstrations will be part of the workshop.

Affiliation: Conflict Management Consultant for the University of North Dakota and provides consulting, coaching, training, and mediation services to the UND faculty, staff and students.

Coordinator: Joseph Hartman, joseph.hartman@und.edu, 701-777-5055.

Stephanie Lee| Strength Finder Zoom Meeting

For the first time at CEM, coordinated by Dr. Kouhyar Tavakolian, 40 students completed this online assessment and the results were presented and interpreted on March 26^th, by Stephanie Lee who is a certified coach by Gallup.

• The CliftonStrengths for Students is an online assessment of normal personality from the perspective of positive psychology. Invented by Don Clifton, the CliftonStrengths assessment presents individuals with 177 items, each consisting of a pair of potential self-descriptors.
• Through completing the web-based assessment and participating in a classroom conversation with a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach you will discover your top five strengths; identify dominant talents and how to maximize them and have tools and resources to implement strengths into your life and academic pursuits.
• CliftonStrengths is used at more than 600 schools and universities in North America. More than 16.8 million people have used CliftonStrengths to gain insights into how to use their talents to achieve academic success, to explore careers, and in leadership development. CliftonStrengths™ is a way to identify the sources of our strengths; a common language to describe human strengths; a way to understand behavior; and a path to a strengths-building environment.

All sessions will be recorded and made available to online students and others who would like to participate in these workshops that are not able to attend
Certificate of completion: will be presented to those who complete at least 7 out of 8 modules

Presenter: Kristofor Paulson

Kristofor Paulson, is an instructor of Economics/Finance at UND. He has two Master degrees, Masters in Applied Econ and my Masters in Business and his Bachelors in Finance. He has also been investing for more than 15 years in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. He trades through Robinhood, a non-transaction fee investing website and app.

Construct

Do you know what is your credit score (FICO score)? Do you want to learn ways to improve your credit score or avoid hitting your score down? Do you want to learn about the stock market and how to buy and sell stocks? You could start learning about stocks without any initial investment and in a virtual environment. If you want to learn about issues of financial management this workshop would be useful for you.

Dr. Amy Whitney | Design Thinking Video

Dr. Amy Whitney is the Director of the UND Center for Innovation. She brings 20+ years of entrepreneurial, innovative, collaborative and creative thinking skills to her work. Whitney has used her background in non-profit management, business, education, and public policy advocacy to prioritize town-gown relationship building as the foundation of entrepreneurial activity. She oversees a vibrant Center supporting entrepreneurs, students and faculty members in Grand Forks and across North Dakota. Her areas of teaching and research are focused on creative problem solving, design thinking and using these skills to create organizational change and inspire entrepreneurial activity.

Before joining the UND Center for Innovation, Whitney was director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Clark University in Worcester, MA. for seven years where she worked on curriculum development, hiring adjunct faculty, strategic planning, student mentorship and business creation, and collaboration with the community, alumni and the university.  In addition, she served as state program coordinator and Chapter Executive Director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Boston area.

Dr. Whitney grew up in Northern Vermont as the oldest daughter of a dairy farmer and nurse. She has a bachelor’s degree in American government, a master’s degree in Business Administration and a doctorate in organizational leadership and education. Her doctoral research and teaching focuses on the instruction and application of creative problem solving skills to address complex economic and social challenges in business and society.

Abstract

Design thinking is a creative problem solving framework used by organizations around the world to identify new solutions to challenging problems in business, society and life. This interactive workshop is a fast-paced introduction to the design thinking problem solving model and is intended to introduce participants to the framework. Students will work collaboratively with each other to identify, prototype and test a solution for an everyday item in a consumer’s life. Creative problem solving is a necessary skill in a 21st first century world facing numerous difficult economic and social challenges. Design thinking is a problem solving framework grounded in creative thinking and recognized as an effective means to identify new solutions to challenging issues.

Presenter: Chris J. Zygarlicke, Director of Employee Development & Engagement, Energy & Environmental Research Center

Recording: Time to Do What You Want Video

Abstract

Time. Many of us feel like we never have enough of it. Crazy college life and schedules often cause a loss of control of our time and we can get overwhelmed and stressed out. There are solutions, tricks and tips to the time challenge, and we’ll cover just a few from a UND perspective. First, realize, no one does it the same; life and relationships guarantee that. However, we can find a middle ground of time management efficiency and take that a step further toward actually building spaces in our schedule for what WE want to do. The disciplines, scheduling, goals, and flourishing habits we can create now in college with good time management will carry forward into our careers.

