Navigating Uncertainty: Conversations on Challenges in Academia and Work-Life Balance
- Target Audience: Mid-to-Advanced Career (MAC) Professionals (PhD grad +4 years of experience)
- Webinar Date: Friday, November 14, 2025
- Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time
- Where: Zoom (link will be provided to registrants no later than 2 days prior to the webinar)
- Cost: Free and open to UAA members and non-UAA members. Everyone is welcome!
- Deadline to register: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
- NOTE: Webinar will NOT be recorded, so you must be able to attend live.
WEBINAR DESCRIPTION
This open discussion will create space to share stories, reflect on the uncertainties we face, and surface tensions in our professional contexts. Through brief facilitator anecdotes and interactive conversation, participants will reflect, exchange strategies, and identify supports to help navigate ongoing uncertainty. Insights from this webinar will also inform MAC sessions at the 2026 UAA Conference.
Looking Ahead: 2026 International Conference on Urban Affairs (ICUA), Chicago, IL
At ICUA 2026, we will build on themes raised in the November webinar and expand the conversation through several MAC-focused sessions. Two of these sessions will address pressing leadership challenges, with one centering on university-based chairs, deans, and other academic leaders, and another focused on the evolving needs of research centers and scholarly communities. In addition, we will host a series of sessions for scholars navigating tenure and promotion, highlighting both North American and international contexts. Together, these sessions are designed to provide MAC professionals with space to connect, share experiences, and consider strategies for thriving in today’s shifting academic and professional landscape. Look for these and other professional development opportunities in the detailed conference schedule: launch date-December 19, 2025.
/ / / / / COORDINATOR / / / / /
Meagan Ehlenz, Arizona State University
/ / / / / SPEAKERS / / / / /
Larry Vale, Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning, and Associate Dean, MIT School of Architecture and Planning, MIT
Yingling Fan, Associate Dean for Faculty at Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Shannon Portillo, Director at the School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University
This fall webinar is part of the UAA Professional Development series for early career and mid to advanced career professionals.
