Pre-Convention Workshops offer an exploration of current and emerging topics that transform higher education. Offered the day before and morning of convention opening, these extended sessions allow for facilitators and participants to approach topics in even greater depth than is achievable during shorter convention educational sessions.
8 Hour Pre-Convention Workshops
Sunday, 14 March • 1:00–5:00pm and
Monday, 15 March • 8:30am–12:30pm
Bullies Don’t Care About Mission or Peers: Stopping Workplace Bullying Abuse
The Workplace Bullying Institute (2024) reports that 72% of workers are aware, witnesses, or targets of workplace bullying abuse. Bullying affects staff, administrators and students across student affairs. This workshop examines its causes, impacts, and prevention challenges while building skills to recognize, address, and prevent bullying. You will learn resolution strategies informed by current research, legal and policy frameworks, and best practices for supporting those impacted by bullying and preventing the abuse via policy creation.
Sis, Nobody Told Us: An Immersive Leadership Experience for Black Women in Student Affairs
Entering Student Affairs as a Black woman often means navigating challenges that are rarely discussed in graduate preparation programs or onboarding experiences. Grounded in research, lived experience, and Black feminist thought, this interactive pre-conference workshop examines racial battle fatigue, institutional politics, invisible labor, mentorship, sponsorship, and career advancement through an intersectional lens. Participants will engage in reflection, practical skill-building, and action planning to develop strategies for self-preservation, career navigation, and sustainable leadership while building community with other Black women professionals.
Summit for Black Student Affairs Professionals
The annual Summit for Black Student Affairs Professionals at the ACPA Conference provides professional development, fellowship, and networking opportunities for senior, mid-level, and new professionals of African descent (e.g., African Americans, Caribbean, South American) through informal and formal dialogue, mentoring, and workshopping. This year’s summit will ground participant experience within their functional level creating space for connection, reflection, and action planning within a particular context.
4-Hour Workshops (Sunday)
Sunday, 14 March • 1:00–5:00pm
Annual Gathering of Indigenous Student Affairs Professionals
This gathering brings together Indigenous practitioners working in Student Affairs, whether from Indigenous units or elsewhere in their institutions, to explore current opportunities and challenges facing Indigenous students, staff and faculty. This session offers an opportunity for Indigenous practitioners and scholars at all career stages to connect, learn from each other and reflect on the work that has been done and the work still to be done.
Bridging Generations, Bridging Sectors: Intergenerational Leadership, Strategies and Integrating Corporate Talent into Student Affairs
Student affairs divisions are experiencing a marked shift in workforce composition: seasoned professionals with deep institutional memory and student development expertise are working alongside a new generation of emerging leaders, as well as a growing number of professionals transitioning into our field from the corporate sector tech, finance, retail, and consulting who bring different vocabulary, expectations, and problem-solving habits. Similarly, many new professionals enter student affairs directly from graduate programs holding advanced or terminal degrees, yet with little practical work experience, creating a parallel dynamic in which theoretical expertise and hands-on institutional know-how must be reciprocally exchanged rather than assumed to flow in one direction. Left unaddressed, this shift can surface as friction, mistrust, or lost institutional knowledge; intentionally facilitated, it becomes a powerful engine for organizational growth. Grounded in Intergenerational Learning (IGL) theory which frames knowledge transfer between experienced and newer employees as a reciprocal, two-directional process shaped by leadership style, communication patterns, and organizational culture this workshop equips attendees to reframe generational and sector-based difference as complementary strength rather than communication breakdown. Through guided dialogue, strengths-mapping, and hands-on toolkit building, participants will leave with a concrete, adaptable reciprocal mentoring plan for their own division.
Evolve: Courageous Leadership for Transforming Higher Education
Higher education leaders face unprecedented pressure, shifting political climates, and complex organizational demands, making consistent, equity-minded leadership increasingly difficult. This interactive pre-convention workshop helps senior and executive leaders examine internal barriers, anchor in core personal values, and gain the courage needed for decisive action. Through evidence-based coaching frameworks, diagnostic self-assessments, and individual and group coaching, facilitators guide participants to unlock strategic clarity, foster authentic connection, and lead meaningful organizational progress on their campuses.
From Reflection to Action: Building Anti-racist Supervisory Practices
The presenters will share strategies for recognizing and addressing how white supremacy culture shows up in supervision. Participants will analyze ways their own experiences may shape supervisory practices, identify antidotes to harmful patterns, and explore approaches to leading with equity. Through reflection, discussion, and multiple applied examples through collective workshopping, attendees will gain tools to practice anti-racist supervision and foster more just and supportive workplaces. Including a structured dialogue tool to examine assumptions about delegation, accountability, and power while practicing equitable supervisory decision making.
4-Hour Workshops (Monday)
Monday, 15 March • 8:30am–12:30pm
How We Stay: Equity Rooted Leadership for Uncertain Times
Student affairs leaders, who are committed to equity, are navigating relentless change with shrinking resources and challenges to our place in higher education. This half-day workshop offers an anchor. Through guided reflection, storytelling, and an introduction to social and emotional intelligence, participants develop an Equity Leadership Statement rooted in identity and cultural capital. You will leave with a written statement, one social-emotional competency to develop, and practices for staying grounded when the ground keeps moving.
The ACPA Syllabus Jam: Teaching Student Development Theory in Action
Join authors of College Student Development Theory in Action at ACPA for an interactive four-hour Syllabus Jam designed to strengthen the teaching of student development theory across graduate preparation programs. Using the Student Development Theory in Action (SDTiA) Framework and the book’s companion website, participants will collaboratively design or revise syllabi, develop engaging assignments, explore innovative teaching strategies, and exchange evidence-informed pedagogical resources. Participants will leave with ready-to-implement course materials, expanded teaching resources, and a national community of educators committed to excellence in student development theory instruction.
Using Restorative Circles to Build and Deepen Community
This session provides a framework for using restorative circles to facilitate identity-conscious community building. Participants will analyze circle prompts and design their own with the aim of creating space for authenticity, being mindful of the level of vulnerability required, and using a trauma-informed/anti-oppressive lens to avoid harm. Participants will explore how each circle invitation provides specific context relevant to students’ lives. Finally, participants will engage in a community-building circle before debriefing how circles can be implemented on their campuses.
Registration Rates:
8-Hour Pre-Convention Workshops — $50
4-Hour Pre-Convention Workshops — $75
Adding a Pre-Convention Workshop to Registration
You can add a Pre-Convention Workshop to your registration when completing your ACPA27 registration. When you register for ACPA27 the Pre-Convention Workshops are listed as an option to add to your registration.
If you have already registered for ACPA27, you can add a Pre-Convention Workshop to your existing registration by using the following steps:
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Log into the ACPA Portal
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Select the Events option in the menu bar and then select My Event Registrations.
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Click on the green Withdraw/Modify button next to your ACPA26 registration.
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In the Action area, click on Select Ticket Options.
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Select the Pre-Convention Workshop(s) you would like to add to your registration. Then, select Continue.
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Select Save on the next page and then Continue.
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On the next page, verify that the Pre-Convention Workshop has been added to your registration.
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Select your payment method and then select Process Payment.