ProjectConnect provides a proven model for helping participants build positive relationships quickly … think of it as a fast track to friendship. As a facilitator, you work with small groups to foster connections.

Use the program with students to help them make new connections.

Use during pre-matriculation, during orientation, or as part of the first year experience to help entering students form friendships and accelerate their adjustment to campus. And/or you can offer open-enrollment groups for students who want to broaden their social circles.

Use the program with staff and faculty to build bridges.

ProjectConnect can be used to help develop positive relationships between groups, such as class years, identity groups, or between staff and faculty. This can reduce cliques and silos on campus, and help establish greater empathy, communication, and interrelationships.

Use the program on campus to strengthen existing connections.

ProjectConnect can be used to strengthen connection within groups, such as residential areas, affinity groups, majors, teams, etc. Students are often looking for opportunities to build stronger ties within their communities or with students who share similar interests.

This course will provide you with activities, materials and practice to conduct ProjectConnect Sessions with students, staff and faculty on campus. The sessions encourage group members to build connection and friendship.

Learn by doing. Through interactive sessions, you will:

1. Meet great people. Each group has 5-6 participants who get to know each other better over the course of six 1-hour sessions.

2. Have great conversations. The provided conversation prompts and activities help you get beyond surface-level chit chat to make real connections.

3. Make great friends. By providing an intentional space—and using evidence-based strategies proven to build connection—you help people make friends in a fraction of the time.

This program is ideal for staff, faculty and student leaders charged with or looking to promote belonging and connection on campus. These positions will benefit from the course:

* Orientation supervisors and student orientation leaders

* Academic advisors and academic advising leadership

* Faculty who want to encourage student belonging in and outside of the classroom

* Student success professionals

* Campus HR professionals

* Peer mentors and student leaders

Jessica Gifford, LICSW, ProjectConnect Founder, Chief Connection Officer

Jessica is a social worker, turned connection expert and entrepreneur. She helps individuals and organizations build stronger relationships. Her work is based on the premise that developing5 fulfilling friendshipsis the antidote to loneliness. However, because there are so many challenges to making friends as an adult, Jessica created the ProjectConnect program to make the process easier and more fun. ProjectConnect provides a step-by-step roadmap for creating connection in small groups.

Jessica has worked with over 100 organizations—from colleges to corporations to community centers—and trained more than 500 ProjectConnect group facilitators. Thousands of participants—from 12 to 92 years old—have gone through ProjectConnect groups, reduced loneliness, and built connection.

Certification prepares you to facilitate ProjectConnect groups and build connection with people in your organization or community.

• Certification lasts a lifetime and can be used anywhere connection is needed (in your workplace, school, college, senior center, church, etc.). No re-certification needed.

• Facilitators have lifetime access to the ProjectConnect Facilitators' Resource HUB, which includes:

  • Instructions to successfully launch groups

  • The Facilitator’s Guide with step-by-step session outlines

  • Editable templates for advertising ProjectConnect and recruiting participants

  • Editable program evaluation forms and optional assessment scales

  • For colleges: an editable peer facilitator position description and application form

• Physical Materials (Connection Cards with the conversation prompts used in groups, and Appreciation Stationery, used in the mini connection project in session 4).

  • Hosting a training includes 10 decks of Connection Cards and 10 boxes of Appreciation Stationery.

  • Attending a training includes 1 deck of Connection Cards and 1 box of Appreciation Stationery per participant.

• Membership in the private ProjectConnect listserv to post questions and share information with other facilitators.

• Invitation to participate in quarterly ProjectConnect facilitators' Zooms with the Founder to ask questions, exchange information, and discuss topics related to successful implementation

• Discounted rate for all future trainings. You may use the group rate to attend a training or take 25% off to host a training.

• License to use the ProjectConnect name and logo to promote the program within your organization.

Registration Cost

Individual Registration $799

Group Registration $499 (for 2 or more registrations)

Student Registration $199

Your registration includes: online asynchronous learning and live virtual classes (the live sessions are highly interactive and discussion-based).

Connection information for optional course sessions is sent out the week ahead of the course start date. Any questions can be emailed to info@eduology.org.

Attendees can cancel for full refund through 6 p.m. MST 14 days ahead of the start date. Refunds cannot be issued after this date.