Presenters: Morgan Strimel, Jamilah Anderson, Jennifer Torrance, and Philip Wilkerson
Location: Johnson Center, Room A

In this engaging workshop, attendees will engage with first-person stories of being a disabled and/or neurodivergent employee at George Mason University. Then, the presenters will facilitate a rich discussion around fostering accessible and inclusive experiences for disabled and neurodivergent employees. Finally, attendees will be invited to engage in a guided action-planning activity to develop individualized strategies for implementing what they learned in their individual units.

Presenters: Sarah Atif and Kimberly Jackson Davidson
Location: Johnson Center, Room B

Intentional listening will be discussed with supervisors during the event. GROK cards will be used as the tool to practice empathic conversations with students to create authentic learning moments when there may be tension or differences in values creating conflict.

Presenters: Melissa Thierry, Sophie Gorshenin, Kara Simon, Cathy Pinkskey, and Brian Maumick
Location: Mason Square

Public-private partnerships are nothing new to the field of higher education. But what happens when the goal of the P3 is not only to create a new structure, but also a gathering place for students, faculty, and the broader local community? Join representatives from George Mason University and Mason Innovation Partners as we walk participants through the idea and implementation phases of a new collaborate programming initiative. Participants will receive an on-site tour of Mason Square.

Presenters: Stacey Ellis
Location: Johnson Center, Room D

Faculty and staff engagement is “highly predictive of a high-quality student experience”, according to Gallup. In this session, participants will actively participate in discussions surrounding Gallup engagement data and current best practices while also discovering new engagement strategies that can be easily implemented in individual units. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect and consider the impact that engaged employees have on Mason student engagement and experience.

Location: Johnson Center, Room A
Presenters: Kelly Meehan and Ali Bartow

Whether student employees realize it or not, their student employee experience goes beyond just receiving a paycheck. With having an annual workforce of 100 student employees each academic year, learn how Student Centers takes training beyond the area specific roles and develops the individual holistically. Through a focus on training and development as well as community building, learn ideas on how to intentionally design the employment experience beginning with the hiring process and going beyond graduation.

Location: Johnson Center, Room B
Presenters: Rebekah Truog and Saskia Campbell

With dwindling resources in higher education, focus is often put on scalability so that we can serve as many students as possible. How do we ensure that we do not lose focus on inclusivity in our practices so that not only are students being served, but they are being served well? Join us as we explore what access and inclusion mean in our work and share best practices.

Location: Johnson Center, Room C
Presenters: Sara Heming, Samantha Thornton, Daylen Orlick, Meeghan Milette, and Amy Snyder

In supervision, feedback is a give and take relationship. During this session, participants will be presented with a "Seesaw" metaphor in how this applies to the supervisor to supervisee relationship. Participants will gain insight into strategies on how to transform their current supervision relationship and provide ideas for creating positive change in the workplace. This presentation is designed for new or seasoned supervisors of students, graduate students, or professional staff.

Location: Johnson Center, Room D
Presenters: Brian Cogan, Calena Creft, and Dr. Kavita Jagarlamudi

In this interactive workshop, presenters will discuss mental health and well-being resources services available to the George Mason community with a particular focus on helping Mason students connect to the resource that will best meet their needs. Presenters will engage the audience in a game to test their knowledge about services offered and will facilitate dialogue with attendees about ways in which mental health and well-being resource offices can collaborate with other units.

Location: Johnson Center, Room E
Presenters: Joisanne Rodgers

A Mason student parent said, "they say it takes a village, but not everyone has one". Join us to talk about student parents and our Mason village. We'll discuss issues faced by student parents, such as time poverty and way finding, as well as how important language can be for student parent sense of belonging. Plus, walk away with some resources and connections to support our student parents.

Location: Johnson Center, Room F
Presenters: Brent Ericson

This program will examine the concept of resiliency as it relates to our work in higher education and student affairs. The presenter will share a personal story on resilience and relate it to the tenets of trauma, resilience, and overcoming personal and professional obstacles. Participants are encouraged to participate in discussion and reflect on their own practice.

Location: Johnson Center, Room G
Presenters: Shannon Jordan

Who are we as a profession today? Many of us would argue that our norms, practices, and beliefs as a field have changed post-pandemic. Using the text Contested Issues in Student Affairs (2011), we will bring some of the issues facing us as a profession a decade ago as starting point to gauge the changes in perspective we have encountered in just a short time. Come to this interactive session where we will create new knowledge together about necessary new shared norms and practices.

Location: Johnson Center, George's
Presenters: TJ Pegg, Keenan Young, and Sara Clifton

This session will engage participants in learning how a department at a large-public four-year university transitioned to hybrid operations. Unit leadership intentionally modified staff engagement experiences to meet the team where they are while creating a cohesive team experience. Participants will be engaged in knowledge-sharing opportunities and activities to learn how to innovate with staff well-being and professional experience at top of mind in a hybrid work environment.

Location: Johnson Center, George's
Presenters:, Sarah Atif, Kim Dao, Glenda Cosby, Louise Higgins, Dennis Kisielewski, and Kelly Meehan

Workplace conflict is inevitable. This session will introduce supervisors and future supervisors to strategies and best practices for acknowledging and managing conflict. Research and University resources will be shared through navigating various scenarios and facilitated discussions.

