2019 AAA Conference

Envisioning the Future: Adapt, Inspire, Transform

The Academic Advising Association is excited to host its 6th annual conference. We hope you will join us on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 from 8:30am-3:30pm at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

With the landscape of higher education rapidly evolving due to shifting student demographics, technological advances, socio-economic challenges, and education policy reforms, the future of student services is uncertain. Because of this, our 2019 theme will motivate student affairs professionals to think strategically about the future of higher education and the impact these changes will have on our work. As student affairs professionals, we must be willing to advocate for change within the profession in order to effectively serve our students. We hope that our one-day conference will inspire and encourage student affairs professionals to consider ways that they may begin adapting their work in order to transform the future of advising and higher education.  

Questions about the conference can be directed to Paula Caldwell, 2019 Conference Chair (pcaldwell3@unl.edu, 402.472.7326).

Registration

Registration for the 2019 conference closed on the morning of February 15.  If you were planning to attend the conference, but were not able to register, please contact Doug Pellatz (dpellatz@unl.edu) or Kristen Aldrich (kristen.aldrich@unl.edu).

AAA is Getting Social!

AAA is getting social! For updates and information on the upcoming conference as well as other events, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by searching “@UNLTripleA”! We will be posting participant information, session info, venue tips, and even live updates. Don’t miss out on any of the pre-conference engagement!

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Linda Baer | Senior Consultant | Linda Baer Consulting and Civitas Learning

Keynote: Transforming Student Success: Data, Action, Impact

Dr. Linda BaerImproving collegiate student success is important not only to institutions of higher education, but also to students and the community. However, the digital age has changed what student success means and how it can be measured. Student success in the digital age demands an engaged, informed, and skilled campus. Currently, with analytic practice still in its infancy, measures and assessments are being implemented rapidly with little understanding of linkages, outcomes, and cost.  When used correctly, analytics can be used to transform the student experience and improve student persistence, retention, and completion.

By focusing on previously hidden patterns in student data, analytics allows timely supports and interventions. Institutions are now transforming day-to-day activities, student behaviors, and campus services that affect long-term success.  This presentation explores the effective practices of using analytics to improve advising. How can campuses use student success science to develop more integrated plans for student success?  What data and action steps are leading institutions using in advising and student support to make an impact that moves the dial on student success?  Using up-to-date evidence in student success science, practices can better match up with real-time student needs which improves impact.  Explore what programs and interventions are being used and with what outcomes, and learn what advisors and student affairs professionals can do to improve the student experience.

Biography: Dr. Linda Baer

Dr. Linda Baer, Senior Consultant in Higher Education, has served over thirty-five years in executive level positions including faculty, researcher, Senior Fellow with Civitas Learning, Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, system senior vice chancellor, university senior vice president and interim president. Her ongoing focus is to inspire leaders to improve student success and transform institutions for the future. Baer presents and publishes on educational transformation, change agent leadership, and building capacity in analytics; including Analytics to Improve Student Success, Connecting the Dots: Assessment, Accountability, Analytics and Accreditation and a book chapter on Unleashing the Power of Learning Analytics. She has co-edited a book forthcoming from the Society for College and University Planning entitled An Analytics Handbook: From Evidence to Impact. 

Currently, Dr. Baer is working with the Next Generation Leadership Academy with Civitas Learning which provides skills and understanding of leadership competencies required in the 21st century.  Dr. Baer is committed to excellence through inspiring leaders to innovate, integrate and implement solutions to improve student success and build a sustainable future for higher education.  Her teaching, research, and administrative experiences have focused on improving student learning and learning environments through capacity building. She has focused on collaboration, building human resource capacity, and leading during transformative change, systems thinking, shared leadership, building trust and communication, accountability/data-driven decision making, and building campus capacity in action analytics.

Dr. Baer was recognized as a 2007 International Exemplary Leader by The Chair Academy, an international organization that provides leadership training for post-secondary education leaders. She was cited for her role in developing the award-winning Minnesota Online, a system portal for online learning and other new kinds of instructional technology; strengthening ties between colleges and universities and the workplace; and improving assessment and accountability. She serves on the Civitas National Advisory Board and has served on the Board of Directors for the Society for College and University Planning.

Dr. Baer received her Bachelors Degree in Sociology from Washington State University, Masters in Sociology from Colorado State University and her Ph.D. in Sociology from South Dakota State University.

Conference Schedule - Link to Presentations

TIME EVENT LOCATION
8:00-8:50am Check-in, Breakfast, Poster Session Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor
9:00-9:15am Welcome Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor
9:15-10:15am Keynote Address Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor
10:15-10:30am BREAK

Concurrent

Session #1

10:30-11:30am

Plenary Session: Targeting Data and Action for Impact in Student Success Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor
Authentic Engagement on Vocation: Envisioning Our Future Break-Out Room 1, 1st Floor
Insta...what? Learning to Incorporate Technology in Our Everyday Work Break-Out Room 2, 1st Floor

11:30am-12:45pm LUNCH - Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor

Concurrent Session #2

12:45-1:45pm

AI - Advisor Intelligence: Decrypting the Future of Students Applying for Jobs Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor
Meltdowns and Recovery: Practical Methods for Advisors to Reduce Professional Burnout Break-Out Room 1, 1st Floor
You Are MAGNIFICIENT and MARVELOUS! Breakout-Out Room 2, 1st 
What's Happening to Work? Education for a New Technological Revolution Auditorium
1:45-2:00pm BREAK

Concurrent Session #3

2:00-3:00pm

What?! I'm on a Design Team? Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor
Everyday I'm Hustlin': The Impact of Side-Gigs on Resilience, Academics, and Career Development Break-Out Room 1, 1st Floor
Trauma-Informed Student Support Break-Out Room 2, 1st Floor
Strengths-Based Advising: Changing the Way We Think About Student Development Auditorium

3:00-3:30pm BEST SESSION AWARDS, EVALUATIONS, AND CLOSING - Banquet Hall, 2nd Floor

3:30-5:00pm NETWORKING (optional) - The Mill, Innovation Campus