Viterbo University’s Center for Professional Learning and Development is officially two years old, but its roots go much farther back.

For a decade before the CPLD took shape, Viterbo’s Dahl School of Business was offering specialized leadership development, strategic planning, and executive training, tailored to the needs of the business or organization. The CPLD, though, took things to the next level.

As Viterbo President Glena Temple said when the CPLD was announced in September 2018, “The mission of the Center aligns perfectly with our goal of creating strong community partnerships, which in turn generates more opportunities in the greater La Crosse area.”

Nicole Van Ert, former program coordinator for Viterbo’s D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership assumed the full-time director position in October 2019 and agrees the center has been fulfilling its mission as planned. “Our connection to the community grows as we continue to foster relationships with our clients and become a trusted partner in driving their success.” said Van Ert. “This is integral to Viterbo in so many ways. It’s what sets us apart. It is part of our Franciscan tradition to serve the community.”

The center continues to level up and innovate, even in the midst of a pandemic, which has accelerated already planned efforts to offer more online options. “Virtual programming allows the CPLD to expand the range and scope of our offerings,” said Van Ert.  The impetus for looking at online options was to expand accessibility to the CPLD’s training, both in a geographic sense and to make professional development more convenient for demanding schedules; while also meeting market requests for online options.

Among the exciting recent CPLD developments is a partnership with Compression Planning® pioneer, the McNellis Company, to offer the first national virtual training in Compression Planning®. “Our relationship with the McNellis Company has grown over the years and the challenge of this pandemic has presented a unique opportunity to offer a new format to a planning process that has been a proven technique in strategy for more than 35 years,” Van Ert said.

Viterbo was the first university—also in partnership with McNellis—to offer graduate level training in Compression Planning®, which has its roots in the storyboarding originally conceived by the Disney Company. In short, Compression Planning® is a six-step visual planning process for planning projects or events, developing strategic priorities, assessing needs, or making business decisions.

During the past year, the CPLD has offered a variety of programming including: customized leadership development training, certifications, workshops, coaching and consulting services and several new partnerships.  In addition, an online Servant Leadership certificate program is in the works as well as a partnership with the La Crosse Community Foundation to offer nonprofit organizations professional development opportunities. 

The CPLD offers specialized training, timed independently of the usual academic year at the university, with training happening onsite at the clients location or “on campus,” which now means the Weber Center for the Performing Arts, a collaborative venue supporting the missions of La Crosse Community Theatre and Viterbo University, located downtown on the Mississippi River.