2026 FGLI Consortium annual Conference proposal Form

We are excited to welcome your proposals for the 2026 FGLI Consortium Annual Conference, hosted by Rutgers University from November 17-20. Presenting at the conference offers a special opportunity to highlight promising practices, research, and innovative ideas with our national community of administrators and faculty focused on supporting FGLI student success. Presenters will also engage in meaningful dialogue and thought partnership throughout the conference, building new professional connections that will persist beyond the conference itself.

All conference presenters will receive a $50 discount on conference registration. Before starting your proposal, you may find it helpful to review previous conference sessions from 2022, 2023, or 2024 or to attend one of our proposal drop-in hours, listed below.

CONFERENCE THEME AND PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

The Case for College: Rebuilding Trust and Reimagining the Possibilities of Higher Education for FGLI Students

The value and purpose of higher education has been increasingly challenged within a broader climate of polarization, distrust in institutions, and growing economic uncertainty. While questions rooted in affordability and return-on-investment miss the realities of financial aid and long-term outcomes, we cannot ignore the real questions that students and families have about the worth of higher education.

As practitioners of FGLI student support, these questions are actually not new. We have long been tasked with translating the value of higher education to communities who are skeptical or unfamiliar with its pathways and promises, and with ensuring that our institutions are of actual value to all of our students, regardless of their background. And, we have remained committed to creating robust communities among students with widely different belief structures. How, then, might we think about the unique expertise and knowledge that we bring to these conversations?

How do we continue to foster trust with students and external communities in this complicated environment? How can we help our institutions in demonstrating and translating the importance of holistic learning and growth that takes place during college? What can our role be in institutional change as the needs of first-generation and low-income students become increasingly urgent and complex? And, as these students begin their journeys on campus, how do we help ensure they are equipped to enter the workforce with tangible tools and skills, and are prepared to pursue careers that are both stable and meaningful?

Our 2025 conference invited us to remember our North Stars as we navigated a time of uncertainty – to move forward in alignment with our mission of access and success for FGLI students as we made budgetary pivots and programmatic transformations in response to philosophical challenges and material instability. Now, in 2026, we must look to the horizon despite the headwinds. We are called to remind the communities we serve about our commitment, and we have an opportunity to revitalize the image we hold of what higher education truly is and can be. There is a strong case for college, now more than ever before. This year’s conference asks us to re-engage that truth with our eyes on the future – for our institutions, for our programs, and for our students.

Our conference will provide an opportunity to grapple with these important questions. We are particularly interested in featuring presentations and workshops that explore these themes through the following lenses:

Reimagining student support and student success

Examples of topics include, but are not limited to:

In what ways should our outreach to prospective FGLI students and families change as the perception higher education is increasingly challenged? How do we build trust with those who have no personal experience with higher education?
How might our programs shift in response to questions about the value of a college degree, and with acknowledgement of the real pressures students face around their postgraduate paths? Which shifts are not possible, and how do we navigate that reality?
How do we encourage FGLI students to explore the curriculum when they enter college with an understandable “credentialist” mindset that pushes them toward courses they believe have a direct connection to popular career options? In other words, how can we help our students to understand the practical value of a liberal arts education?
How can we best collaborate with faculty around advising practices, pedagogy, and academic policies that best facilitate FGLI student learning and achievement in the current landscape?
What are the policies or practices on our campuses that contribute to FGLI students’ feeling that the admission brochure and their lived experience do not match up (the “bait and switch”)? What roles do our programs play in mitigating this distrust? How can we inform changes in the policies and practices at the heart of the issue?

Measuring and demonstrating value

Examples of topics include, but are not limited to:

How could we shift our approach to assessment and research in response to the current state of affairs in higher education?
How do we collect, understand, and instrumentalize data – both qualitative and quantitative, numerical and anecdotal – on student experiences and outcomes?
How do we best engage with and leverage student voices?
What do new technologies offer by way of data collection, analysis, and reporting?
How can we tell the story of our work in a way that is heard? How can we correct misconceptions and misrepresentations about FGLI students and the initiatives that have facilitated their access to and success in higher education?
How can we ensure our campus partners and senior leadership understand and support the work we do “beyond retention” as a critical component to the institution’s ability to build trust with FGLI students and families?

Operations and getting the work done

Examples of topics include, but are not limited to:

What are the ways AI tools might help us to build capacity? What are the limits? And where might there be tension between these tools and our day-to-day roles?
How can we successfully advocate for the importance and priority of our programs within a moment of institutional austerity?
When we do face budget cuts, staffing cuts, hiring freezes, and similar changes, how can we make decisions in ways that maintain the mission of supporting FGLI student access and success?
How can we engage with colleagues and offices who are eager to help, but might not understand or have misconceptions about best practices for the work? How do we “train” them to contribute without putting an extra burden on ourselves?
Are there ways we can partner with our colleagues and friends at other institutions to enhance our work, bring our students together, or to effect change?
What do career trajectories in higher education look like in a landscape of precarity in the industry (e.g., institutional closures, budget cuts)? What do career trajectories in higher education look like with the emergence of generative and agentic AI?
How might managers consider issues like staff morale and burnout in the context of increased work and decreased budget?
How do we take care of ourselves – or even find joy – in times when the work is challenging or the future is uncertain?

types of conference sessions

Workshop Sessions, 75 minutes: These sessions can take a number of forms, and we strongly encourage an interactive focus. For example, these sessions might involve hands-on work or small group conversations. You may wish to have a co-presenter(s) or co-facilitator(s).
Igniter Talks, 7-10 minutes: These information-sharing sessions are much shorter in length than Workshops, and will provide an opportunity for presenters to highlight a discrete program, partnership, or other project that will be of interest to conference participants. It is imperative that these short talks do not exceed their time limit. One great example of this is the PechaKucha model: About PechaKucha

DEADLINE & Details

The priority deadline for program proposals is Wednesday, July 15 at Noon ET. Please submit through the form below.
Proposals will comprise an abstract and a session description:

Abstract: No more than 200 words
The abstract is where you will share the basic description of your session, including “the hook” and what attendees can expect to take away from your session. Please keep your intended audience in mind, as this text will be used in the conference program.
Description: No more than 500 words
In your description, please share further detail on the content and context of your session. Please provide information on the expected format or style (for example: workshop with hands-on activities, brief presentation followed by small-group discussions, longer presentation with time for Q&A), though it is understood that your session structure might continue to evolve in the months preceding the conference. Please also share which colleagues will benefit most from your session (e.g., newer professionals or those who are leading units; those who work in student affairs or those who work in academic affairs). This description is for the proposal review committee only and will not be shared with conference attendees.

Please reach out with questions:

Email admin@fgliconsortium.org
We are once again offering proposal drop-in hours for anyone who would like guidance on preparing their proposals or a thought partner as they brainstorm ideas. Please join us at any of the following sessions (click for Zoom link):

CONFERENCE PROPOSAL FORM | Deadline: Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at Noon ET