2017 Conference Agenda

Agenda Outline

8:00 AM-9:00 AM       Registration & Breakfast – Professional Photographer Available for Headshots
9:00 AM-9:15 AM        Welcome & History of AGPA
9:15 AM-9:50 AM        Keynote Speaker – Josh LaFave
10:00 AM-10:45 AM     Breakout Session 1
10: 55 AM-11:40 AM     Breakout Session 2
11:45 AM-12:35 PM       Lunch
12:35 PM-12:55 PM      OUAB Grad/Prof Presentation
12:55 PM-1:30 PM        Keynote Speaker – Mimi Beck
1:40 PM-2:25 PM         Breakout Session 3
2:35 PM-3:20 PM        Breakout Session 4
3:30 PM-4:15 PM         Panel Discussion – Critical Issues in Graduate Education
4:15 PM-4:30 PM         Wrap-up and Awards

Agenda Details

Note for Registrants: An overview of the conference schedule will be provided for you in your welcome folder at the registration table. The full conference schedule can be accessed through the “Guidebook” app on your mobile phone. If you do not currently have Guidebook, you can download the app for free in your Google Play or iTunes store. We recommend downloading the app and connecting with the conference ahead of time. Additional information can be found on our Event Details page.

8:00 AM-9:00 AM        Registration and Breakfast        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

  • We will have a professional photographer available to take headshots in the Stained Glass Lounge on the second floor at the top of the Great Hall stairs. This service is complimentary and no additional charge.

9:00 AM-9:15 AM         Welcome & History of AGPA        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

  • Welcome from AGPA Co-Conference and Co-Professional Development Chairs, Courtney Sanders & Alisa Tate
  • History of AGPA presented by AGPA Co-Presidents, Jillian Baer & Rachel Foltz

9:15 AM-9:50 AM         Keynote Speaker Joshua LaFave        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

Delivering on the Reservation: Student Services in a GEM Model

We are successful in getting their reservation, but are we devoted to holding it? Together, we will explore a framework of collaborative approaches and methods by which to hold on to the promise of a differentiated graduate student experience from commitment to commencement.

10:00 AM-10:45 AM         Breakout Session 1

1A: Racial Justice and Cultural Equity for Graduate and Professional Students and Administrators

[Barbie Tootle Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenters: Linda James Myers, Professor and Director, African American and African Studies, The Ohio State University; Michelle Anderson, Program Manager, African American and African Studies Community Extension Center, The Ohio State University

The proposed Skills Development Workshop, through a short series of discussion and experiential activities, offers training for 2 key areas 1) defining racial injustice and cultural inequity in a historical and social cultural context; and 2) identifying strategies to recognize and improve cultural equity among graduate and professional students and administrators. Attendees should leave the training having engaged in critical self-reflection and created the beginnings of a “toolkit” for use in their lives and their work.

1B: Empowering Your GAA: Strategies for Establishing a Strong Supervisor and GAA Relationship  

[Hays Cape Room, 3rd Floor]   

Presenters: Dilnavaz Cama, Department Manager, Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services, The Ohio State University; Marisa Lally, Graduate Administrative Associate, Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services, The Ohio State University

A supervisor and GAA from Ohio State’s Office of Student Life will share the lessons that they have learned after two years of working together; this session will provide attendees with creative strategies for empowering graduate administrative assistants who contribute to their department through the lens of organizational contingency theory. The presenters will explore the supervisor and GAA relationship, address some unique challenges of working with a GAA, and share best practices with their fellow professionals.

Attendees of this session will be able to:
•    Identify strategies for supporting a graduate administrative assistant
•    Develop a plan to implement best practices into their professional lives
•    Articulate the role of a GAA within their organizations.

