Breakout Sessions
Collaboration, Creativity & Campus Connection
The 2025 All-Campus Conference offered three engaging breakout sessions designed to promote collaboration, spark strategic thinking, and build community across departments. Attendees responded positively overall, with average ratings above 4.2 across all sessions for both engagement and usefulness.
If I Ran the College (Facilitated by Dr. Hill)
Engagement: 4.45 Usefulness: 4.28
- This session encouraged participants to think boldly and critically about campus-wide challenges, imagining themselves in leadership roles with the power to implement change.
- Ideas generated included improving internal communication, aligning budget priorities with student needs, and enhancing recruitment and retention strategies.
- Many found it energizing to collaborate with colleagues outside their usual circles and appreciated the chance to propose real solutions that connected back to the strategic plan.
- Several participants noted how the session emphasized vision over habit, urging all employees to think beyond departmental boundaries.
Campus Escape Room (Facilitated by Sarah Clawson)
Engagement: 4.24 Usefulness: 4.24
- This interactive team activity gamified the problem-solving process, placing participants in simulated real-world campus challenges.
- Many described it as eye-opening, especially when it revealed behind-the-scenes barriers faced by departments like Financial Aid, IT, or Admissions.
- It effectively highlighted the importance of cross-functional understanding, as teams had to rely on each other’s unique skills and knowledge to complete the task.
- Several participants expressed that it helped build empathy and showed the complexity of tasks that may otherwise go unrecognized.
Storytelling as Community Building (Facilitated by Brittany Padilla)
Engagement: 4.69 Usefulness: 4.43
- The highest-rated session, Storytelling created space for personal connection and reflection. Attendees shared experiences, listened to one another, and explored how storytelling can enhance belonging and community cohesion.
- Participants felt a renewed sense of empathy and solidarity with coworkers, particularly across departments they rarely interact with.
- The session emphasized the power of narrative in building trust, enhancing student support, and grounding strategic planning in lived experiences.
- Some suggested this type of reflective and relational exercise become a recurring feature of future campus events.
What Participants Said
- “It reminded me that belonging leads to retention—for both staff and students.”
- “Escape Room helped me understand the pressure other departments are under.”
- “If I Ran the College was incredibly insightful—real strategy work without budget fluff.”
- “Storytelling gave me space to reconnect after a hard few years.”
Recommendations for Future Breakouts:
- Provide more time per session; several noted sessions felt rushed.
- Encourage even broader participation, especially from faculty and physical plant staff.
- Consider adding a follow-up discussion to continue momentum and implement good ideas.
