2026 Student Life Professional Development Conference

Using the skills and research set out by Crucial Learning, this session will provide an overview of the Crucial Conversations model and discuss ways in which staff and managers can help create the conditions to effectively address performance without damaging relationships.

In this interactive workshop, the presenter will share her research for applying community organizer, author, facilitator, and activist Adrienne Maree Brown's Emergent Strategy (2017) as a theoretical framework for creating more liberatory learning spaces for students. We will review the tenants of Emergent Strategy, critically considering our own personal relationship to our work ethos. We will consider practical applications of the tenants of Emergent Strategy to drive innovative and humanistic approaches to student support. This session will be highly interactive, incorporating both time for individual reflection, significant levels of discussion, and activities for applying brown's work to participants' own spheres of influence. Participants will be asked specifically to reflect on their approach to student learning and growth through their daily work. As Brown says, "There is a conversation in the room that only these people at this moment can have. Find it." So, come find it together!

A collaboration between the Disability Equity Office and Student Life HR, this workshop will guide us through the ways accessibility shapes equity on campus and beyond. We’ll explore why disability matters, define key concepts like ableism, discuss universal design, language and etiquette, workplace accommodations, the role of the Disability Equity Office, and the specifics of how to navigate this space for Student Life employees. Together, we’ll learn how accessibility benefits everyone — not just those with disabilities.

For over two decades, the University of Michigan UHC Counseling and Psychological Services (UHC CAPS) has been dedicated to equipping students, staff, and faculty with the skills to recognize and respond to individuals in distress through the nationally recognized QPR Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training. QPR—which stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer—is a life-saving mental health intervention designed to prevent suicide, much like CPR is used to save lives in medical emergencies. This evidence-based, preventative training empowers participants to identify warning signs of suicide, engage in compassionate and direct dialogue, and connect individuals to professional support. Facilitated by QPR-certified mental health experts from UHC CAPS, the program promotes a campus culture of care, early intervention, and shared responsibility for community well-being. In addition to QPR training, we will highlight the impact of 20 years of implementation, lessons learned, and strategies for sustaining and expanding suicide prevention efforts across the UM campus.

This session will explore recent developments in immigration policy and examine their potential long-term impacts on international students. Participants will gain an understanding of proposed regulatory changes, hear specific examples of how these changes may affect students, and discuss strategies for supporting international students as policies continue to evolve.

What if accountability could strengthen, rather than strain, our relationships with students? What could it look like to focus less on completely solving students’ concerns, and focus more on walking alongside students as they navigate them? Within our work, we regularly navigate behaviors that cause harm. This session invites participants to explore approaches that center care, accountability, and continued relationship over punishment or exclusion. We will build a philosophical and practical bridge between Harm Reduction and Restorative Justice, and together consider how this framework applies to the variety of work we do in Student Life. Attendees will leave this session with strategies to foster accountability, provide student-centered support, and promote belonging within their everyday work and campus communities.

In this interactive session, we will discuss their process of collaboratively updating workshop content and processes as a case study for using materials that you have already available to you and making meaningful changes to better reach student needs. Specifically, we will share how we approached managing an office-wide project, highlighting our goal to create a more streamlined approach to our programs that effectively leveraged all of our staff resources and expertise. We will also highlight how we leveraged Adobe Express and UM-GPT as tools to aid in our process. The rest of the session will be a working session where presenters will guide participants through creating a plan for their own program improvement endeavor. You can expect to leave the session with an actionable game plan for how you can refine a program or initiative of your own to better reach student needs. Expect this session to be highly interactive.

Wondering how to navigate the changing landscape of higher education and still support students and their diverse needs? Join the Community Connections and Engagement Department for a dive into revamping their Programming Model in ways that centered the student experience as well as departmental values and mission. In this learning session, Ray and Elizabeth will share how defining the scope of student staff positions in their department has created scaffolding for training, expectations, and partnerships for student staff. Through this and changes to the Programming Model, they have been able to approach inclusive community building by applying the foundations of the model and adapting for each individual residential community. If you are interested in connecting and engaging about adapting your approach to supporting the student experience while centering your department’s mission and values, this session is for you! 

This interactive session will lean into the often-unexplored realm of Trauma Stewardship for  administrators in higher education. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the 16 warning signs of trauma exposure and explore how these signs manifest in themselves and those they supervise. Drawing from real-life scenarios in higher education, the presenter will facilitate deep engagement with trauma stewardship concepts, providing practical strategies to combat the signs and enhance personal well-being. The session aims to empower staff and administrators to navigate the complexities of their roles, particularly in dealing with high-risk situations, while fostering a culture of self-care and support.