Location: Johnson Center, Room B
Presenters: Shyama Kuver and Alexia Ferguson

The number of incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated students pursuing higher education are set to grow with the 2023 FAFSA Simplification Act’s expansion of Pell Grant eligibility. As one of the most diverse and accessible institutions in Virginia, Mason should prepare to welcome these students through holistic and co-curricular support. In this session, attendees will learn more about the fundamentals about the experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.

Location: Johnson Center, Room C
Presenters: Kelly Beckwith and Raven McCormick

With the cost of higher education constantly rising, students should be thinking about their future careers at every stage of their educational journey. This session will showcase career exploration and development initiatives in George Mason University’s College of Public Health, including an innovative mentorship program between graduate students and alumni that has increased students’ confidence in their ability to achieve career-related outcomes.

Location: Johnson Center, Room D
Presenters: Lex Ash

Attendees of this session will gain insight into some of the challenges that our fat-identifying students are routinely facing on college campuses throughout the United States. History of fatphobia will be explored to provide folx with working knowledge of how systemic stigma and oppression has impacted fat bodies, highlighting those on college campuses. Recommended practices will be shared to urge reconceptualization of the development and retention of fat students and advocacy for fat staff.

Location: Johnson Center, Room E
Presenters: Tisheika Snow, Josh Kinchen, and Julianna Napiecek

In this interactive presentation, the UL Strategic Plan Implementation Team for Recognition, Incentives, and Awards will present our findings and workshop new recommendations. Within our University Life Core Values of Well-Being and Collaborative Community, there must be a deep commitment to excellence in recognizing and rewarding the efforts of UL professionals. We welcome you to join us to dig into our work and co-develop new strategies to develop a culture of recognition!

Location: Johnson Center, Room F
Presenters: Susan Pilley and Yu Hyun Sihn

University Life’s Project and Process Management Office recently expanded its student staff team to assist with UX Research.The team works part-time on a hybrid schedule. There were initial challenges for how to best supervise, communicate, and provide transparency, but UL PPM applied a design thinking approach in collaboration with student staff team to develop Standard Operating Procedures. UL PPM will share best practices for managing a hybrid team to enhance productivity and build community.

Location: Johnson Center, Room G
Presenters: Julie Choe Kim, Bernard Atieme, Austin Deray, Jason McKnight, and Cydni Young

Graduate students compose a third of Mason’s student population and come to us with unique motivations, backgrounds, and experiences. Due to the nature of graduate education’s focus on specialization within a discipline or field, graduate students tend to be more connected to their academic units. At this session, join us to discover how to cultivate a university-wide culture of graduate student engagement and support to promote their success and well-being.

Location: Johnson Center, Room A
Presenters: Rebecca Mattern, Josh Braaten, Sam Hediger, and Flannery Wickham

Transfer students are an integral part of the Mason community. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological theory of human development, this presentation seeks to provide University Life professionals with a framework to better connect with transfer students. By understanding each student’s individual contexts, audience members better understand how to provide inclusive and holistic supports that can help promote student retention, graduation, and overall flourishing.

Location: Johnson Center, Room B
Presenters: Erin Brandt

With student debt topping off at $1.7 trillion, the pressure to address the issues of loan repayment, higher education funding, and provide the best return on investment has increased pressure on institutions amongst decreasing enrollment patterns. This session will explore the history of student debt, current borrowing trends, and help student affairs professionals understand the role that student debt is playing in the decision making process for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Location: Johnson Center, Room C
Presenters: Casey Machuga

Showing empathy to students and colleagues comes second nature to us as student affairs professionals, so why is it so hard to extend that same kindness to ourselves? In this session, we will be exploring the barriers to and benefits of practicing mindful self-compassion utilizing framework from Kristin Neff's "Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself". Attendees will take away actionable techniques and tools to be able to practice self-compassion in their personal lives.

Location: Johnson Center, Room D
Presenters: Dr. Adrienne White, Dr. TJ Pegg, and Glenda Cosby

Struggling with supervising your team? New to supervision? Need a refresher on supervising? This program is for you! This session will cover the challenges of supervision and the best practices to implement in your supervision style to create successful, dynamic teams. Participants will reflect on their supervision styles and be provided resources to help strengthen their supervision skills.

Location: Johnson Center, Room E
Presenters: Jo Wilson

The ongoing student mental health crisis is very notable, yet can overlook the staff crisis and interconnection. From graduate school to working in student affairs with mental illnesses, this ongoing conversation is critical. Using personal narrative from the field, self authorship, and disability theory, this piece and further conversation serves to interrupt traditional student/staff development. I encourage a nonlinear view of personal development and challenge ableist professional notions.

Location: Johnson Center, Room F
Presenters: Nakia Waters and Lex Lewis-Semien

First-gen students are often viewed through a deficit lens, with resilience being highlighted as their main asset. While resilient may be an accurate description, is it the ultimate measure of success? This workshop will explore the potential consequences of solely focusing on resilience, as it can perpetuate systemic inequalities. It aims to interrogate dominant narratives and discuss strategies in supporting first-gen students’ holistic growth, without dismissing the importance of resilience.

Location: Johnson Center, Room G
Presenters: Nick Lennon

A global pandemic, corporate scandals, and rampant political and racial polarization have spotlighted many examples of unethical leadership. Are we preparing students to lead positive change? The traditional approach to leadership ethics is incomplete. Scientific research from the new field of behavioral ethics can help us better prepare students to lead positive change. Attend this session to come away with actionable ideas, and ready to use tools, for infusing behavioral ethics into your work.