Conference Details

Rationale | Schedule | Speakers | Program | Logistics | Exhibitor Info | Sponsors | Exhibitors | Registration

Rationale

Transitions

This year’s theme, “Transitions,” recognizes that change is fundamental to students’ higher education experiences and that student success hinges on the thoughtful negotiation of turning points, shifts and evolutions. The most obvious of these transitions is the move from high school to college but there are many others – transferring from a community college to a four year institution, moving into a campus residential environment, declaring a major, changing majors, transferring institutions, moving off campus, developing self-authorship, and graduating – to name a few.

This conference explores these pivotal points and looks at practices that help students successfully navigate them. Also, at a time when higher education is going through its own transitions, we will consider the impact of larger institutional changes and how they impact student success. The conference is designed for faculty members, administrators, and professionals in both academic and student affairs, from 2- and 4-year educational institutions who are seeking new ways of thinking about and promoting student success in higher education.

Schedule*

8:00 – 9:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast, UMass Amherst Campus Center Concourse

9:00 am –10:00 am Morning Keynote, Campus Center Auditorium
Dr. Becky Wai-Ling Packard, Professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College and Director of the Harriet L. and Paul M. Weissman Center for Leadership

10:15 – 11:30 am Concurrent Sessions, Campus Center Lower Level and 9th Floor

11:45 – 12:45 pm Keynote Address, Campus Center Auditorium
Dr. Adrianna Kezar, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California and Co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education

12:45 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch, Campus Center Auditorium
Dessert will be available on the Campus Center Concourse

1:45 – 3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions, Campus Center Lower Level and 9th Floor

3:15 – 3:45 pm Conference wrap up with Dr. John V. Lombardi, Professor of History and Associate Librarian, University of Massachusetts Amherst

3:45 pm – 4:30 pm Wine and Cheese Social, Campus Center Concourse, Lower Level
Come follow up with presenters, and catch up with colleagues

*Schedule is preliminary and subject to change.

Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Adrianna Kezar is a national expert of change and leadership in higher education and her research agenda explores the change process in higher education institutions and the role of leadership in creating change. Dr. Kezar is also a well-known qualitative researcher and has written several texts and articles about ways to improve qualitative research in education. Kezar is well published with 14 books, over 75 journal articles, and over a hundred book chapters and reports. In 2011, she had two new books: Recognizing and Serving Low Income Students (Routledge, 2011) and Enhancing Campus Capacity for Leadership (Stanford Press, 2011). Other recent previous books include: Understanding the new majority of non-tenure track faculty (Jossey Bass, 2010), Organizing for collaboration (Jossey Bass, 2009), Rethinking leadership practices in a complex, multicultural and global world (Stylus Press, 2009), Rethinking the "L" Word in Higher Education: The Revolution of Research on Leadership (Jossey Bass, 2006), Higher Education for the Public Good (Jossey Bass, 2005). Kezar holds a Ph.D. 1996 and M.A. 1992 in higher education administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. 1989 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the faculty at USC in 2003.

Becky Wai-Ling Packard's research focuses on mentoring, with an emphasis on how individuals such as first-generation college students, women, and persons of color construct and use mentoring networks and navigate complex pathways toward higher education and work. She frequently speaks on these topics at area colleges, designs mentoring programs (within a college, across colleges in partnerships, or within communities), and offers expert advice on ways to foster a climate in which mentoring all students toward the highest levels of excellence is possible. She recently contributed to a National Academy of Science summit examining the Role of Community Colleges in STEM fields. She also supported the design of a strong peer mentoring infrastructure within a state-wide initiative and she also has given advice to a number of selective liberal arts colleges about their advising programs. Packard received her doctorate in educational psychology from Michigan State University and she holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Michigan.

Logistics

Lodging

For reservations at the UMass Amherst Campus Center Hotel, call: 1-877-822-2110 or go on-line: https://hotel.aux.umass.edu/

Getting to Campus

Here is a map and directions to campus. When you arrive, look for signs directing you to the Campus Center Parking Garage, located at B3 on this more detailed campus map. For GPS, the address is 1 Campus Center Way. We suggest parking on the second level.

Registration

Upon arrival, park in the Campus Center Parking Garage on the second level, then exit the garage by walking through a short tunnel. After a set of glass doors, turn left and walk directly into the Campus Center. The registration table is located on the lower level. You may take the escalators down, which will be on your left, or the elevators, which will be on your right.

Questions

Questions should be addressed to Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Director of External Affairs, in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences: 413-545-1933.

Sponsors

Exhibitors (Coming Soon)