University staff play a pivotal role in shaping students’ career journeys, often serving as their first stop for career advice. Research has shown that students will most often talk with a trusted faculty or staff member first, rather than a career coach. Because of this, career education is everyone's work- not just that of the university's career centers. In this session, staff can learn how to handle the basics of career conversations. You don't have to be an expert to get the conversation started! We'll talk through a few key theories and approaches to guide your work and get you connected to the resources your students need. By attending, participants will strengthen their ability to influence students’ career readiness and success, becoming trusted voices who help bridge the gap between college and career.

Ever wonder how you can advise and motivate student organizations to build a vision for their future grounded in their purpose? This interactive session will explore just that! Attendees will walk away with techniques and tools to advise student organizations to build, re-visit, or define their purpose, vision, and create a membership experience that will support their sustainable success. 

Leaders and middle managers do their best work when they can include the voices of others. Duoethnography is a dialogic research technique that can be applied to leadership and management to increase the voices that are included in decisions and celebrate the diversity of thought amongst your staff and students. In the words of the founders of this methodology, what if we replaced "oh we have so much in common" with "oh we have so much in difference"? This session explores the ways duoethography can be taken out of the research world, made more practical, and used in the workplace to increase conversation and connection among staff. The presentation includes a theoretical introduction, practical instructions for using these techniques with staff and students, and short practice sessions with other participants.

Our lives are often moving quickly, whether it’s solving problems, consuming information, or meeting urgent needs and deadlines. This session explores birding from the perspective of a staff member who unexpectedly discovered it and now practices it as a method of intentional pause. 

From a lens of curiosity and reflection, participants will explore how birding supports mindfulness and enhances well-being, identify strategies to make birding more equitable and accessible, and challenge myths about what it means to "be a birder.”

This session will also introduce social prescribing, a growing health-promoting approach that connects people with nature, arts, movement, and other community experiences to support overall well-being. Participants will learn about existing U of M resources, such as Nature Rx, and consider how birding and other nature-based experiences can inspire both personal renewal and creative approaches to student support.

No prior birding experience is needed!

Supporting a student after they experience a difficult situation  can be deeply meaningful, and deeply draining. Staff members who support students through challenging events face constant exposure to emotionally demanding situations, which can lead to burnout if not managed proactively. Balancing the emotional labor of supporting students with personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness requires resilience, emotional intelligence, and intentional work-life integration. 

This interactive session will equip staff members with strategies to build personal resilience, enhance emotional intelligence, and achieve better work-life integration. The session will provide frameworks, tools, and reflection to help staff members stay grounded, connected, and effective while preventing compassion fatigue and burnout. 

Support for college students in Flint has evolved.  One program currently housed within the Office of Educational Opportunity Initiatives is driven by students.  The decision to scale from 2 to 15 student staff members has reaped more benefits than expected.  Paid student staff members are now managing several projects within the “FAM” at UM-Flint, focusing on support, growth, and community.  We engage students through coaching, mentoring, and a safe environment to study.  We reach students online through informative YouTube and podcast episodes.  Most of the FAM members are first-generation college students.  Their creativity and brilliance shine brightly through their work and accomplishments.  This showcase will describe the journey, model, and contributions that make FAM successful. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are being implemented and integrated into many facets of everyday life. Evidence shows that AI use in systems like hiring, healthcare, administration, and language models (Apple’s Siri) can impact overall efficiency, diagnostic accuracy, financial expenditures, and social benefits across professions. However, AI models have demonstrated hallucinations and biases in responses, which can create and exacerbate disparities and perpetuate harm. Particularly, as models have rapidly developed, there is growing evidence that demonstrates biases and discrimination towards race, gender, and age in AI algorithms and outputs. This duality raises ethical concerns, especially for professionals utilizing models in community-facing roles. This presentation will delve into the ethical implications of discrimination in AI use across professional settings and bring further awareness to individuals utilizing AI tools in the workplace.

Leading valiantly is not just about achieving results but also about inspiring and empowering others to reach their full potential. Jeannette knows a thing or two about resilience and grit, and she’ll share with you strategies to have an adventure and not an ordeal when being a leader is most challenging. Learn the three attributes that are fundamental to leading others, and specific action items attendees can do when the path isn’t always clear.

“Disability justice” is a phrase that has become so commonplace that the original intent has become lost. This presentation will introduce the 10 Principles of Disability Justice, which were developed by the Disability Justice Collective in 2005, a group of disabled activists of color. Each of the Principles will be defined and then connected to a work of art or to a current issue. In the end, participants will be asked to reflect on and discuss which of the principles are most easily aligned with their personal and/or professional values, and which of the principles are the most challenging to align. The purpose of this exercise is not to frustrate, but rather to recognize how “disability justice” is both challenging to apply to our work, and something to strive towards. 

