ACCU - Real World Solutions

Real-World Solutions

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5

1:45 pm – 2:45 pm | REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS

RW1 - Through the Lens of a World Upended: Leadership, Transformation, and Technology
Description: 2020 presented innumerable challenges to the higher education community, yet faith, resilience, and adaptability highlighted the very best of the industry. These characteristics also provided critical lessons learned that will transform higher education and carry forward opportunities and adjustments far into the future. In this session, speakers will take a hard look at Catholic higher education through the lens of both a pandemic and racial divide, along with bolstering student persistence and adapting enrollment strategies to address post-COVID-19 challenges.

David A. Armstrong, President, St. Thomas University
Richard L. Ludwick, President, The University of St. Thomas (TX)
Kevin Quinn, President, Aquinas College (MI)
Facilitator: Robert Cominsky, Vice President, Managed Services, Ellucian

RW2 – The Pandemic and the U.S. Presidential Transition: Mastering the 2021 Federal Grant Funding Landscape
Description: Join a discussion of how to build a competitive grant-seeking strategy to fund critical campus needs, such as scholarships, curriculum development, and student support. Special attention will be given to federal funding opportunities created by the U.S. presidential transition and unique opportunities created by federal agencies to respond to higher education funding needs arising from the pandemic. We will discuss effective strategies for motivating faculty to apply for federal grants, sustaining grant-seeking interest and success over the long term, and diversifying funding sources on campus.

John McAllister, Managing Partner, McAllister & Quinn
Jessica Gerrity, Vice President, McAllister & Quinn
Ann Branchini, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Molloy College

RW3 - Trends for Mergers and Private System Affiliations: The Post-COVID-19 Consolidation Era
Description: Navigating the future and finding prosperity in an era of change require a deeper understanding of the macro trends shaping higher education. The consolidation era for higher education is happening as a result of institutional closures, mergers, affiliations, and private system affiliations. This workshop will outline detailed alternatives for Catholic institutions to engage in a Private System Affiliation that includes preparing a buy or sell side strategy, and aligning a merger or affiliation with long-term institutional prosperity.

Rick Beyer, Senior Fellow, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges

RW4 – Student Success in the New Reality(ies)
Description: Campuses are facing increased challenges to meet the needs and expectations of students, their families, and the faculty and staff who serve them both. The key components of student success theory still resonate in 2021: engaged learning, psychological sense of belonging, and intentionally inclusive experiences. The delivery of those experiences requires a radically adaptive strategy, owned by the entire campus community. This session will feature examples of such innovation, particularly as executed through a campus-wide project called Moving the Needle.

Joretta Nelson, Senior Vice President & Owner, Credo
Tom Flynn, Senior Consultant, ACCU Consulting Services
RW5 – Modern Governance 101: Improving Board Management Through COVID and Beyond
Description: Higher education administrators and trustees have long relied on BoardEffect to improve board management and streamline better decision making. With the challenges brought about by COVID-19, education leaders need as much operational and strategic support as possible. BoardEffect's higher ed clients, including a substantial cohort of Catholic colleges and universities, have continued to leverage the firm's support beyond the boardroom, working to maintain operational efficiency, meet compliance standards, and drive key decision making. This session will offer an overview of key features to help bring greater efficiency and engagement in governance activities, cover how to incorporate deeper committee management, and more.

Peter Atsaves, Senior Governance Advisor, BoardEffect
Diane Fornieri, Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Molloy College

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6

1:45 pm – 2:45 pm | REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS

RW6 - The Implications of 2020 Court Rulings on Catholic Institutions
Description: This session will highlight the past year’s three major court rulings significant to Catholic higher education. Presenters will explain (1) the recent ruling on the ministerial exception, even while it's still developing through new litigation; (2) the decertification of union formation, considering recent court decisions reaffirming Supreme Court precedent; and (3) Title IX and its implications for Catholic colleges and universities.

Mark Chopko, Chair, Nonprofit & Religious Organizations, Stradley Ronon, LLP
Michael D. O'Mara, Chair, Litigation, Stradley Ronon, LLP

RW7 - Capital Development for Catholic Colleges and Universities: New Needs, New Solutions
Description: The strategic use of capital affords more than just bricks and mortar. Capital supports ongoing academic program retooling and renewal, repurposed facilities, education technologies, and improved student success programs. Effective operating performance requires ongoing capital investment. Monetizing existing assets is a capital source that has been underutilized. This presentation covers a new concept for higher education capital needs, current and future institutional borrowing environments, and an innovative asset monetization model as a major, real-world, capital source solution.

John Cavanaugh, Consulting Vice President, Kaludis Consulting
David Fumi, Managing Director, Bonds, Campus Capital
Michael Grandillo, President, Madonna University
Todd Holstlaw, Founder and CEO, Campus Capital
George Kaludis, President, Kaludis Consulting

RW8 - Healthy Building Environments: Theory to Action at St. Mary's University
Description: This session is intended to move from theory into practice, highlighting one of the most consequential challenges facing campuses nationwide: university-wide health and safety solutions and programs. Thanks to a unique partnership between St. Mary's University of Minnesota, and Delos, a research, standards, and technology organization for healthy building environments, we will provide a firsthand, real-world perspective of an evidence-based program implemented at St. Mary’s in August 2020. We will explore a subset of tools to help drive a healthy return to campus, focused on indoor environments, the Well Living Lab developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, and the WELL Building Standard. Using St. Mary's as a case study, valuable insights, research, and tools will be discussed, as well as implications for all universities to consider going forward in their efforts to elevate health and safety interventions on campuses.

Rev. James Burns, IVD, President, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Tim Gossen, Vice President of Student Affairs, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Paul Scialla, Founder and CEO, Delos
Barbara Spurrier, Executive Director, Well Living Lab, a Mayo Clinic & Delos
Collaboration

RW9 - Retired or Rewired? Options for the Retiring President
Description: Join us in a conversation with Dr. Eugene “Gene” McAllister, formerly president of the University of Great Falls and a Registry member, discussing his tenure as a Registry Interim President at St. John’s University (MN). After serving 13 years as a transformational president at Great Falls, Dr. McAllister joined The Registry. In July of 2019, Dr. McAllister signed on as an Interim President at Saint John’s University (MN) and has been there since. This Real-World Solutions session will be a conversation between Dr. McAllister and Registry Advisory Services, President Kevin J. Matthews about how an interim president can make a unique difference to an institution of higher education and how the interim work can be fulfilling at that time in a person’s career. Please join us to see how The Registry can be useful to college presidents now and in retirement.

Eugene McAllister, Interim President – Saint John’s University, MN
Kevin Matthews, President – Registry Advisory Services

RW10 - Promoting Student Health and Well-being with Remote Solutions
Description: Catholic colleges and universities are known for their holistic, student-centric approaches to well-being. However, COVID-19 has disrupted models that had previously served students well. Learn how Neumann University and Saint Mary’s College are meeting students' physical and emotional needs through a dynamic and student-first partnership with TimelyMD, higher education’s leading telehealth provider. Panelists will discuss the benefits of early intervention and enabling students access to medical care, mental health counseling, psychiatric services, and health coaching; how student use of well-being services has increased with the introduction of a wider range of services; and how securely sharing electronic health records ensures student affairs staff are informed of student issues in a timely manner.

Christopher Haug, Vice President for Student Affairs, Neumann University
Heather Abbott, Counselor, Saint Mary’s College
Alan Dennington, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder, TimelyMD