The Way Up Leadership Conference 2026

Students step away from their academic journey for many reasons, including academic dismissal, extended time away, or shifting personal and professional priorities. When they return, however, the path forward is often unclear, inconsistent, or unnecessarily difficult to navigate. What should be a pitstop on the way up can instead become a barrier to continued progress.

This interactive session explores how institutions can better design the road back for students reengaging with their academic goals. Recognizing that student pathways are rarely linear, the session highlights how returning students build momentum over time and how institutional structures can either support or slow that progress.

Drawing on more than a decade of data, cross-campus collaboration, and practical experience, presenters will examine multiple return pathways and the systems that shape them. Importantly, the session will also focus on the role of staff and faculty in supporting students on this path, including how professionals interpret policy, coordinate across units, and develop the skills needed to support increasingly complex student journeys.

Participants will engage in hands-on activities to map the return experience, identify where students lose momentum, and redesign key institutional pitstops to better support both student success and staff effectiveness. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to strengthen support for returning students while also advancing their own leadership and practice.

Most institutions have accepted that AI matters. Very few have decided who decides.
AI is already in use by team members across your institution's operations. It is in the advising notes, the syllabus drafts, the applicant screens, and the financial aid workflows, and almost none of it is governed. Most institutions are not behind on AI because they lack tools. They are behind because no one has made the decisions those tools require.

This session is built for deans, directors, and department administrators: the people who receive AI implementation without the authority to make the underlying decisions. We will work through five governance decisions every institution must make, assess where yours actually stands, and identify the specific moves available to you at your current level of authority. You will leave with usable language, a diagnostic you can share with your leadership team, and one concrete action to take with them.

This is not a tools, demo or prompt training session. Bring your institution's real situation and expect meaningful conversation with peers facing the same questions. 

Join us for an exhilarating workshop designed to supercharge your networking skills! "Speed Networking: Fast-Track Your Connections" invites you to engage in a dynamic and fun-filled environment where you'll meet a diverse group of professionals eager to connect.


By the end of this workshop, you'll walk away with a network of new contacts, enhanced confidence in your networking abilities, and actionable follow-up strategies to keep the conversation going. Don’t miss this chance to expand your professional circle and unlock new possibilities for collaboration and growth! Join us and make connections that count! We encourage you to bring plenty of business cards to share with your new connections!

On your campus today, there are likely four or even five generations working together (Tugend, 2020). Generational (mis)perceptions and realities, coupled with rapid change in our higher education sector, present an opportunity to explore whether “business as usual” is an effective institutional approach. In this workshop, we will examine myths and truths about ourselves and our colleagues, discover ways in which campuses and individuals knowingly (or unknowingly) sustain traditions, systems, and practices that may no longer serve current needs, and leave with a clearer vision of the campus culture you want to create, along with practical strategies for moving toward that vision.

What does academic coaching really look like? In this interactive session, you’ll experience it firsthand. After a short introduction to the philosophy and practice of coaching, we’ll dive into structured role-plays based on real student scenarios. You’ll see how coaches help students strengthen skills like time management, motivation, and metacognition—and then you’ll try your hand at problem-solving and learn more ways to bring the coaching approach into your own work with students. 

Financial aid is often viewed as a transactional function responsible for awarding student aid. In reality, it is one of the most highly regulated, compliance-driven, and student-facing operations in higher education. Decisions made by leaders across enrollment management, academics, student affairs, business offices, and executive administration can have significant implications for financial aid eligibility, institutional compliance, enrollment, and student success. Financial aid affects nearly every institutional priority—from enrollment and persistence to compliance, budgeting, accreditation, and equity. This panel discussion is designed to help leaders make those connections rather than describing the challenges financial aid offices face.

Aligned with The Way Up conference theme—Engage, Embody, and Elevate—this session invites higher education leaders to engage with the often-unseen complexities of financial aid administration, embody collaborative leadership practices that strengthen cross-campus partnerships, and elevate institutional effectiveness by recognizing financial aid as a strategic driver of student access and success.

Through real-world examples, policy scenarios, and practical discussion, participants will gain insight into the challenges that financial aid professionals navigate daily, including regulatory compliance, staffing limitations, evolving legislation, and rising student financial need. Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of how leadership decisions influence financial aid operations and with practical strategies for fostering stronger partnerships that improve institutional outcomes and remove barriers for students.

This interactive session equips higher education professionals with practical strategies to support and develop neurodiverse colleagues. Moving beyond compliance, participants will explore how inclusive communication, collaboration, and workplace practices can unlock strengths, improve retention, and foster a sense of belonging. Through case studies, self-reflection, and applied tools, attendees will leave with actionable approaches they can implement immediately within their roles and teams.


Participants will be able to:

1. Define neurodiversity and recognize common workplace barriers in higher education.
   
2. Apply inclusive supervision strategies that support neurodiverse employees
   
3. Identify strengths-based approaches to employee development
   
4. Implement at least one immediate change in their team practices
   

Psychological safety is the foundation of high‑performing teams, effective communication, and organizational resilience. This session explores how leaders at every level can strengthen psychological safety through intentional behaviors that build trust, model vulnerability, and elevate others. Participants will examine practical strategies drawn from real leadership practice, including structured team meetings, book studies, transparent communication rhythms, and weekly 1:1s that empower employees to own their development.

Grounded in the conference theme Engage, Embody, Elevate, the session integrates concepts from Robin Sharma’s The Leader Who Had No Title to demonstrate how leadership is a mindset rather than a position. Attendees will leave with actionable tools and micro‑behaviors they can implement immediately to enhance team culture and support colleagues.

Participants will:

• Define psychological safety and its role in leadership effectiveness.
  
• Apply the Engage–Embody–Elevate framework to strengthen team culture.
  
• Identify leadership behaviors that build psychological safety from any seat.
  
• Integrate principles from The Leader Who Had No Title into daily practice.
  
• Implement practical strategies that support trust, collaboration, and shared leadership.
  

Join colleagues from across Iowa's higher education landscape for facilitated networking and discussion with peers who share similar roles and responsibilities. These small-group conversations provide a space to exchange ideas, discuss emerging challenges, share promising practices, build professional connections, and explore opportunities for partnership across institutions.

Join colleagues from across Iowa's higher education landscape for facilitated networking and discussion with peers who share similar roles and responsibilities. These small-group conversations provide a space to exchange ideas, discuss emerging challenges, share promising practices, build professional connections, and explore opportunities for partnership across institutions.

Join colleagues from across Iowa's higher education landscape for facilitated networking and discussion with peers who share similar roles and responsibilities. These small-group conversations provide a space to exchange ideas, discuss emerging challenges, share promising practices, build professional connections, and explore opportunities for partnership across institutions.

Join colleagues from across Iowa's higher education landscape for facilitated networking and discussion with peers who share similar roles and responsibilities. These small-group conversations provide a space to exchange ideas, discuss emerging challenges, share promising practices, build professional connections, and explore opportunities for partnership across institutions.