UVA Darden Executive Education Meets the Moment With New Virtual Courses

New initiatives bring critical instruction from Darden's top-ranked faculty to learners across the globe through new virtual courses and a Specialization in Future-Ready Leadership

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University of Virginia Darden School of Business

Jul 21, 2020, 03:00 ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet the unique needs for lifelong learning and continuous professional development amid the coronavirus pandemic and position individuals and organizations for the future of work, Darden Executive Education has shifted a significant portion of its portfolio of programs to a flexible, virtual model.

Darden Executive Education provides an unparalleled educational experience so that organizations and individuals can be confident they are building leadership resilience and agility — skills needed now more than ever.

Amid unprecedented complexity in the global business landscape, including the critical needs to manage unprecedented change through a pandemic-driven recession, leverage diversity and model true inclusion, Darden Executive Education will offer a number of new courses for 2020, as well as a new Specialization in Future-Ready Leadership.

"There is no playbook for the unprecedented, and these complex times call for flexible learning solutions to effectively position organizations to thrive in the face of disruption," said Ashley Williams, CEO and chief learning officer of Darden Executive Education. "The pivot of many of our top courses to a flexible, virtual model and launch of newly relevant courses and a new specialization aim to help individuals and organizations lead as effectively as possible now — and into the future."

New Virtual Courses, Specialization Designed for Unique Needs of Today — and Tomorrow

Beginning 9 July, Darden's top-ranked faculty will offer 19 courses — including nine newly designed for the virtual environment — intended to help individuals lead through uncertainty and into the future as they experience intense moments of discovery and learn practical skills that can be practiced immediately and every day. The programs will consist primarily of live sessions with Darden faculty, complemented by on-demand work and individual and team projects.

Explore all of Darden's new virtual programs, which include:

Leading Lean Transformations in Disruption
Leading Mindfully: Leading Through Crisis
Managing Individual and Organizational Change
Negotiating Success: A Learning Laboratory
Communication Strategies to Manage Crisis, Disruption and Transformation
Women's Leadership Program
Strategic Data Analytics for Competitive Advantage
Leading With Humanity: New Skills for the Digital Age
Leading Virtual Teams Through Disruption

The new virtual programs, which will be offered at special pricing and are available to learners anywhere in the world, have been designed to offer the same immersive experience and outcomes as in-person programs. Each will apply as one program toward a Darden Executive Education Certificate in Leadership or Management, which is earned after completion of four programs.

The new Specialization in Future-Ready Leadership builds on the success of courses Darden Executive Education constructed for custom clients facing impacts of the pandemic. The specialization, which offers individual learners and companies confronting disruption and growth ceilings new skills to manage change and drive corporate strategy, is composed of three courses, including two core courses, Strategic Data Analytics for Competitive Advantage and Leading With Humanity: New Skills for the Digital Age, and the choice of one of three electives.

"This pandemic has fundamentally shifted how business gets done, as well as the skills needed to lead," said Darden Dean Scott Beardsley. "Leaders who are able to pivot to these new ways of doing business will position their organizations to be in the forefront of positive change. These Executive Education courses will help learners anticipate the challenges of tomorrow while equipping them with the mindset to lead today."

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business delivers the world's best business education experience to prepare entrepreneurial, global and responsible leaders through its MBA, Ph.D., MSBA and Executive Education programs. Darden's top-ranked faculty is renowned for teaching excellence and advances practical business knowledge through research. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

SOURCE University of Virginia Darden School of Business