Real change rarely begins with strategy alone. It begins with the everyday signals leaders send through their questions, actions, and conversations. In this interactive session, participants will explore how curiosity, kindness, and courage shape trust, strengthen teams, and spark meaningful transformation. Attendees will leave with practical tools they can immediately apply, including the Curiosity Curve, strength spotting, and techniques for navigating difficult conversations with clarity and care.

This session will provide the latest updates for college readiness and success across Texas, including data and research efforts supporting success initiatives funded through College Readiness Success Models (CRSM) and Student Success Acceleration Program (SSAP) grant opportunities. Participants will gain a broad understanding of college readiness and success efforts supporting students, institutions, and the state’s higher education strategic plan, Building a Talent Strong Texas, as well as provide a context for understanding their institution’s efforts within a statewide context.

Dual credit programs are reshaping the higher education landscape, creating new opportunities—and new responsibilities—for student affairs professionals. As more students begin their college experience while still in high school, institutions must rethink how they support access, engagement, belonging, and success for this growing population.

Led by Dr. Ashlie Resendez, as Moderator, this panel will explore the evolving role of student affairs in dual credit, including cross-sector partnerships, student support models, policy considerations, and strategies for creating seamless pathways from high school to college completion. Panelists will share innovative practices, emerging challenges, and lessons learned from working with dual credit students across diverse institutional contexts.

The Rhythm of the Semester is a research-backed framework that maps the predictable patterns of student motivation, resilience, and vulnerability across a 16-week academic calendar. Rather than treating student struggle as random crisis, RotS identifies five distinct phases—each with its own emotional terrain, challenge profile, and opportunities for institutional support. By understanding where students actually are in their semester journey, student affairs professionals can meet them with the right intervention at the right time, turning a generic support system into one that genuinely works.
Takeaways include:

• The five predictable phases of the semester and the distinct emotional and motivational terrain of each
• How the six core influencing factors interact to shape student resilience or vulnerability
• Why and how faculty relationships are the #1 burnout mitigator—and what that means for your institutional strategy
• Concrete timing windows for when students respond best to specific communications and resources

The community college finance model has generated strong results across Texas, with student outcomes and dual credit participation exceeding initial projections. This presentation will talk about the upcoming model updates aimed at ensuring the formula remains sustainable, predictable, and aligned with the state’s goals for student success and workforce development.

Find out more about ASCA Region 5 and how to become a part of this dynamic group that discusses emerging trends in student conduct.

Interactive discussion about the recent legislative session and the impact to community colleges and faculty in Texas.

Join your peers from similarly sized institutions for a dynamic, facilitated roundtable conversation. Attendees are grouped by college enrollment (Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large) so that the discussion speaks directly to your institutional reality. In this fast-paced session, participants will explore the trends shaping their campuses, candidly share the challenges keeping them up at night, and highlight the initiatives that are actually making a difference for students. Whether you are looking to solve a problem, discover a new approach, or simply connect with colleagues who get it, this is your space. Come ready to listen, share, and leave with at least one idea you can take back to your campus.
Discussion topics include:

• Current trends and how institutions are responding
• Pressing operational and strategic challenges
• Best practices and initiatives that are moving the needle on student success