1C: Supporting Grad/Prof Student Involvement:  Best Practices According to Students

[Great Hall Room 1, 1st Floor]

Presenter: Kerry Hodak, Assistant Director, Student Life Student Activities, The Ohio State University

Grad/Prof student voices are important as staff develop programs and processes to support them. Particularly around experiences outside of the classroom, student often do not feel supported by their academic programs. While students’ goals are to complete their degree, there is substantial benefit to engaging in opportunities outside of the classroom, laboratory and library. Whether these benefits are improving a student’s personal well-being or developing skills crucial to career success, grad/prof students benefit from participating in opportunities beyond their program as discussed in Ph.D. Completion Project by the Council of Graduate Schools. In this panel presentation, students will discuss the benefits of their involvement and both support and obstacles to that involvement.

1E: Creating Mentoring Networks for Graduate Students: A Fundamental Need in Graduate Education

[Suzanne M. Scharer Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenters: Marcela Hernandez, Graduate & STEM Diversity Director, College of Arts and Sciences Recruitment and Diversity Services, The Ohio State University; Jeffrey Mason, Program Director, Office of Postdoctoral Research College of Medicine, The Ohio State University

This session will cover the importance of having a mentoring network during graduate school, and the important role that administrators play as members of this network. The goals of this session are: 1) to give participants examples that illustrate the impact mentoring has on graduate student success 2) to inform participants about mentoring resources on and off campus 3) to suggest strategies to work with students and advise them how to get the mentoring they need by mentoring up.

10: 55 AM-11:40 AM          Breakout Session 2

2A: Support Programming within a Wellness Culture

[Barbie Tootle Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenter: Beth Bucher, Graduate Program Coordinator, Electrical & Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University

There is a scene in The Internship, 20th Century Fox by V Vaughn (Producer) and S. Levy (Director) that refers to an internship at Google as a kind of “mental Hunger Games for geniuses” who are fighting for a limited number of positions. It seems like that is the world we and our students live in. The pressure is on. Is a collaborative environment possible? Can we make our programs a place those dwindling applicants want to come to? Can we increase underrepresented minority enrollment/completion? What would a supportive and thriving academic community look like?

The best academic communities support recruitment, increase enrollment, provide protective factors for students, increase retention, completion and academic success. A study published by The Council of Graduate Schools recommends a suite of support services through institutional programming. Due to high turnover of student-led organizations, established facilitation better serves our students. Underrepresented minorities have about a 54% PhD completion rate in STEM, with about 55% PhD completion rate of all STEM students. Support services are applicable for all graduate students. A suite of support services within a wellness climate includes
•    Connection, community & sense of professional belonging
•    Professional development
•    Promotion, access & utilization of campus resources
•    Distress assessment & triage

“Balanced, happy people are more productive, creative, more collaborate, better at pursuing long-term goals, more likely to find work, and more physically and psychologically resilient…”
University of California, Berkley
Graduate Student Happiness & Well-Being Report (2014)

2B: It’s a Big World Out There: Building Your Network Beyond Your Home Institution

[Hays Cape Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenters: Jillian Baer, Director of Graduate Recruitment, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University; Joshua LaFave, Executive Director, Division of Graduate and Continuing Education, State University of New York at Potsdam

Learn from multiple Graduate Enrollment Management (GEM) professionals how they grew their professional networks outside the walls of their home institution.  There will be a brief presentation about networking and information presented about organizations that exist for professional development outside of AGPA.  Time will be reserved to ask questions and host small groups discussions about these opportunities and how attendees can leverage involvement in these organizations to expand their career opportunities.

Learning objectives:
– Tips and tricks for expanding your professional circle
– Better understanding of how to talk about professional networks
– Opportunities regionally and nationally to get involved

2C: Life in the Fast Lane: Building Pathways through Speed-Networking

[Great Hall Room 1, 1st Floor]

Presenters: Jackie Stotlar, Program Coordinator, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University; Jacquelyn Monnin, Graduate Programs Coordinator, Knowlton School, The Ohio State University

Maximize your conference experience by building new pathways! Rapidly create new professional contacts across units through facilitated short interactions. Nervous about reaching out and getting started? Participants will be provided with structured questions to guide conversation. It is recommended to bring 10-15 business cards to share, but not required. Expect to leave with several new contacts in your professional network.

