All-Campus Conference (ACC) 2025

Thank you for joining us in defining the future of UNM-Valencia.

Explore our shared insights, ideas, and next steps.

Conference Overview

• Date: June 24, 2025
• Location: UNM-Valencia Campus
• Purpose: To align campus community efforts with the strategic plans, foster collaboration, gather stakeholder insights, and build community.

Participation & Format Overview

The conference included pre-assigned homework, vision gallery walks, breakout sessions, a stakeholder panel, and a keynote. A wide range of staff, faculty, and administrators participated. Multiple engagement formats were offered including "If I Ran the College," an escape room, and a storytelling workshop.

The 2025 All-Campus Conference brought together faculty, staff, and administrators to align with strategic goals, foster collaboration, and strengthen community ties. The event featured a variety of engagement formats including pre-conference homework, a vision gallery walk, breakout sessions, a stakeholder panel, and a keynote by Dan Garcia.

Participation & Ratings

• Overall Satisfaction: 3.67 / 5
• Strategic Plan Preparedness: 3.49 / 5
• Top Sessions:
  • Storytelling as Community Building: 4.69 (Engagement), 4.43 (Usefulness)
  • If I Ran the College: 4.45 (Engagement)/ 4.28 (Usefulness)
  • Escape Room: 4.24 (Engagement)/ 4.24 (Usefulness)
• Lowest Ratings: Catering (2.86), Vision Gallery Walk (2.98)
• Poll Questions:
  1. How confident do you feel that your daily work aligns with the UNM-V Strategic Plan/UNM 2040?
     1. Most participants expressed strong confidence in their alignment with the strategic plan, with 19 selecting "5 out of 5" and 17 selecting "4 out of 5." The average rating was 4.23 out of 5, indicating broad alignment, though a few responses suggest opportunities to improve clarity and integration.
  2. What one word best describes your takeaway from the vision gallery walk?
     1.  Responses reflected a wide range of impressions. Many participants found the activity informative, insightful, and reaffirming, noting that it encouraged reflection on their roles and the strategic goals. Words like engagement, opportunity, hope, and visual suggested that the Gallery Walk successfully sparked interest and awareness. At the same time, some participants expressed concerns about disconnection, confusion, and repetitive messaging. A few felt the exercise highlighted common concerns and the need for clearer action and communication. Overall, the walk was seen as a meaningful step toward shared understanding, though some questioned follow-through and alignment.
  3. What’s the biggest barrier you face in aligning your work to the strategic plan?
     1. The most frequently cited barrier was siloed communication, with many participants expressing frustration over a lack of coordination and information sharing across departments. Other common challenges included limited resources, unclear expectations, and not enough time to engage with strategic efforts. Several participants expressed a desire for stronger engagement between leadership and staff, suggesting a need for more visible responsiveness to feedback. A few highlighted structural issues such as the need for HyFlex classrooms and better support for adjunct faculty. While a small number felt the goals were reasonable and achievable, most emphasized the need for better alignment, support, and communication to make meaningful progress.
  4. What’s the single best idea you’re taking away after today?
     1. Participants expressed a strong sense of shared purpose and a renewed focus on community, communication, and belonging. Many responses emphasized the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and making the campus more accessible for students. Collaboration across faculty, staff, and leadership was seen as essential. Others highlighted the need for greater accountability, clear expectations, and follow-through. Creative suggestions like hosting food trucks or planning specialized community events stood out as actionable takeaways. Overall, many found comfort in learning they were not alone in their concerns and viewed the Stakeholders' Panel as a valuable model for future planning.

Key Insights

• Pre-Conference Homework & Vision Gallery Walk: Perceived by some as underutilized or in need of clearer integration. Calls to digitize the activity and link it directly to discussions.
• Stakeholder Panel: Rated 3.95, student perspectives resonated most, highlighting issues like limited local options and student worker concerns.
• Keynote: The keynote was informative, particularly on enrollment data, though some participants hoped for a stronger emotional resonance and more branch-specific relevance.
• Breakout Sessions: Strong engagement and relevance. Participants valued the hands-on, collaborative formats.

Emerging Themes from Vision Gallery Walk Feedback

• Need for improved communication, staff empowerment, and operational efficiency
• Greater focus on DEI, inclusion, and authentic equity modeling
• Strong commitment to student success and advising
• Calls for educational innovation, accountability, and unified campus leadership

Opportunities for Improvement

• Increase follow-through and feedback loops on ideas shared
• Improve session relevance across roles and add translation support
• Redesign or replace the opening vision gallery walk
• Prioritize student voices, including alumni and community perspectives
• Address catering concerns and overall conference accessibility

Conclusion

The conference was a meaningful step toward collaboration and strategic alignment, but participants stressed the importance of turning discussion into action. Prioritizing accountability, communication, and visible follow-up will be key to maintaining trust and building lasting impact.

ACC Committee Members