Session 1 - 10:30 - 11:20 A.M.
1A - A Conversation with Our Keynote
Presenters
Jonathan Ntheketha, (He, Him, His) Associate Director Student Success and Development, Multicultural Center for Academic Success, Diversity, and Inclusion Rochester Institute of Technology Format
Conversation & Discussion |
This session offers an opportunity to connect with our keynote, Jonathan Ntheketha for an open conversation. It is an opportunity to ask follow-up questions in regard to the keynote address and delve deeper into related topics.
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Session Video Not Available
1B - Connect, Empower; Progress. Advancing equity & inclusion during a pandemic through an Empowerment Lens
Format
Live Session with Q&A |
In an educational world that struggles to provide effective and provocative programming during a pandemic, this workshop aims to provide innovative approaches. These vehicles promote academic excellence, positively impact student motivation, increase performance and improve retention rates accompanied by student connectivity with perceived efficacy as a consequence.
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Session Video
1C - Making Virtual Advising Warm, Fuzzy, and Effective
Presenters
Faherty L. Nielsen, Ph.D., (She, Her, Hers) Academic Adviser, SUNY Buffalo State College Andrea Gustafson, B.S., (She, Her, Hers) Learning and Accommodations Specialist, SUNY Buffalo State College Format
Live Session with Q&A |
The pandemic has made the virtual experience the “new normal.” Except it’s anything but normal. Higher Education scrambled to ramp up existing virtual resources to meet the need. What was discovered is that even with everyone’s effort to meet students “where they are,” our new digital reality was missing something essential: warmth. Students want, need, and expect to build relationships, especially with their staff supports who help them navigate an overwhelming system. Suddenly, the in-person interactions that previously made relationship-building easy were gone. But the void created by a cyberspace of boxes with talking-heads made everyone start thinking out-of-the-box. Although still in development, Buffalo State College is cultivating a system of improved protocols, coordination, and communication making relationship-building not only possible, but warmer, fuzzier, and more effective for student success.
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Session Video
1D - "Empowering the Higher Education Telecommuter: Making Space for a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Presenters
Aimee Spahn, (She, Her, Hers) Department Chair & Principal Counselor, Erie Community College Julia Braun, (She, Her, Hers) Associate Director of Student Services, University at Buffalo Format
Live Session with Q&A |
The COVID-19 pandemic has transitioned the labor-intensive work of higher education professionals from in-person experiences to nearly fully remote models. As faculty and staff explore new modes of student engagement from their at-home offices, the impact of the economic shutdown has left few options for an organic separation between workplace responsibilities and family obligations. A recent study reports that nearly 7 out of 10 Americans working from home during COVID-19 pandemic are struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance. With stories of burnout and fatigue among higher education professionals rampant in postsecondary news platforms, this session strives to direct attention toward the root causes for the feeling of burnout and seeks to alter behaviors that contribute to the state of fatigue.
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