2D: Decoding the Financial Review Process for International Students

[Great Hall Room 2, 1st Floor]

Presenter: Megan Chew, Senior Graduate & Professional Operations Support Associate, Graduate & Professional Admissions, Ohio State University

All international students receiving a visa document to study at Ohio State must complete the financial review process before we can issue them an I-20 or DS-2019 document. Graduate & Professional Admissions requests financial documents to comply with federal regulations requiring international student visa holders to show the ability to finance their studies and living expenses in the U.S. In this presentation, I will explore some of the complexities of the financial review process, the differences between F and J visa financial review processes, and the information we in Graduate & Professional Admissions need from programs on their funded students. I will provide some insight into the procedures we undertake in the financial review process, give insight into the legal and institutional reasons underlying the financial review process, provide background on student dependents and financial review, and provide audience members with a visual of the overall financial review process. During this session, I hope to clarify the financial review process for program representatives and to provide further insight into the process of admitting international students to programs. To serve our students and programs, we in Graduate & Professional Admissions want to gather feedback from AGPA members on the financial review process and on best practices for communication between our office and individual programs.

2E: Transdisciplinary Housing Experiences – Live, Collaborate, and Thrive Together

[Suzanne M. Scharer Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenters: Carl LoConte, Associate Director – Graduate and Legacy Housing, University Housing, University of Michigan; Patty Griffin, Director- Graduate and Legacy Housing, University Housing, University of Michigan

Graduate student programs strive to prepare the next generation of the profession through effective socialization of students into the intellectual community of the degree program. To excel in their chosen field, graduate students must learn to navigate in complex organizations, create and advance agendas that are inclusive of diverse thought; build coalitions; and manage conflict.

We define trans-disciplinary as characterized by a unified understanding, and describes individuals’ shared, lived experiences as they prepare for professional lives within a diverse world with ever-changing problems. This is accomplished through borrowing and lending expertise, merging ideas, and drawing connections across disciplines and differences. (Klein 2004). In their work on trans-disciplinary education, Derry and Fischer (2006) argue the need to foster trans-disciplinary scholarship, which is considered essential for addressing complex and pressing social and scientific problems of our time.

This workshop will share one model of trans-disciplinary community engagement that forms the basis of Graduate Student Housing at the University of Michigan by facilitating trans-disciplinary skill development necessary to thrive in a diverse, collaborative, professional environment that include:

  • Developing a community outlook
  • Developing individual and shared engagement in lifelong learning
  • Relating across personal difference and disciplinary content
  • Demonstrating engaged, goal-oriented, holistic citizenship

Participants will hear about the structure of this trans-disciplinary Housing program, the working definition of trans-disciplinary engagement that frames this work, and intended learning outcomes. The presenters will share the trans-disciplinary competencies and program delivery and invite participants to reflect on and identify strategies that will prepare graduate students for success.

11:45 AM-12:35 PM       Lunch        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

12:35 PM-12:55 PM      OUAB Grad/Prof Presentation        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

12:55 PM-1:30 PM        Keynote Speaker – Mimi Beck        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

Swimming Upstream: Building Community Among Graduate & Professional Students

Building community among graduate and professional students can feel like swimming against the current of a powerful river. We will dive into the challenges and opportunities we face in building community for our students, present research and best practices from within our field, and share data and examples of successful initiatives from my work at Notre Dame.

1:40 PM-2:25 PM          Breakout Session 3

3A: Cultivating Resilience: The Critical Capacity for Graduate and Professional Student Thriving in Transition

[Barbie Tootle Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenter: James Larcus, Wellness Coaching Program Coordinator, Office of Student Life – Student Wellness Center, The Ohio State University

The graduate and professional experience is a transition for many students. While these events can be stressful, Robitschek and Keyes (2009) report that students who engage in the process of navigating their own lives report higher levels of mental health and thriving. Student affairs professionals can support students’ involvement in this process by helping them reframe their perceptions and feelings and connecting them to internal and external resources for change (Schlossberg, 1984). The Wellness Coaching Program at Ohio State addresses these transitions by cultivating student agency through resiliency education.