More information about the 10 Principles that will be covered: https://sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/

Are you curious about the buzz surrounding Design Your Life? Based on the innovative curriculum developed by Stanford’s Life Design Lab and adopted across higher education, this workshop offers an interactive introduction to life design principles and practices.

Participants will:

-Gain insights into the foundation of the Life Design approach, grounded in design thinking and positive psychology.

-Engage in a hands-on sample activity used successfully with college students to foster self-reflection, clarify goals, and envision multiple pathways forward.

-Explore practical strategies for integrating Life Design into your work, empowering students to approach their academic and personal journeys with creativity and resilience.

This session presents an innovative workshop model developed by SEAS Student Center Career Services to help students identify, prioritize, and effectively communicate the skills most valued in their field. The workshop bridges academic learning with workforce readiness by combining faculty expertise, alumni insight, and guided student reflection.

The 90-minute format begins with a faculty-led discussion on core program competencies paired with examples of how these skills are cultivated through SEAS coursework. An interactive activity then supports students in mapping their existing skills, identifying gaps, and aligning future coursework or experiences to strengthen those areas. The session concludes with structured time for next steps, including guidance on how to articulate and present these skills in professional settings.
Participants receive a Skills Inventory Template to assess and track development over time. This model offers a replicable approach that integrates academic advising, career development, and employer-informed competencies to prepare students for impactful careers.

In a time when our work continually evolves and our communities grow more complex, perspective-taking is both a skill and a practice that keeps us anchored in purpose. This interactive session explores the power of perspective-taking through a creative group exercise that reveals how context, communication, and curiosity shape the way we make meaning. Together, we will reflect on what it takes to “zoom out” from our own experiences, recognize the broader story, and build empathy with others. We will also reflect on what it means to take a broader perspective on our own challenges and mistakes, and to embrace self-compassion as a foundation for our work and for supporting those around us.

In this interactive session, participants will gain practical skills in recognizing signs of spiritual wellbeing and identifying spiritual distress, which can emerge during life transitions such as health challenges, adapting to new environments or navigating values conflicts. The session will address common misconceptions about spiritual care within the context of a public university, and discuss how to foster an inclusive environment that honors diverse expressions of spirituality and meaning. 

Whether religious, spiritual, secular or seeking, this session is open to all. This session invites reflection on your personal journey and offers strategies relevant to a variety of campus roles. Join us to strengthen your practice of supporting spiritual wellbeing! 

Student Life is always evolving, and sometimes it feels like the winds are out of our control. This interactive session is all about taking a step back to reflect individually and together on what keeps us anchored in purpose when things get messy or uncertain. Drawing on our real-life experience leading teams in Student Life, cross-campus events, and staff onboarding (plus a dose of leadership research!), we’ll dig into practical ways to reconnect with your values, make sure your daily work lines up with your mission, and build resilience for yourself and your crew. You’ll walk away with easy frameworks and prompts to use right away, helping you and your team adapt, grow, and stay focused on what matters—even when changes come fast.

This session equips student-facing staff with essential knowledge and resources to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for the University of Michigan’s international student community. Staff from the International Center (IC) will present IC’s student support framework, highlighting current immigration challenges and common issues international students experience. The IC will also introduce its holistic approach, which integrates personal, cultural, academic, career, and immigration support, and share case studies illustrating how cross-unit collaborations and partnerships are critical in effectively addressing students’ diverse needs. Attendees will leave with actionable insights, a stronger understanding of international students’ unique situation, and practical strategies to strengthen collaboration across campus.

In this session, participants will learn what dialogue is, learn some basic dialogic skills, and have the opportunity to apply these skills. We will explore dialogue both generally and the more specific power-conscious dialogue that the Program on Intergroup Relations and Intergroup Dialogue does. In addition, we’ll explore what dialogue is not. You will receive an overview of concrete dialogic skills, be given the opportunity to practice these skills through small groups within the session, and take handouts home with you so you can continue to practice these skills in the future. In addition to learning about dialogue skills you will have the opportunity to consider how you might bring dialogic skills into your practice, including information about how you can partner with The Program on Intergroup Relations in the future.  

Join as a group of mid-level supervisors to explore how to navigate supervision with care, clarity, and effectiveness. Through the exploration of various supervision topics, and guided by participant contribution and questions, this session will focus on strengthening skills for holding staff accountable, building confidence in difficult conversations, and following through on feedback.