the Student Affairs Assessment Institute is proudly sponsored by

Join student affairs and higher education colleagues on a journey toward implementing a curricular approach on your campus at the Institute on the Curricular Approach (ICA)! This learning experience is dynamic and valuable, as you will have access to concrete examples of how institutions with similar institutional values have developed and implemented their Curricular Approach in residence life, student leadership, or student conduct. Showcase Institutions will share how they used the 10 Essential Elements, their lessons learned, and implementation successes. This event is a straight-forward way to obtain clear direction from higher education and student affairs professionals who have done the work.

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 designing a 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 lea

rning, 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 requires a new way to think about student learning and a refined leadership mindset. A curricular approach utilizes these 10 Essential Elements.

institute features

This learning experience is an institute and not a conference. Sessions are organized and sequenced for professionals who are first-time attendees and returning attendees. 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. All sessions will be recorded.

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.

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 2017 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 10 September, 2021. After 10 September, 2021, 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 Institute is The Westin O’Hare. Single rooms are available for $199/night, plus tax. 

For travel purposes, the Institute begins at 7:30am on Monday, 11 October 2021 and ends at noon on Wednesday, 13 October 2021. We suggest that attendees arrive on Sunday, and book flights that depart after 2:00pm on Wednesday, 13 October 2021.

The Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) is located about 2 miles from the Westin O’Hare hotel.

At this time the hotel shuttle service is suspended but we anticipate it will be functioning by the Institute; likely running each day every half hour. Taxis, Uber and Lyft rideshares are also available. An Uber or Lyft from the airport to the Westin O’Hare will cost $12-$15 and a taxi will cost around $20 (depending on time of day, traffic, and other factors).

schedule-at-a-glance

Tuesday, October 12

Wednesday, October 13