Resilience has become a buzz word in higher education and multiple definitions exist. While there is variation in how resilience is described, the evidence from research suggests that it is a universal capacity. This presentation will focus on four evidence-based resiliency practices; “Taking in the good” (Hanson, 2009), “Three good things” (Emmons, 2013), ‘Self-compassion” (Neff, 2011), and “Essentialism” (McKeown, 2014). These five practices will be discussed and shared as experiential practices during this session and connected to supporting graduate and professional student experiences.

3B: Cultivating Cultural Sensitivity within the Learning Community by Encouraging Difficult Conversations

[Hays Cape Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenter: Jae Denson, Associate Director of Admissions, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University

As dedicated professionals working to build community within a diverse student body, having heavy conversations and answering tough questions about campus climate, diversity, and inclusion can be very difficult given the current state of society. Regardless of your own political views, this election season has certainly had an impact on our campuses, which in return can affect those we are recruiting. This session will be an interactive discussion on how to approach these difficult situations.

3C: The Journey of an International Graduate Student at OSU

[Great Hall Room 1, 1st Floor]

Presenter: Andrew Seibert, ESL Programs Coordinator, ESL Composition & Spoken English Programs, The Ohio State University

International graduate students often face differing academic and personal struggles than their domestic peers. Certain cultural and academic skill expectations are assumed to be a part of graduate students’ educational repertoire; however, many international students come without knowledge or practice in Western academic writing conventions and clear verbal communication skills, which impede full engagement and participation with various academic communities at the university. Beyond the academic and cultural tight ropes these students walk, their challenges are further compounded with language barriers. These categorical cultural, academic, and linguistic skills that are assumed if not expected in domestic students can take extensive instruction and practice to develop in graduate international students.

Presentation attendees will gain a deeper insight into the international graduate student experience and learn more about their academic, cultural, and linguistic challenges that are met with support by ESL Programs and larger university units. Attendees will learn about ESL Programs’ assessments, how they relate to skill development in ESL coursework, and about graduate school policies regarding international student requirements.

Presentation takeaway messages will relate to how graduate faculty and staff can help improve the international graduate student experience and success by building pathways that will help students participate more actively in their local departmental and collegiate communities and promote engagement with the larger OSU academic community.

3D: Student Retention and the 360 Enrollment Funnel

[Great Hall Room 2, 1st Floor]

Presenter: Joshua LaFave, Executive Director, Division of Graduate and Continuing Education, State University of New York at Potsdam

As Graduate Enrollment Managers, the notion of “I do admissions”, “I recruit” or “I do advising” is by in large becoming something of the past.  As college resources constrict, and the need for sustainable headcount and enrollment numbers become the norm, professionals throughout the GEM profession are finding themselves working on initiatives that fall within the retention realm of the student experience.  This session is designed to provide introductory ideas around student retention, and offer an admissions expert’s perspective on traditional concepts.  Additionally, the “Y-MAP” case study will be explored to introduce the concept of a 360-degree enrollment funnel.

2:35 PM-3:20 PM          Breakout Session 4

4A: Building Community and Enhancing Strengths via the Graduate Student Leadership Academy

[Barbie Tootle Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenter: Paul Artale, Manager for Graduate Student Engagement, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan

In 2013 Michigan State University implemented a Graduate Student Leadership Academy (GSLA) with the hopes of building cross disciplinary connections and preparing graduate students for the job market. The Graduate Student Leadership Academy has been successful in connecting students from different programs (Masters, PhD, postdoc), different demographics, and majors to interact and build community both on and off campus. The GSLA Based on employer desires for employees who can a) work in teams and b) solve problems the academy employed a consulting approach to professional development. Participants identified problems for graduate students on campus, were divided into peer education groups (PEGs) and were tasked with creating a resource for addressing their particular issue. This 6 week academy pulled in training and facilitation from different campus units (Alumni affairs, student affairs, Human Resources) as well as community organizations in order to expose students to different elements of the MSU community. This presentation will examine the process for conceptualizing, implementing and assessing the academy and creating the curriculum. This presentation will also provide examples of student work, share assessment data, and discuss how the GSLA emerge in a new form at the University of Michigan.