Business Model Canvas Video

About the Presenters

• Tyler Sletten, SBIR Director – Tyler R. Sletten is an entrepreneurial consultant for the UND Center for Innovation. His current role places him at the crossroads of academia, the private sector, and student endeavors. He is a proud graduate of the Defense Information School (DINFOS) and served for six years with the ND Army National Guard and three with the ND Air National Guard; both as a public affairs representative. He is the current owner of Lone Tree Outfitter and Sletten Logistics.
• Greg Syrup, Entrepreneur Coach – Greg is a Grand Forks native and has spent several years doing angel investing and helping early stage companies get off the ground. He also serves in the role of Adjunct Professor for the School of Entrepreneurship. He is the lead coach for the Innovate ND program, a state-supported program for entrepreneurs in North Dakota. He is a graduate of UND’s Entrepreneurship and MBA programs, ’12 & ’14 respectively.

Abstract

The Business Model Canvas - Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and lean startup template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a firm's or product's value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances.

Date: April 16, 2019
Location: Harrington Hall 324
Time: 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Presenter: Kristofor Paulson

Kristofor Paulson, is an instructor of Economics/Finance at UND.  He has two Master degrees, Masters in Applied Econ and my Masters in Business and his Bachelors in Finance. He has also been investing for more than 15 years in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. He trades through Robinhood, a non-transaction fee investing website and app.

Abstract

Do you know what is your credit score (FICO score)? Do you want to learn ways to improve your credit score or avoid hitting your score down? Do you want to learn about the stock market and how to buy and sell stocks? You could start learning about stocks without any initial investment and in a virtual environment. If you want to learn about issues of financial management this workshop would be useful for you.  

Mock Job Recording

• Rick Sandwick, Human Resource Manager, JR Simplot
• Nikki Borstad, Recruiting, Fast Enterprises LLC
• Ken Harness, Senior Vice President of Product Development, Cirrus Aircraft
• Bethany Kurz, Assistant Director for Integrated Analytical Solutions, EERC 

Emily Holth |  Dealing with Difficult People

Emily is the founder and owner of Sustainable Solution Services, LLC, a Grand Forks firm specializing in workplace mediation, coaching, and team development, which provides people with a confidential service
where they can feel safe in speaking about difficult situations, complaints or inquiries. Conflict Management Consultant for the University of North Dakota and provides consulting, coaching, training, and mediation services to the UND faculty, staff and students.

Abstract

The key to the puzzle of dealing with difficult people is managing ourselves and making better choices under difficult circumstances. In this workshop, we will explore how to do that and what works for you. This creates better interactions overall and leads to better professional and personal relationships. Puzzle-solving demonstrations will be part of the workshop.

Adam Zach, Professional Engineer |  Workload and Schedule Planning Video

Adam Zach is a 2010 BSCE and 2011 M. Eng graduate from UND, Adam is currently a Project Engineer at a regional consultant firm with AE2S and is a registered engineer in four states.  He is also an entrepreneur in real estate holding more than one million dollars in assets and founder of a regional Mastermind group for inspired professional from all career fields.

Abstract

Ever feel like between classes, homework, and school projects there is not enough time to get involved with organizations, look for internships, have fun, play games, eat and sleep all in 168 hrs in a week?  Come find out how workload and schedule planning can change your probability of success. 

In this workshop we will summarize and prioritize what highly effective students do to get ahead in school work along with balancing the challenges of demanding student life. The workshop will be a live interactive demonstration utilizing student input to develop a tool to use for weekly workload planning and management.

Presenters: Kegang Ling, Yun Ji, Clement Tang, and Kouhyar Tavakolian

Dr. Kegang Ling is an associate professor in Petroleum Engineering at University of North Dakota (UND). Before joining UND, He worked as a petroleum engineer in an oil company and a petroleum engineering consulting company. He holds a BS degree from the China University of Petroleum in geology, an MS degree from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and a PhD degree from Texas A&M University, both in petroleum engineering.

