The majority of participants in our Seminars and Certificate Programs are mid- and upper-level professionals working in the business, nonprofit, government, or military sectors; however, professionals at all levels of experience are welcome to participate. For course-specific information, please see the Who Should Attend section located on each seminar and certificate program page.

If you have questions related to group participation in HDO Professional Training, please see the “I have a group of people interested in HDO Professional Training. How can we participate?” section below.

Our Custom Training Programs are developed in coordination with your organization and are tailored to your specific needs, including the experience level(s) of selected participants.

Teams and individuals from over 600 companies, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies have participated in HDO Professional Training programs, including:

Dell
Google
Austin Independent School District (AISD)
Humana
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
U.S. Department of Justice
NASA
Deloitte
MD Anderson
Frost Bank
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
Apple
Cisco
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA)
Seton Healthcare
USAA

In addition, many training participants are small business owners, freelancers, and/or work as independent consultants.

Yes: You will earn 0.6 CEUs for each one-day seminar (six hours of instruction) that you complete. You will earn 2.4 CEUs for each four-day certificate program (24 hours of instruction) that you complete.

Each HDO One-Day Seminar and Certificate Program course typically runs at least twice per year.

HDO can also organize a custom run of any course(s) for your team or organization. Please visit our Programs for Groups page for more information regarding this option.

Faculty leaders may provide participants with pre- and post-course work to prepare participants for the course and to reinforce the content presented in the course, respectively. Given that most HDO training participants are busy professionals, any pre-course work will be kept to a minimum. All pre- and post-course work is optional but highly recommended.

Custom Training Programs include pre-program surveys and light readings to prepare participants for their upcoming training. Post-program exercises and readings will be provided to reinforce lessons learned in the training program.

Each semester, several individuals working in the nonprofit sector will be selected to attend one of our four-day certificate programs free-of-charge. These “Nonprofit Accelerators” will be full participants in their selected program and will receive a certificate upon completion of their final course. You can learn more and apply here.

HDO One-Day Seminars and Certificate Program courses typically have between 12-25 participants in class. Faculty leaders may limit or expand the number of participants in their course in accordance with their teaching methodology; however, we rarely go above 25 participants so as to encourage small group work and individualized attention.

Once the maximum number of participants for a course has been reached, prospective participants will be placed on a waitlist. In the case of registration cancellation(s), waitlisted participants will be offered a chance to register for the course.

Programs for groups can be tailored to any group size.

Earning your HDO Certificate requires that you complete four one-day courses, either over four consecutive days or over the course of a semester. Upon completion of your Certificate Program, you will receive a hard copy Certificate as well as a digital version for posting to LinkedIn and other networks.

If you have already completed one or more one-day courses and you would like to apply them to a Certificate Program, please contact Lewis Miller, HDO’s Interim Director. 

Certainly! We offer several concentration options so that you can choose the courses that best fit your professional development needs. You may earn multiple certificates, however, each certificate requires completing four distinct courses.

Yes, our team is happy to help you determine which program(s) will best help you reach your goals. You can reach out via the chat box in the bottom right of your screen or contact Lewis Miller, HDO’s Interim Director, to discuss your options.

All One-Day Seminars and Certificate Program courses are primarily held in person on the UT Austin campus. On-campus courses are primarily held at HDO’s offices located in UT’s IC² Institute (2815 San Gabriel St., Austin, TX). Courses may also be held at other locations on campus. Courses run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Programs for Groups can be held on campus, online, at your organization, or at an off-site location. The length of your program is flexible depending upon your needs.

There is no dress code for our training programs; however, most participants opt for business casual attire. We recommend that you bring a light sweater or jacket to the course, as classroom temperatures vary.

Development time for Custom Programs varies based upon course length and the number of faculty leaders involved. After your initial inquiry, our faculty and staff will begin by examining your overall training objectives and matching them with our faculty members’ areas of expertise.

After this review, we will follow up with you to discuss additional details regarding course content, desired program length, budget, etc. The turnaround time for this initial process is typically one week or less. 

The standard fee for One-Day Professional Seminars is $1,000, with discounted registration available for UT staff/alumni and persons who work in the education, nonprofit, government, and military sectors.

The standard fee for our Four-Day Certificate Programs is $3,000, with discounted registration available for UT staff/alumni and persons who work in the education, nonprofit, government, and military sectors.

The cost of Group Programs is variable, based on program length, number of faculty leaders involved, and course location. Every Group Program includes pre-program meetings and content discussions with HDO faculty and staff, materials for your participants, a custom website for your program, and post-training materials and information for continued learning. Meeting space, parking, lunch, refreshments, and WiFi access are also included for on-campus programs.

There are three options for group participation in HDO Professional Training: Discounted Registration Packages, our Partners Program, and Custom Training Programs.

You can learn about each option at the Programs for Groups page.

Payment for One-Day Seminars and Certificate Programs can be made by credit/debit card (MasterCard, VISA, American Express, and Discover), check, and purchase order via our online registration system. HDO accepts Interdepartmental Transfer (IDT) payments for UT Austin faculty and staff (group or individual programs) with department signature approval.

Payment for Group Programs is typically handled via invoice.

Payment plans can be set up for Certificate Program participants and Group Training clients. Please contact Lewis Miller, HDO’s Director, if you wish to discuss this option.

Refund and Transfer Policies

Refunds

The following fees will be deducted from the amount refunded based on when the cancellation is made:

One-Day Seminars

• 15 or more days before course: Full refund
• Less than 15 days before course: Full refund minus book/materials + shipping costs

Four-Day Certificate Programs

• 15 or more days before program: Full refund
• Less than 15 days before program: Full refund minus book/materials + shipping costs

To make a modification to your registration, please visit the link provided in your confirmation email. If you need us to resend your confirmation email, please contact Alyx Dykema, HDO’s Outreach and Engagement Manager, at alyx.dykema@austin.utexas.edu / 512-475-6173.

If a course is canceled by HDO, enrollment fees will be fully refunded. HDO is not responsible for reimbursing travel-related expenses if a course is canceled. In the event that the University is closed on the date of a course due to inclement weather, the course will be rescheduled. Registered participants will have the option to attend on the rescheduled date, transfer their registration to another course, or request a full refund.

Transfers

Participants may transfer their registration to another HDO course or to another person without incurring any fees. To make a transfer, please visit the link provided in your confirmation email. If you need us to resend your confirmation email, please contact Lewis Miller, HDO’s Director.