4B: Orienting New Students Electronically

[Hays Cape Room, 3rd Floor]

Presenters: Megan Alexander, Program Manager, College of Nursing, The Ohio State University; Tamara Dunaeff, Program Manager, The College of Nursing, The Ohio State University

The College of Nursing offers new students a virtual orientation using the U.OSU.EDU blog site, which has proven to be very successful.  When combined with our once-monthly emails that “chunk” the information provided to new students, we have found that students absorb the information at an optimum rate.  There are less individual questions to answer, the information is organized in a format the students relate to, and the blog site can be accessed from any kind of computer or mobile device, making it incredibly user-friendly.

Participants will be introduced to the idea of “chunking” information, the use of planning guides that detail the information necessary for the student at each point in the post-admission process, and the use of the mail merge function in Word to create visually appealing and individually-tailored email messages guiding new students from admission to matriculation and the start of school.  The U.OSU.EDU blog site will also be reviewed from an administrator and student view, showing how the Virtual Admit Packet has improved the student and administrator experience.

4C: Addressing the Need for Cultural Competency: Preparing Grad/Prof Students for the Future

[Great Hall Room 1, 1st Floor]

Presenters: Kerry Hodak, Assistant Director, Student Life Student Activities, The Ohio State University; Marcela Hernandez, Graduate & STEM Diversity Director, College of Arts and Sciences Recruitment and Diversity Services, The Ohio State University

Whether grad/prof students are pursuing a career in academia, the public sector, or the private sector, cultural competency is becoming increasingly important. Further, it will be through education and experience of the next general of leaders to improve organization culture and enable all individuals to thrive. To address these needs, the Council of Graduate Students, Student Life Student Activities with the strong support of the College of Arts and Sciences established the Diversity and Implicit Bias Awareness Program in 2016. After a pilot year was successful, the program continued in the second year and lead to a second year program for grad/prof students who completed the program in its first year. Using available resources but tailoring them to a grad/prof audience, the program has successfully fostered a program that begins to address the needs of education around cultural competency that is often times not part of a student’s academic program. These skills will better prepare students for success in their respective careers and as well as their current academic programs whether teaching, working in a lab or working on group projects. The presentation will discuss the development of the campus-wide program, the learning outcome of the program, and plans for further development.

4D: Professional Development and Career Resources at Ohio State

[Great Hall Room 2, 1st Floor]

Presenter: Kathleen Wallace, Assistant Dean, Graduate School, The Ohio State University

Ohio State has many resources available to graduate students to support their professional development and job searches. Given Ohio State’s decentralized nature, though, it can be hard for staff and faculty to discover these resources and get them in front of the students who need them. This session will give participants an opportunity to learn about these resources and how the Graduate School and other offices market their availability. Participants can also share information about their resources that are open to any Ohio State graduate student, and that information will be made available to the graduate community via communication channels.

3:30 PM-4:15 PM          Panel Discussion – Critical Issues in Graduate Education        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]

Panelists:

  • Mimi Beck, Program Director, Graduate Student Life, University of Notre Dame
  • Joshua LaFave, Executive Director, Division of Graduate and Continuing Education, SUNY Potsdam
  • Valerie Robinson, Assistant Dean of Graduate Admission, The Graduate School, Miami University
  • Kathleen Wallace, Assistant Dean, Graduate School, The Ohio State University

Moderator:  Jillian Baer, Director of Graduate Recruitment, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University

What are the tough questions that you grapple with on a daily basis? What are the potential answers to those questions? Critical concerns directly related to graduate education will be discussed with this panel of higher education administrators from all different institutions. Learn about issues faced regularly by these professionals and how they have confronted these problems head on in their various roles. Q&A will be encouraged from the audience, so be prepared to engage our speakers!

4:15 PM-4:30 PM          Wrap-up and Awards        [Great Hall Room 3 & 4]
Presented by past and future executive committee members of AGPA