RPUs are navigating one of the most complex periods in higher education history, marked by shifting federal policy, accelerated technological change, financial pressures, demographic disruption, and intensifying public scrutiny. At the same time, these institutions remain the nation’s most powerful engines of social mobility, civic leadership, and regional vitality.

This summer convening brings together senior academic and student affairs leaders to examine how RPUs are leading with purpose, evidence, and innovation in turbulent times. Rather than focusing solely on constraints, the meeting will elevate strategic choices, courageous leadership, and scalable practices that empower institutions to thrive while staying true to their mission.

Participants will engage in forward-looking dialogue around a central question:

How can RPUs evolve—strategically, structurally, and culturally—while strengthening their role as anchors of democracy, opportunity, and student success?

Key Questions We Will Explore Together

• Federal policy and institutional autonomy: How are RPUs responding to evolving federal and state dynamics, increasing accountability demands, and changing regulatory expectations?
• Technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and academic work: How are leaders responsibly integrating AI and emerging technologies into teaching, advising, operations, and faculty work while preserving academic integrity and human judgment?
• Redefining student success: How are institutions broadening definitions of success to include persistence, equity, timely completion, and post-graduate career and civic outcomes?
• Communicating the value and purpose of higher education: How do we articulate the value of higher education amid skepticism, misinformation, and declining trust?
• Fostering dialogue in polarized contexts: What leadership strategies help campuses sustain intellectual inquiry, free expression, and constructive debate in a volatile sociopolitical environment?
• Ensuring student thriving under constraint: How can institutions sustain student support, belonging, and wellbeing when programs, services, and resources have been under pressure or eliminated?

Why Attend

This convening is designed for leaders who recognize that incremental change is no longer sufficient. It offers space for honest reflection, peer learning, and strategic alignment grounded in the realities facing regional public universities and focused on decisions academic and student affairs leads must make now.

The Roosevelt New Orleans – Waldorf Astoria Hotel
130 Roosevelt Way
New Orleans, LA 70112

Sitting one block from Bourbon Street, The Roosevelt New Orleans is located 1 block west of the heart of Louisiana’s famous French Quarter. Our hotel is 14.6 miles from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Room Rate

$199 /night plus LA tax (16.35%)

Hotel Reservation Deadline

June 19, 2026

Group Rates

Group rates may be honored three days before group arrival and three days after group departure, based on availability. We encourage you to book your accommodations early.

Note: Please use the reservation link provided above, as we cannot provide or honor the group rate for reservations made outside the block or via third parties (Expedia, Tripadvisor, Kayak, etc.).