Professional Development

The Academic Affairs Administrators' Symposium will be held on Wednesday, August 6 and Thursday, August 7, 2025 at the Alumni Center.  

The Annual Professional Development Series sessions are held to advance work on strategic priorities presented at the 2025 symposium. Outlook invitations will be sent for these sessions.

AI Fluency for Higher Ed Administrators 

• Session 1: What We Think We Know: AI as a People Problem

  Monday, July 14, 2025
  9:00-10:00 a.m., State Farm Hall of Business Room 147

  Core Message:

  AI is like fire - powerful but requiring skill and caution. AI interaction is iterative and dynamic, not a database lookup. Administrative challenges with AI are fundamentally about people, culture, and adaptation - not technology.

  Learning Outcomes:

  By the end of this session, administrators will:

  • Recognize AI as a people/culture problem rather than a technology problem 
  • Experience AI as a collaborative thinking partner rather than a replacement tool 
  • Practice prompting as a critical professional skill 
  • Confront the existential question: "What are we if AI does our work?" 

  Presenter: Dr. Roy Magnuson, Associate Professor Creative Technologies

• Session 2: Thinking Together: AI as a Collaborative Partner

  Monday, July 21, 2025
  9:00-10:00 a.m., State Farm Hall of Business Room 147
  

  Core Message:

  AI transforms not just individual work but collective intelligence. When we move past fear and embrace playful experimentation, we discover new ways of solving problems together. The future isn't human vs. AI—it's human WITH AI, or knowing when to NOT use AI, and amplifying or highlighting our collective human-centric capabilities.

  Learning Outcomes:

  • Share and learn from diverse AI experimentation experiences 
  • Embrace "childish" curiosity as a strength in AI interaction 
  • Practice collaborative problem-solving with AI as a team member 
  • Develop strategies for institutional AI adoption 

  Presenter: Dr. Roy Magnuson, Associate Professor Creative Technologies

• Session 3: Leading Forward: Maximum Impact, Minimal Resources

  Monday, July 28, 2025
  9:00-10:00 a.m., State Farm Hall of Business Room 147
  

  Core Message:

  Transformation doesn't require massive budgets—it requires strategic thinking, cultural change, and the courage to start small. The future of higher ed depends on leaders who can create ownership, drive priorities, and maximize impact within constraints. AI amplifies strategic thinking, not spending.

  Session Objectives:

  • Develop actionable strategies for AI implementation within resource constraints 
  • Create ownership models that don't depend on new funding 
  • Design pilot programs that can scale without significant investment 
  • Commit to specific next steps for their institution 

  Presenter: Dr. Roy Magnuson, Associate Professor Creative Technologies

ISU has long been a partner with APLU’s Powered by Publics (PxP), an initiative to address retention and graduation. As part of the PxP work, Illinois State has the opportunity to participate in the Data Literacy Institute (DLI) lead by the Association for Institutional Research.

A cohort of 20 individuals from across the institution, including faculty, advisors, administrators, student affairs, and other staff directly involved with student learning, development, or support will engage in a 2-semester learning experience where participants learn to collect, analyze, interpret, communicate, and make actionable data related to a group determined student success problem.

Teams of 4-5 will identify a student success issue and engage in facilitated workshops and hands-on work to understand the problem using data analysis and use data informed decision making. Sample problems from other PxP universities include: reducing student loan debt; impact of early alerts on high DFWI courses; success and retention of male students of color; and planned vs actual course load.

The Institute is comprised of 2 semesters, each 3 months in length. Every month offers a different section of DLI content and includes approximately 20 hours of work: 4 hours of webinars, 8 hours of virtual seminars, and 8 hours of independent/group work. Participants will begin by learning the basics of data and end with a full set of data literacy skills.

• Fall semester

  The first term runs from September through mid-December and includes three sections, each approximately one month long. The collaborative research project is kicked off at the start of the Institute and weaves throughout the curricula. The fall semester will involve topics such as: developing the question/problem, connecting questions to data, and analyzing the data.

• Spring semester

  The second term runs from February through mid-May and includes three sections, each approximately one month long. The term culminates with completion and presentation of the collaborative research project. This semester will involve topics such as: conveying the information to your audience, taking action, and closing the loop.

A full description of the curriculum can be found in the Data literacy Institute Program Guide.