Pre-Conference Sessions
(October 20, 2025) 

ICLCA Pre- Cons take a deep dive into the work of the learning center professional and provide opportunities to develop as a center and as a leader in the field. Below are summaries for this years pre-conference sessions. 

Pre-Conference Registration Rates:

• One session (One Morning OR One Afternoon Session):    $80
• Two sessions (One Morning AND One Afternoon Session): $150 

ICLCA Pre-Con Session Summaries

Morning Pre-Cons (9am – 12pm)

Pre-Con A
Title: Learning Center Leadership 101: Developing Foundational Leadership Skills
Presenter(s): Kevin, Knudsen, Vincenta Shepard, Dana Talbert

Summary: Leadership skills are essential for learning center professionals, especially in today’s higher education landscape. In this introductory session, participants will explore leadership assessments and experiences to clarify their values and leadership styles. Attendees will reflect on how their style influences decision-making and center operations. Facilitators will lead real-world leadership simulations and share key resources that have shaped their own leadership development. These tools can support continued growth beyond the session. This session also prepares attendees for Learning Center Leadership 201: Navigating Complex Challenges with Confidence. Participants may attend both sessions or select the one best suited to their experience.

Pre-Con B
Title: Coaching the Inner Learner: Tools to Build Self-Awareness, Motivation, and Cognitive Flexibility in Students
Presenter(s): Tye Glover

Summary: Today's students don’t just need content mastery — they need help navigating the internal landscape that drives (or derails) academic success. This session introduces a set of simple, neuro-creative strategies that learning center professionals can use to coach the inner learner. Drawing from perceptual psychology, NLP, and imagination science, attendees will explore hands-on tools that help students identify cognitive blocks, reframe negative thought patterns, and access deeper motivation. Participants will walk away with ready-to-use exercises that foster self-awareness, engagement, and emotional resilience — helping students thrive both academically and personally.

Pre-Con C
Title: Beyond the Game: Experiential Teambuilding with Purposeful Debriefing
Presenter(s): William Blake Wolfenbarger

Summary: Too often, teambuilding activities are treated as fun one-offs, but without intentional debriefing, their full value is lost. This interactive session will explore the power of experiential education in strengthening team dynamics, with a strong focus on how and why to debrief.  Participants will engage in multiple hands-on teambuilding activities designed to highlight communication, collaboration, and trust. Each activity will be followed by structured reflection using the “What? So What? Now What?” model. Attendees will also design their own teambuilder and practice facilitating a debrief in small groups.
Whether you're planning a team retreat, training session, or staff meeting, this workshop will equip you with practical tools to turn any game into a growth moment.

Pre-Con D
Title: A Certification Just for You: Learning Center Leadership Certification (LCLC)
Presenter(s): Jenny Haley

Summary: Are you consumed with programming, data collection and analysis, training, marketing, and the daily pressures of working as a learning center administrator?  Lost in the shuffle is YOU, the individual, who deserves to be recognized and certified for the leader you are.  The LCLC is attached to you, not the center, training program, or student staff.

Have you already begun the process of gathering materials to apply for LCLC (Learning Center Leadership Certification)?  Or perhaps you are committed to applying but have not found the time or necessary resources to get started?  Join me to learn more about LCLC, which offers growth and development for learning center professionals by focusing on evolving levels of practice, training, self-reflection, service, publication and presentation, and evaluation.  You will learn more about the four levels of certification and identify which level best suits you.  Then…get ready to work!  We will have time devoted to writing!

Afternoon Pre-Cons (1pm – 4pm)

Pre-Con E
Title: Learning Center Leadership 201: Navigating Complex Challenges with Confidence
Presenter(s): Joe Salvatore, Kevin Knudsen, Rebecca Piety, Stacy Blackwell

Summary: Current and aspiring learning center leaders face unprecedented challenges in a rapidly changing higher education environment, including the impact of federal directives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), budget restrictions, the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and much more.  Building upon the morning pre-conference session, Learning Center Leadership 101: Developing Foundational Leadership Skills (recommended but not required), this session will challenge participants to apply their leadership skills in complex simulations and active learning scenarios. The presenters will provide guidance and mentorship, opportunities for self-reflection, and constructive feedback to help participants develop as our next generation of learning center leaders.

Pre-Con F
Title: Let’s Gamify That!
Presenter(s): Laurissa Noack, Lisa Stewart

Summary: As we face a new generation of students, it is increasingly difficult to captivate students about campus resources or during training exercises. It is even more challenging motivating them to actually take advantage of these resources and skills after the fact. This interactive presentation will explore the process of gamifying a new student orientation session that introduces available academic resources, including how and why students should utilize them. Implementation of these game-based activities resulted in increased student engagement during the session, as well as an increase in student utilization of learning center programs early in the first semester.

Pre-Con G
Title: Boldly Go Where No Learning Center Has Gone Before
Presenter(s): Laura Sanders

Summary: This pre-conference workshop will explore new frontiers in learning center management, programming, and certification. Current standards for learning centers will be discussed along with ways to strive for excellence in your learning center. In this session we will go step-by-step through the Learning Center Certification (LCC) Application including tips on what information to collect and how best to present it. 

Pre-Con H
Title: Academic Support for Neurodivergent Learners
Presenter(s): Sam Crandall

Summary: On the surface, executive function (EF) challenges can be difficult to distinguish from poor student behaviors, such as laziness, procrastination, lack of effort, etc., when in fact many neurodivergent students are trying harder with less results than their neurotypical peers. By addressing executive function challenges instead of relying on traditional study skills, we reinforce the notion that the student hasn’t failed but rather the systems they are using have failed. Through EF Coaching, students can improve working memory, organization, prioritization, task initiation, sustaining focus, regulating effort, problem solving, and metacognition.