Innovation Unbound

Session Description

This session will engage participants in conversations around the importance of linking institutional effectiveness practices to their mission and how this can help in times of uncertainty.  The workshop will guide participants through exercises that will help show alignment of processes including accreditation, assessment, and planning. 

Session Description

In higher education, support services often focus on student demographics—such as military affiliation, socioeconomic status, academic need, and identity markers—to determine areas of intervention. However, one critical factor remains largely overlooked: student survivors of trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or chronic stress.

Defined by the CDC as potentially traumatic events occurring before the age of 18, ACEs include abuse, neglect, exposure to violence, family mental health challenges, substance abuse, and incarceration of a caregiver. The scale of this issue is staggering—nearly 600,000 children are abused annually in the U.S. alone, with over a billion affected worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Students entering college with a history of ACEs may face unique challenges. These experiences can disrupt emotional development, hinder relationship-building, and lead to maladaptive coping strategies such as substance use, disordered eating, and difficulty seeking help. Research shows a direct link between trauma symptoms and lower educational attainment, as trauma can inhibit curiosity, learning, and self-advocacy.

The neurological impact of trauma is especially profound during childhood, when the brain is still developing. Trauma alters the limbic system, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus, affecting emotional regulation and memory. This can result in involuntary stress responses—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—triggered by environmental cues.

Given that higher education is a gateway to improved life outcomes—impacting employment, mobility, and well-being—it is imperative that institutions recognize and respond to the needs of student survivors. Trauma-informed training for faculty and staff can empower campus communities to identify students in distress, offer appropriate referrals, and foster environments that promote healing and resilience.

This session invites educators, advisors, and administrators to explore how trauma-informed practices can transform support services and create inclusive, responsive learning spaces for all students.

Session Description

This presentation describes an innovative design principle for accreditation and assessment self-studies that centers the process on intentional professional development (PD) for staff and faculty. Ensuring the dual goals of a quality self-study and PD requires sustained intention and commitment by the institution. This approach provides a model for increasing interest, participation, and engagement in accreditation and assessment activities, and it offers a cost-effective means to provide relevant PD for a wide range of individuals. It infuses unique PD opportunities accompanied by a comprehensive network of support throughout the work of the self-study process. It personalizes the experience for participants, making the work immediately relevant and thereby overcoming negative perceptions of accreditation and assessment. This session will discuss the strategies used to ground the self-study in PD, benefits for individuals and the institution, lessons learned, and the impact of the PD-centered design on individuals and the process. This session will provide an adaptable framework for use by other institutions and attendees will receive a guidebook with practical tools and templates.

Session Description

The session will focus on a research study, analysis of the findings, and recommendations for educators in enhancing DEI learning in programs.

Session Description

University partnerships have emerged as a powerful tool for institutions to expand their capabilities, brand and reputation, share resources, foster innovation and best practices, and achieve mutual goals. To be successful and productive, these strategic alliances must be created on a foundation of shared values, objectives, and goals. University partnerships encompass a broad range of areas, including joint degree programs, industry collaboration, faculty exchange programs, collaborative research projects and centers, international academic exchanges and even shared facilities and infrastructure. With a focus on partnerships around student experiential learning, this roundtable session will allow participants to share their experiences with university partnerships and garner strategies and tactics to kickstart new partnerships or take existing relationships and partnerships to the next level.

Session Description

One of the biggest fears for most people is public speaking. How can we best educate students, so they overcome this hurdle and develop into great speakers? Join us for the discussion of a pilot project at Montgomery County Community College that explored how the virtual reality application VirtualSpeech positively impacted students' performance and lowered overall anxiety in public speaking. Informed by two years of course and tutoring integration, student interviews, and other qualitative data, we will walk you through our process and how immersive reality technologies can impact student learning and your own courses.

Session Description

Similar to many institutions, Immaculata University has seen its first-generation student numbers increase significantly in recent years. To better connect with and support these students, a small group of administrators from different university offices started the First@IU mentor program in 2022. Now entering its third year, the First@IU program includes faculty and staff mentors, the Tri-Alpha Honors program, and a newly formed First@IU student group. This session will provide more details about the creation of First@IU, what worked and where there have been some challenges, and where we plan to go from here.

Session Description

In today’s competitive enrollment landscape, colleges and universities can no longer rely on siloed marketing tactics. This session explores how to implement a comprehensive, full-funnel digital marketing strategy—from building awareness to driving conversions. Cassandra Razzi, a digital marketing expert from Orange142, will guide attendees through proven methods for increasing enrollment in both credit and non-credit programs by leveraging audience insights, data-driven targeting, and platform-specific strategies across each stage of the enrollment journey. The session will also explore the latest trends shaping higher education marketing, including AI-powered personalization, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), predictive analytics, and value-driven messaging.