AASCU 2024 Summer Meeting Call for Proposals

“Education is all a matter of building bridges.” –Ralph Ellison

Submit proposals by Mar. 15
Meeting theme

Building Bridges: Educating, Leading, Understanding

We invite proposals from members to share about projects and initiatives on their campuses and in their communities that have had the impact of ‘building bridges.’ We seek a diversity of perspectives and experiences, and we especially encourage presentations that include teams from academic affairs and student affairs.  Meeting details.

Guidelines

We are accepting proposals for 25 minute promising practice sessions and 50 minute concurrent sessions. Submit your proposal using the form below by March 15. Note that you will need to complete this form in one sitting, and we recommend that you prepare your materials in a word document and then copy/paste into the form. 

  • 25 minute session for campuses to share effective, innovative practices with one another, including:
    • 10-15 minutes of content providing an overview of your promising practice
    • At least 10 minutes of facilitated discussion
  • Suggested number of presenters: 1-2
  • 50-minute session including in-depth discussion of topics aligned with the theme of the meeting and relevant to regional public universities
  • Suggested number of presenters: 4-5
Possible topics

We invite proposals from members to share about projects and initiatives on their campuses and in their communities that have had the impact of ‘building bridges.’

  • Partnerships between academic and student affairs for student success
  • Cross-campus collaborations to create sense of belonging for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, and low income students
  • Creating seamless transfer pathways between 2-year and 4-year institutions
  • Partnerships to support student physical, mental, and spiritual health
  • Creating curricular pathways to the workforce through partnerships with industry
  • Linking curricular and co-curricular experiences
  • Partnerships with industry and non-profits to create experiential learning experiences
  • Leveraging effective data to promote student success
  • Leveraging student voice to change policy and practice
  • Faculty and staff partnerships in student success efforts
  • Engaging cross- campus teams to address policies and practices that create barriers to equitable student success
  • Empowering cross-campus teams to use data to drive continuous improvement as it relates to equitable outcomes
  • Building bridges across ideological differences in a time of extreme partisanship
  • Building community coalitions and partnerships to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Promoting civic responsibility through cross campus partnerships between academic and student affairs
  • Transdisciplinary research and teaching in order to address ‘wicked problems’ like global warming
  • Building skills and knowledge to have productive conversations and integrate information literacy into our work
  • Creating interfaith dialogues
  • Learning communities: what do they look like in 2024 and how are they best developed/managed in the current context for student success?
  • Using AI to build bridges In the classroom
  • Student mobility as a bridge between nations
  • International partnerships to promote global learning and understanding
  • K12 partnerships in education preparation
  • Building strong transfer pathways for teacher preparation
  •  K-12 partnerships: institution, school district level, state systems, legislators etc.
  • Dismantling systemic racism and the “hierarchy of human value” through racial transformation and healing
  • Building bridges for institutional transformation through shared governance
  • Leading campuses to model democracy for communities and prepare engaged global citizens
  • Leading campuses during stressful financial times
  • The library as common ground

Please submit your proposal by Mar. 15, 2024.

Note that you will need to complete this form in one sitting, and we recommend that you prepare your materials in a word document and then copy/paste into the form. 

Resources & Expertise

Alumni Outcomes Data Collaborative

Supported by the Gates Foundation, AASCU is thrilled to bring the National Alumni Career Mobility Survey (NACM) to member institutions committed to improving postsecondary value by understanding their alumni’s post-graduation outcomes.

Learn more.

Improve postsecondary value by learning more about your alumni post-graduation outcomes.

The Alumni Outcomes Data Collaborative is a unique opportunity open to five member campuses committed to improving postsecondary value by gaining a thorough understanding of their alumni economic mobility and career outcomes five- and 10-years post-graduation. Supported by the Gates Foundation, the selected a five-campus cohort, representative of AASCU’s membership, will conduct the National Alumni Career Mobility survey (NACM) fall 2024. Participating institutions will receive extensive technical assistance and guidance from the NACM research team at no cost to the institution, including alumni communications, launching and administration of the survey, data analysis and interpretation, and presenting results and recommendations to key campus stakeholders. AASCU’s synthesis from the cohort’s experience will be made available to all members in 2025.

NACM Survey Focus Areas:
  1. Career Insights
  2. Economic Mobility
  3. Education Satisfaction
  4. Career Satisfaction
  5. Learning Outcomes and Experiences
  6. Community Engagement
  7. Postsecondary Value

2024 participants:

  • East Tennessee State University
  • Indiana University (Kokomo, Southeast, Northwest, South Bend, and East)
  • Oakland University
  • California State University, Dominguez Hills
  • University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Benefits of participation:

  • Insight into alumni educational experiences and economic mobility post-graduation for the purposes of improving equitable postsecondary value
  • Opportunity to participate in a cohort of five AASCU member institutions representing a cross-section of AASCU membership and be a part of the Alumni Voices Capstone project that will be presented at the 2025 AASCU Annual Conference
  • Technical assistance and support from beginning to end in conducting the NACM survey, including onboarding and survey administration, data analysis and interpretation (“data storytelling” to share with key stakeholders), interactive dashboard, raw data file, slide deck with key findings, and key findings final written report

Applications are closed.

