Explore Eight Workshop Tracks at the Symposium on Transforming the Postsecondary Experience™
Join hundreds of higher education faculty and staff for eight evidence-based workshop tracks designed to strengthen teaching, improve student success, and build lasting peer networks
Purpose‑Driven Advising
Purpose‑Driven Advising: Redesigning the Advising Ecosystem focuses on transforming the advising system to strengthen how institutions guide students through educational, life, and career decision‑making and progression.
This workshop introduces participants to the Gardner Institute’s advising redesign framework and the concept of purpose‑driven advising. The session focuses on examining how advising structures, practices, and evidence can guide students as they make informed decisions aligned with their long‑term educational and career goals. Through collaborative analysis, participants will consider how institutional advising ecosystems can be strengthened using evidence, system mapping, and consistent expectations.
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Apply the Gardner Institute’s advising redesign principles to evaluate their current advising ecosystem.
- Identify where advising structures support or hinder student progress and clarity.
- Examine examples from peer institutions to understand how purpose‑driven advising has been implemented effectively.
- An initial roadmap outlining how purpose‑driven advising could operate on their campus.
- A list of evidence sources and stakeholders needed for an advising ecosystem self‑study.
- Clear next steps for initiating advising redesign conversations at their institution.
Curriculum Transparency and Complexity
Curriculum Transparency and Complexity: Improving Programs of Study focuses on transforming the curriculum system to create clearer, more navigable programs of study that support timely student advancement.
This workshop explores how curricular complexity—particularly prerequisite chains and program structure—affects student progress. Participants will examine the Gardner Institute’s approach to curricular redesign through complexity mapping and improvement science. Teams will work with custom or in‑session maps to analyze a chosen program of study, identify friction points, and consider changes that support timely, coherent student progression.
Workshop Facilitators:
Vicki McGillin, Associate Vice President
Jess Ramsey, Assistant Vice President
Elkie Burnside, Instructional Designer
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Interpret curricular complexity maps and understand how structural choices affect student movement through programs.
- Use improvement science techniques to investigate curricular barriers and unintended consequences.
- Consider how policies, advising structures, and course sequences interact within programs of study.
- An initial improvement plan based on their program map and evidence.
- A clearer understanding of which program elements may benefit from redesign or simplification.
- A list of additional evidence and stakeholders needed for ongoing program‑level analysis.
Transforming the Gateway Course Experience
Transforming the Gateway Course Experience focuses on transforming the gateway courses to improve outcomes in high‑enrollment, high‑impact introductory courses.
In this workshop, participants learn how to apply the Gardner Institute’s gateway course redesign model to improve high‑enrollment, high‑risk introductory courses. Participants will review evidence‑based strategies for redesigning gateway courses to increase student success and reduce DFWI rates. The session provides a structured approach for analyzing current conditions, identifying misalignments, and developing practical next steps for gateway course transformation.
Workshop Facilitators:
Drew Koch, Chief Executive Officer
Stephanie M. Foote, Vice President for Teaching, Learning, and Evidence-Based Practices
Katie Easley, Fellow
Scott Evenbeck, Fellow
Josh Caulkins, Fellow
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Apply the Gardner Institute’s gateway course redesign model at their institution.
- Consider system‑level and course‑level strategies for improving student success.
- An initial plan for strengthening a gateway course supported by evidence.
- A framework for further data inquiry and cross‑departmental collaboration.
- A set of next steps for gaining support for gateway course transformation.
Using AI to Strengthen Student Success Systems
Using AI to Strengthen Student Success Systems focuses on transforming institutional systems that use AI so they align human decision‑making, academic processes, and technology in support of student success.
This workshop supports institutions exploring and experimenting with generative AI, agentic workflows, or interconnected AI systems. We will seek to build a shared understanding about appropriate use, boundaries, and purpose. This session offers a structured way to pause, learn, and align AI adoption with student success before expanding further.
The workshop is grounded in the concept of grounding intelligence, defined as the human-centered values, capacities, and decision-making structures that guide responsible AI use. Participants analyze a current or emerging AI initiative on their campus, examine how AI tools interact with people and processes, and identify opportunities to strengthen alignment with student success goals.
Workshop Facilitators:
Rob Rodier, Associate Vice President for Technology, Informatics, and Data Security
Kristen Seas Trader, Director of Program Design
Tracie Yorke, Resident Fellow
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Apply the grounding intelligence framework to guide AI use in academic and student‑support contexts.
- Analyze how AI tools interact with institutional systems and workflows.
- Identify areas where human oversight and clarification are needed.
- A structured approach for guiding AI adoption across departments.
- A system map illustrating how an AI initiative interacts with institutional processes.
- A set of next steps for improving alignment between AI tools and student success outcomes.
Transforming the Graduate Student Experience
Transforming the Graduate Student Experience Through Institutional Self‑Study focuses on transforming the graduate student experience system through structured institutional self‑study and evidence‑informed improvement.
