the Institute on the Curricular Approach is proudly sponsored by

Join student affairs and higher education colleagues on a journey equipping you to lead organizations toward a curricular approach to learning for all on your campus at the Institute on the Curricular Approach (ICA)! This learning experience is dynamic and valuable. Participants will be able to explore how to lead, design, and implement a curricular approach. ICA Faculty will offer learning opportunities including large group keynotes, smaller sequenced sessions, faculty consultations, institutional showcases, and more. Wherever you are in your journey individually and organizationally toward a departmental or divisional curricular approach, this institute is a straight-forward way to obtain clear direction from higher education and student affairs professionals experienced with a curricular approach.

Through participation in ICA, you will have the opportunity to:

• Apply the 10 Essential Elements of a Curricular Approach
• Design, implement, and assess a Curricular Approach
• Learn from other institutions implementing a Curricular Approach through Showcase presentations
• Get feedback from Institute faculty about your Curricular Approach through Faculty Consults

A Curricular Approach is a paradigm shift from traditional educational approaches to an intentional, developmentally sequenced one, defined by institutional mission and purpose. Staff members using a Curricular Approach first identify clear learning goals and outcomes grounded in the history, culture, mission, and purpose of each institution. Then staff members identify student engagement strategies that can provide opportunities for students to achieve these learning goals and outcomes. Goals are sequenced, pedagogy rooted in scholarship of teaching and learning, and campus partners incorporated from throughout the institution. A Curricular Approach uses assessment to inform a process of continuous improvement.

Shifting to using a Curricular Approach is not superficial nor is it simply utilizing learning outcomes to guide programming. A curricular approach utilizes the 10 Essential Elements to think about student learning and a refined leadership mindset.

institute features

This learning experience is an institute and not a conference. Sessions are organized and sequenced to meet the needs of professionals and organizations at different places in their journey. Each session is also sequenced with learning outcomes to create an integrated, developmentally sequenced, experience for the participants. Showcases are also offered from a variety of institutional sizes and types to give concrete examples of how a Curricular Approach can be implemented consistently across campuses but also tailored for each unique campus context.

Whether it is your first Institute or your twelfth, you will leave inspired with new insights, new collegial connections, new examples and innovations, and new energy. We have representatives from all sizes and types of institutions who have benefited from the Institute experience.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Tricia Shalka
Associate Professor, University of Rochester

Keynote Address: Designing with Trauma in Mind

Dr. Tricia Shalka is an associate professor of higher education at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education & Human Development. Dr. Shalka’s research primarily investigates the impacts of traumatic experience(s) on college students, particularly in terms of developmental outcomes. Her scholarship also explores how trauma-informed practices can inform the work of both administrators and faculty in higher education. Dr. Shalka’s research has appeared in some of the top journals in higher education and she has won several awards for her research and teaching. Prior to becoming a faculty member, Dr. Shalka spent several years working in higher education administration in areas such as residential life, fraternity and sorority life, institutional assessment, and development and alumni relations. She credits those experiences for actively shaping her scholarship and teaching. Dr. Shalka holds a PhD from the Ohio State University, a MA from the University of Maryland, and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Team Registration

Consistently, some of the best feedback we receive from participants is from those who attended as members of an institutional team. While individual attendance is perfectly fine, if you can register as a team, we encourage it so you can learn together in real time and build or advance your Curricular Approach together. Team registration rates are available!

Demographics of institute participants (based on 2023 Institute evaluation data):

Registration Rates

Registrations can be paid by check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. All fees must be prepaid. Purchase orders are not accepted. Refunds will be given for cancellations, received in writing at ACPA by 6 September, 2024. After 6 September, 2024, there are no refunds.  A processing fee of US$50 per registration will be charged for credit cards declined or to change payment methods after the initial payment is processed. The conference may be cancelled or postponed due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. In this case, the fees will be fully refunded; however, ACPA will not be responsible for other additional costs, charges or expenses, including cancellation/change charges assessed by airlines and/or travel agencies.

lodging & transportation

The host hotel for the 2024 Institute on the Curricular Approach is the Westin O’Hare airport, offering a nightly rate of $219.

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