AASCU’s 2021 Academic Affairs Winter Meeting will ask timely questions about how to achieve economic and racial equity on our campuses:
- How do state colleges and universities, whose mission is to serve first-generation, low-income, and/or students of color, ensure that we are opening rather than closing doors?
- How do we dismantle inequitable policies and practices and replace them with policies and practices that promote equity?
- How do we evaluate our operations through an equity lens?
- How do we use qualitative and quantitative evidence to evaluate equitable outcomes?
- How do our employment practices promote equity among the ranks of faculty and staff?
- How do we move from equity talk to equity walk, from commitment to results?
- What does an equity-minded leader think, say, and do?
- What do we mean by “equity”?
- What does it mean to “practice equity”?
The Academic Affairs winter and summer meetings bring provosts and their teams together to focus on compelling and relevant topics that fulfill the academic mission of regional public universities. The 2021 Academic Affairs Winter Meeting will give participants a chance to connect and learn from one another and other leaders in higher education.
Who Should Attend
The meeting has sessions targeted to the needs of these roles:
- Provosts
- Chief student affairs officers
- Assistant and associate provosts
- Assistant and associate vice presidents
- Student success personnel
- Directors
- Deans
- Assistant and associate deans
- Department chairs
- Program coordinators
- Faculty leaders
Pre-Conference Workshop Information
Free pre-conference workshops on Wednesday, Feb. 3, will give attendees the opportunity to discuss timely and important topics, such as improving student outcomes and institutional equitability, and to gain actionable strategies. While completing your conference registration, please select the workshops you’d like to attend.
12–2 p.m. ET
Managing the Academic Enterprise: Harnessing Data to Ensure Program Viability, Equitable Student Success, and Financial Sustainability in the Post-Pandemic Landscape
Achieving institutional equilibrium between curricular choice and the ongoing sustainability of academic programs requires careful planning and execution. Learn from Ad Astra Information Systems experts about how to optimize academic operations, analyze and refine curricular pathways, effectively build course schedules aligned to student needs, and contain instructional costs.
Facilitators: Lisa Hunter, vice president, solutions architect, Ad Astra Information Systems
Sarah Collins, chief strategy officer, Ad Astra Information Systems
The Transfer Playbook: Strategies to Advance Transfer Outcomes
Explore essential strategies and practices laid out in The Transfer Playbook, a research-based publication from The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program and the Community College Research Center. Hear concrete examples of how colleges and universities have put these practices into place, learn more about the transfer student experience, and build actionable next steps to better prioritize transfer students.
Facilitators: Joshua Wyner, founder and executive director, College Excellence Program and vice president, The Aspen Institute
Tania LaViolet, director, College Excellence Program, The Aspen Institute
2:30–4:30 p.m. ET
An Equity-Minded Approach for Using Data to Facilitate Discussions for Student Success
While using data to inform student success strategy is not new, being equity-minded while examining data is a challenge. In this workshop, AASCU’s student success team will share strategies for how leaders can stay grounded in equity-mindedness. The team will also facilitate conversations to identify institutional structures, policies, or practices that may be contributing to how and why students experience equity gaps.
Facilitators: Bao Le, director, data analytics and impact, AASCU
Melissa Welker, director, Frontier Set, AASCU
Sue Clery, founding partner, ASA Research
Planning a More Equitable Campus in a Post-Pandemic World
Learn what the campus might look like after COVID-19, based on research that incorporates panel discussions with more than 40 institutions, a national student survey, and individual conversations with more than 60 institutions. Receive recommendations, tools, and resources to improve assessment, planning, and communication so that campuses become more equitable.
Facilitator: Elliot Felix, founder and chief executive officer, brightspot strategy