  • Identification of a cabinet-level Campus Champion to secure executive-level approvals needed to move project forward
  • Identification of a campus project manager who will oversee and shepherd the project at the campus level. The project manager will provide administrative support as needed:
    • Serve as primary campus contact for AASCU and NACM administrators
    • Lead all campus marketing and messaging efforts related to the NACM Survey
    • Consult with key campus stakeholders and maintain Campus Champion up to date on NACM survey developments
    • Participate in NACM survey onboarding meeting, midpoint meeting, and partner’s forum (dates TBD)
  • Participate in AASCU cohort meetings as invited and capstone symposium (dates TBD)
  • Timely review and decisions by the university on key milestones and deliverables.
  • Agreement to share unidentifiable NACM survey findings and action items as a public resource

Please contact Leticia Maldonado with questions about the Alumni Outcomes Data Collaborative.

Alumni Outcomes Data Collaborative Partner

Gates Foundation

Questions about the Alumni Outcomes Data Collaborative? Let us know.

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Resources & Expertise

Strategic Planning Collaborative

Develop a strategic roadmap for the institution’s strategic plan that leverages promising practices and reflects a commitment to student outcomes.

Apply by Dec. 19.

Leverage promising practices to further advance your university’s strategic priorities and desired outcomes.

Senior consultants from AASCU Consulting will support and facilitate processes and serve as the connective tissue between the Postsecondary Value Commission Action Agenda and participating institutions to develop a strategic roadmap for the university strategic plan that leverages promising practices and reflects the institution’s commitment to student outcomes.

AASCU Consulting will review the desired outcomes and targets the university identified (or will identify if the strategic plan is in development) to assess alignment with advancing the pathway to postsecondary value – access, affordability, support, completion, and career outcomes. AASCU Consulting will present promising practices that align with and can advance the desired outcomes and facilitate discussions on strategies, actions, and needed capabilities to pursue them.

Who should participate:

  • AASCU member institutions looking to advance strategic priorities and outcomes
Apply by Dec. 19.

Benefits of participation:

  • Develop a strategic roadmap for the university strategic plan that leverages promising practices and reflects the institution’s commitment to student outcomes
  • Receive promising practices that align with and can advance the desired outcomes and facilitate discussions on strategies, actions, and needed capabilities to pursue them
What to Expect
  • Willingness and commitment from top leadership to implement and manage change.
  • Organizational culture that can sustain strategy. “Ready institutions” have organizational cultures that may not completely support planning processes, but also do not undermine or immediately dismantle them.
  • University leadership should be stable meaning that the president/chancellor and provost—at a minimum—are not actively seeking new positions elsewhere and see themselves at the current institution for the near future.
  • History of realigning expenses with revenues (or seeking new revenues) to ensure that strategic plans are appropriately funded.
  • History of success in developing and implementing strategic planning processes that affect change, including managing dashboards where results are showcased.
  • Receptive to partnering with AASCU Consulting who support and facilitate processes and serve as the connective tissue between the Postsecondary Value Commission and institutions.
  • Regular access and contact with the president and leadership team throughout the process.
  • Timely review and decisions by the university on key milestones and deliverables.
  • An on-site project coordinator to provide administrative support as needed:
    • Provide information
    • Set up meetings
    • Distribute agendas
  • Make timely payment of fees and expense reimbursements.
  • Participate in convenings as invited.
  • Agree to share your strategic roadmap as a public resource.

Please contact Matt Ceppi with questions about the Strategic Planning Collaborative.

Guidebook for Campus Leaders

AASCU has developed a leadership guidebook that higher education institutions can use to help assess their readiness for integrating the Postsecondary Value Commission’s Postsecondary Value Framework (PVF) in their strategic plan. This guidebook is based on the experiences of the initial Strategic Planning Collaborative—a set of five AASCU member institutions.

2024 Strategic Planning Collaborative participants:

  • Bemidji State University
  • San José State University
  • State University of New York at Oswego
  • Stockton University
  • Montclair State University

Making Value the Strategy - A Readiness Guidebook for Campus Leaders

Download publication.

Strategic Planning Collaborative Partner

Gates Foundation

Strategic Planning Collaborative applications are due on Dec. 19.

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The Initiative Leader is the person AASCU would work with most closely if your institution is selected. Leave blank if the same as the Applicant.
Do you have a strategic plan in place and are looking to update it to integrate promising practices? Are you just starting the strategic plan development process or are underway? Have you completed a strategic plan but would like AASCU Consulting’s support with execution (strategies, actions) and integration of promising practices?
When would you like to start this work?*
Review confirmation*
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