Dr. Yun Ji is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and US Fulbright Scholar in 2018. Dr. Ji is involved in US Fulbright program and AIChE. Dr. Ji's philosophy for networking is - networking should be a balance between helping yourself and helping others.

Dr. Kouhyar Tavakolian had joined UND in 2014. He is an assistant professor at Electrical Engineering and director of biomedical engineering program. His research focus is on biomedical devices and biological signal processing. He is a senior member of IEEE and the Young Affinity Chair for the IEEE Red River Valley section. Kouhyar has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences.

Dr. Clement Tang joined UND as a faculty member in 2011. He is currently an associate professor of mechanical engineering. He has been conducting research in gas-liquid two-phase flow heat transfer for over 15 years. He also serves as an associate editor for Heat Transfer Engineering journal, published by Taylor & Francis. His philosophy of networking is “Be authentic. Every individual has something of value and unique to offer to someone.”

Jennifer L. Stoner, Nikhil Patel, and Amy A. Whitney

Sales Pitch and Negotiation

Dr. Jennifer L. Stoner is the Morrison Faculty Fellow and an Assistant Professor in the University of North Dakota’s Marketing Department. She received a PhD in Marketing with a focus on Consumer Behavior from the University of Minnesota in 2016. Her research has been published in top tier marketing journals including the Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Consumer Psychology. She was recently awarded the UND College of Business and Public Administration’s Meritorious Research Award. 

Being persuasive is a key for any sales pitch. Several scientifically proven tactics have been shown to easily and in some cases costlessly increase persuasive ability. Understanding how to harness the power of persuasion can improve the likelihood of closing any deal.

Dr. Nikhil Patel has been a leading force engineering development of gasification technologies at the Energy & Environmental Research Center since 2002. He founded his company; Singularity Energy Technologies (SET for short), to commercialize his recently patented sandwich gasifier, an innovative and highly efficient technology which can transform complex wastes into energy rich liquid fuels or electricity to help make the world a better place

SET is a provider of a next generation waste conversion technology capable of transforming anthropogenic waste into energy and value-added products, thus reducing environmental and economic issues. While persistence for excellence, creating competitive advantage, establishing opportunities, and having the ability to learn from other’s mistakes are essential ingredients for success, having ‘skin in the game’ is critical for developing strategic partnerships and winning the client’s confidence to obtain their business.

Amy A. Whitney is the Director for the UND Center for Innovation since July 2018. Prior to UND, she was the Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at Clark University in Worcester, MA. Amy has a Master’s degree in Business Administration and is finishing her doctorate in Organizational Leadership this fall with a focus on creative problem solving, experiential learning and how those skills are applied in organizational settings to address complex challenges.

The art of the pitch is grounded in the power of storytelling and engaging a person’s emotions and intellect to understand the value of your idea. Successful selling involves persuasive arguments that demonstrate impact, solve a problem and create a sense of urgency and connection.

Duane Helleloid | Herding Cats and Managing People Recording

Duane Helleloid is a Professor and Chair of the Management Department at UND. He holds undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from the University of Minnesota, a masters in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Before pursuing his doctoral work, he worked 5 years for IBM and HP in engineering.  He chose to study management because he found that while his employers had great engineering talent, insufficient management skills often caused new product development projects to under-perform.

Abstract

An engineer who is good at their job typically receives "opportunities for advancement" - which usually means leading a design team and/or managing a group of engineers. However, the skills that made someone a great engineer are not necessarily the same as those that will enable them to be a great leader and manager. Managing engineers isn't necessarily difficult, but it requires the development of skills that are not typically taught in an engineering program.

Sheila Hanson | Watch Business Plan Recording

Sheila Hanson is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship in the College of Business and Public Administration of the University of North Dakota. The courses she teaches include: Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Managing for Sustainability, Social Entrepreneurship, and Small and Family Business. She conducts research in the areas of applied psychology, family business, and business ethics. Previously, she worked at the Energy & Environmental Research Center.

Abstract

This workshop-oriented seminar is an introduction to business plans through a framework call the business model canvas. The framework is useful for analyzing the key areas of a business model, the basis for starting a venture. During the workshop, we will examine key activities and resources in a business, look at customer relationships and segments, explore value propositions, identify distribution channels to your customers, and examine cost structures and revenue streams. This framework is working through business ideas and making decisions. We will also discuss the importance of business development process for technology developers.