This session will provide an opportunity for a guided discussion and exercises on transforming the graduate student experience. In this workshop, participants will explore current conditions affecting graduate students, learn more about what other institutions believe are the graduate student needs that are the most urgent to address, and discuss promising practices. This session will introduce the Gardner Institute’s task-force-based approach to institutional self-study, applied specifically to the graduate student experience, and will explore strategies for leading structured, collaborative inquiry. The workshop focuses on reviewing evidence, fostering collaboration across campuses, and driving improvement at the departmental or school level.
Workshop Facilitators:
John Gardner, Executive Chair and Founder
Sara Stein Koch, Institute Fellow and Senior Associate for Institutional Support
Alicia Morey, Chief of Staff
Ethan Williams, Graduate Student
Dan Volchok, Fellow
Valerie Shepard, Senior Content and Assessment Analyst, UCLA Recreation
Jaydale Codrington-Poyotte, Director of Strategic Operations, Georgia Institute of Technology
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Facilitate collaborative conversations that support evidence-informed improvement.
- Have a deeper understanding of issues graduate students are facing that could be addressed through a self-study.
- Apply a structured self-study framework to assess the graduate student experience.
- Inform policies, practices, and culture at the departmental and institutional levels using the self-study results.
- A draft outline for conducting an institutional self-study centered on graduate students.
- A plan for convening stakeholders and gathering meaningful evidence.
- Clear next steps to launch or enhance improvement efforts on their campus.
Leading Institutional Transformation for Student Success
Leading Institutional Transformation for Student Success focuses on transforming the leadership and alignment system that supports institution‑wide student success planning, coordination, and implementation.
This workshop supports faculty and staff who lead to institutional change efforts. Participants will explore leadership approaches aligned with the Gardner Institute’s model of student‑centered transformation. The session emphasizes building alignment across units, translating strategic priorities into actionable steps, and fostering the conditions needed for sustained change.
Workshop Facilitators:
Cindy Kane, Associate Vice President
Jill Robinson Kramer, Vice President
Akilah Martin, Assistant Vice President
Ligia Perez, Assistant Vice President
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Identify effective leadership practices that support student success initiatives.
- Align institution-wide strategic goals, operational plans, and day‑to‑day work.
- Navigate common barriers to the implementation of change using evidence and campus collaboration.
- A personal leadership action plan template to align with institutional priorities.
- Approaches for supporting cross‑departmental collaboration.
- Resources for further exploration of leadership capabilities and action planning.
Strengthening the Student‑Athlete Experience
Strengthening the Student‑Athlete Experience focuses on transforming the student‑athlete support system to strengthen academic momentum, engagement, and overall educational experience.
This workshop examines the academic and co‑curricular experience of student‑athletes, focusing on structures that support their success in and beyond the classroom. Using a system‑level lens, participants will review evidence, identify opportunities to improve coordination between academic affairs, student affairs, and athletic units, and discuss practices that deepen engagement and academic momentum for student‑athletes.
Workshop Facilitators:
Drew Koch, Chief Executive Officer
Jen Bechtold, Director of Engagement
RD Montgomery
Myranda Crews, Fellow
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Examine how institutional systems shape the student‑athlete experience.
- Identify strengths and gaps in current academic and support structures.
- Consider and apply a framework that promotes deeper student‑athlete academic progress.
- A clearer understanding of the institutional systems affecting student‑athletes.
- An initial set of improvement priorities informed by evidence.
- Next steps for engaging colleagues in strengthening student‑athlete support.
Transforming the First Year of College
Transforming the First Year of College – Foundations of Excellence focuses on transforming the first‑year experience system through structured institutional self‑study and evidence‑informed improvement.
This workshop introduces participants to the Gardner Institute’s Foundations of Excellence principles, guiding teams through a critical examination of the first‑year student experience. Participants will explore how effectively their institution supports new students, for whom the current experience works, and why. Through structured reflection, evidence review, and facilitated inquiry, teams will identify strengths and gaps across the first‑year system and develop actionable ideas for improving student transitions, engagement, and success.
Workshop Facilitators:
Betsy Barefoot, Senior Scholar and Co-Founder
Brent Drake, Senior Vice President for Operations and Research
Felita Williams, Senior Vice President for Programs
Ed Willis, Senior Resident Fellow
Participants will learn to:
Participants will leave with:
- Apply the Foundations of Excellence principles to evaluate their institution’s first‑year experience.
- Examine key questions related to new‑student transitions, learning environments, and support structures.
- Interpret evidence about first‑year student outcomes to identify strengths, inequities, and areas for improvement.
- Learn from national leaders and peer institutions about proven first‑year experience strategies that can be adapted to campus context.
- A more nuanced understanding of the current first‑year experience at their institution.
- An initial set of improvement priorities grounded in evidence and aligned with the First-Year Redesign model.
- Clear next steps for strengthening the first‑year experience and building cross‑campus alignment around new‑student success.