2026 Student Life Professional Development Conference View Other Sessions

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.