Block 1 - 2:30-3:15 PM
Embrace Difficult Conversations – How to Handle Conflict, Negotiation, and Develop Positive Professional Relationships
Presenter: Dr. Lacey Finley, Associate Professor of Management and School of Business Department Chair, Park University
This session explores difficult conversations, negotiation, and conflict management, emphasizing steps and techniques to prepare for and engage in challenging situations. Participants will examine the relationship between conflict, mindset, and enhanced personal and professional communication. Strategies for confronting individual tolerance for disagreement and emotion management will be shared in a considerate and engaging session. Gain a greater understanding of how difficult conversations result in beneficial outcomes and positive professional interactions. Learn more about Lacey below.
The Person Behind the Screen: Developing Rapport with Students to Foster an Inclusive Online Classroom
Presenters: Julia Remsik Larsen and Dr. Abby Mitchell, Instructional Designers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Online academic communities can feel isolating and impersonal, which can negatively impact learning for a variety of students. Developing rapport with students is critical to increasing student engagement, feelings of academic belonging, and learning. In this interactive session, we will discuss the importance of creating connections with students and then complete a variety of activities that explore concrete, evidence-based strategies for developing and maintaining instructor presence and rapport to establish a more inclusive online community. Learn more about Abby and Julia below.
Lessons from Lego: Maximizing Assessment for Innovation and Success
Presenter: Dr. Jeremy Penn, Director of Assessment and Continuous Improvement, University of Iowa
LEGO is perhaps the most enduring and widely recognized toy in the United States today. But it wasn’t always this way! In this session, we will look at how to maximize the value of assessment in supporting the innovation and success of our programs. We will examine various ways for using assessment, look at some practical examples, and maybe even play with some LEGO ourselves!
Block 2 - 3:30-4:15 PM
Embrace Difficult Conversations – How to Handle Conflict, Negotiation, and Develop Positive Professional Relationships
Presenter: Dr. Lacey Finley, Associate Professor of Management and School of Business Department Chair, Park University
This session explores difficult conversations, negotiation, and conflict management, emphasizing steps and techniques to prepare for and engage in challenging situations. Participants will examine the relationship between conflict, mindset, and enhanced personal and professional communication. Strategies for confronting individual tolerance for disagreement and emotion management will be shared in a considerate and engaging session. Gain a greater understanding of how difficult conversations result in beneficial outcomes and positive professional interactions. Learn more about Lacey below.
Taking the Isolation Out of Online Learning: Developing Connections Between Students to Foster an Inclusive Online Classroom
Presenters: Julia Remsik Larsen and Dr. Abby Mitchell, Instructional Designers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Connections between students are highly beneficial for student learning and fostering an inclusive classroom but can be particularly challenging to create in an online class. In this interactive session, we will discuss the benefits of creating connections between students and then complete a variety of activities that explore concrete, evidence-based strategies for creating and supporting those connections. Learn more about Julia and Abby below.
Assessment as Storytelling: Assessment's Role in Marketing and Recruitment
Presenter: Dr. Jeremy Penn, Director of Assessment and Continuous Improvement, University of Iowa
At first glance, assessment can appear to be nothing more than a mundane activity of collecting a bunch of numbers, putting them in various templates, and submitting those reports to various places, never to be seen again. It can feel very disconnected from the important work we do to describe our program to others and recruit new students. Yet assessment, when considered as a form of storytelling, can become a powerful tool for the success of our programs. In this session, we will look at some concrete examples and consider how the idea of assessment as storytelling can be used in our programs.
Learn More About Our Presenters
Dr. Lacey Finley is an Associate Professor of Management and School of Business Department Chair at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. She teaches business communication and career development courses. She has the opportunity to oversee and contribute to assessment, curriculum development, and quality assurance initiatives throughout the academic year as the Quality Assurance and Assessment Coordinator for the College of Management. Her areas of research interest include design thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, innovation education, assessment development, professional communication, and student/faculty engagement initiatives.
Julia Remsik Larsen joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an Instructional Designer in 2018 after teaching composition and linguistics for 15 years. Her pedagogical passions include serious play and providing an inclusive learning environment through Open Educational Resources and Universal Design for Learning.
Dr. Abby Mitchell is an instructional designer at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln who has over fifteen years of experience teaching psychology and gender studies courses. A two-time winner of the Faculty Advocate for Diversity Award, they specialize in inclusive teaching strategies and have led and participated in various equity initiatives, such as the Chancellor’s Commission on Gender and Sexual Orientation, the Action Council on Diversity and Inclusion, and the Trans+ Inclusiveness Committee.
Jeremy Penn, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the Director of Assessment and Continuous Improvement at the University of Iowa College of Education. He has consulted with GP IDEA on assessment since 2012. Prior to his current role, he served in assessment roles in student affairs and academic affairs at research institutions in the Midwest. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, skiing, music, and building Legos (both with his family and on his own!).
