2025 NASPA AVP Symposium

Assistant and associate vice presidents for student affairs and other senior-level "number twos" (and the equivalent) who report to the vice president for student affairs have among the most complex and challenging roles in the modern student affairs division. The NASPA AVP Symposium will gather AVPs from a wide variety of institutional types for three intense days of learning and networking designed to support AVPs' success in these difficult, yet critically important, roles. Symposium attendees can expect sessions with high-level content developed by and delivered for an AVP audience that call on AVP participants to contribute to the peer learning community by deeply engaging with the Symposium content and fellow participants. 

The theme for the 2025 symposium is “Nurturing Leadership and Cultivating Harmony.” We expect that programs and sessions will connect with the following topics and content areas:

• Ever-changing nature of the AVP role
  ● What it really means to be a #2
  ● Inspiring tomorrow’s leaders while sharing predictions for the future of higher education
  ● Forward- thinking effective practices in the areas of technology, work-flows, staffing, and other
  aspects of the AVP role
  ● Leadership that effectively attracts, develops, and retains a talented workforce
  ● Investigating and crafting evolving roles for staff at multiple levels, including professionals and
  paraprofessionals
  ● Innovative staffing models in the context of challenging hiring environments

  ● Nimbleness and adaptability in the AVP role while confronting seemingly insurmountable
  obstacles
  ● Rapidly evolving and sometimes complicating legal/legislative landscape
  ● Sharing testimonials, inspiration, and professional journeys to inspire resilience and excellence
  in the AVP role
  ● Advancing equity at our institutions
  ● Responding to local, regional, national, and international situations
  ● Leading with one’s whole self
  ● Influencing institutional culture to create effective learning and working environments
  ● Enhancing health, well-being, and the quality of life for students, staff, and faculty
  ● Advancing student success via effective intra- and/or extra-divisional collaborations
  ● Flourishing in the AVP role: strategies for addressing the challenges and complexities of the
  position
  ● Finding your place and voice as the assistant/associate vice president
  ● Inspiring while leading functional areas with which one has limited or no expertise
  ● Leading strategic planning, organizational change, and resource/budget management efforts
  ● Maintaining connections with students in a manner that leverages their energy to advance AVP
  effectiveness and excellence
  ● Supervising the Supervisor

The symposium will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 25, 2025 and will conclude at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, January 27, 2025. Additionally, several pre- and post-symposium workshops will be offered for an additional fee. The schedule presented below is subject to changes.

View Detailed Listing of Breakout Sessions

On Saturday, January 25, prior to the “official” start of the symposium at 3:00 p.m., attendees will have the chance

to participate in pre-symposium workshops. Registration is required for these optional offerings. To add a pre-
symposium workshop to your existing registration, please send an email to [email protected] or call 202-265-
7500.

Pre-symposium Workshop 1: Ethics and Decision-making in Higher Education: A practical, hands-on exploration of
how we make tough decisions
Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 12:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Every day college and university administrators, staff, and faculty make challenging decisions – decisions that impact
their students, their intuitions, and their community. It isn’t often we get to stop and reflect on 1) the factors that
influence our decision-making, 2) how to handle conflicts between those influential factors, and 3) what role
personal ethics plays in those decisions. In this session, in a very hands-on and interactive way, participants will have
a chance to reflect on some tough decisions and the factors that influenced those decisions, learn about the four
ethics and Jones’ framework of moral intensity, and learn how to apply these ideas to their future decision-making.

Pre-symposium Workshop 2: From Silos to Synergy: Fostering Cross-Campus Collaboration for Student Success
Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 12:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
In this interactive workshop, we will begin by sharing lessons from AVPs at Complete College America to support 2
and 4-year campuses' efforts toward institutional transformation and the role of intermediaries to convene diverse
groups and facilitate meaningful dialogue within and across campus. The session will focus on strategies for
fostering collaboration and partnership across campus, particularly with colleagues in academic affairs and
enrollment management, to better align efforts around the needs and success of college students. Participants will
explore effective practices for breaking down silos and creating a culture of shared responsibility for student
outcomes. Through facilitated discussions, case studies, and group activities, attendees will learn how to leverage
cross-campus relationships to develop more holistic and student-centered approaches. This workshop will also cover
the importance of data-informed decision-making, communication strategies, and the role of leadership in driving
change.

Pre-symposium Workshop 3: Supporting and Leveraging your Sorority and Fraternity Community: Presented in
partnership with Sigma Phi Epsilon and the Assoc. of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors
Saturday, January 27, 2024 | 12:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Creating a healthy and thriving sorority and fraternity community increasingly requires the strategic investment of
multiple key campus partners, and student affairs leaders are most uniquely positioned to provide strategic support
to this very complex and distinct functional area. The presenters will appropriately frame and contextualize what
strong sorority and fraternity professional work should look like, discuss how to engage from their unique
organizational level, and share ways to leverage support from fraternity and sorority life; students and alumni to
advance institutional goals.(Registration for this offering, while required, is complimentary for participants due to
support from the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors Foundation.)

All presenters must be registered for the Symposium. Presenters and co-presenters who are AVPs (or the equivalent) whose proposals are accepted must register for the symposium in order to present. Presenters and co-presenters who are VPSAs (or the equivalent) whose proposals are accepted who do not wish to attend the full symposium will be granted a complimentary presenter pass in order to attend only the session they are presenting. Presenters and co-presenters who are VPSAs (or the equivalent) whose proposals are accepted who wish to attend the full symposium will receive a 25% discount of their registration fee. If you are not an AVP (or the equivalent), please contact Ke'Ana Bradley at [email protected] for guidance regarding completing your registration.

Registration Scholarship and Discount

• If you are experiencing financial hardship, you may qualify for a NASPA Foundation Membership Scholarship or NASPA Foundation Professional Development Access Scholarship, which can be used to cover registration for this event. Apply by December 11! If possible, you are encouraged to go ahead and register for the event by the December 11 early registration date. If you are awarded a scholarship, your registration will be refunded in full.
• If you are an AVP (or the equivalent) who is also attending the immediately preceding NASPA Institute for New AVPs, you are entitled to a 25% discount for your symposium registration fee. Please use the coupon code provided in your institute registration when completing your symposium registration.

For a comprehensive listing of NASPA registration policies, please visit this page.

If you would like to sponsor the 2025 NASPA AVP Symposium, please contact Senior Director of Corporate Development Fred Comparato at 614-204-5994 or at [email protected].

Call for Proposals

The 2025 NASPA AVP Symposium planning committee invites AVPs/“number twos” and vice presidents for student affairs (and the equivalent of both) to submit program proposals that resonate with the symposium theme of “Nurturing Leadership and Cultivating Harmony.”  Please visit the call for proposals submission system for more information about the theme, desired submissions, and proposal requirements. The call for program proposals system will open in mid-July and close on September 16, 2024.

All presenters must be registered for the Symposium. Presenters and co-presenters who are AVPs (or the equivalent) whose proposals are accepted must register for the symposium in order to present. Presenters and co-presenters who are VPSAs (or the equivalent) whose proposals are accepted who do not wish to attend the full symposium will be granted a complimentary presenter pass in order to attend only the session they are presenting. Presenters and co-presenters who are VPSAs (or the equivalent) whose proposals are accepted who wish to attend the full symposium will receive a 25% discount of their registration fee.

Call for Program Proposal Reviewers

The symposium planning committee invites all sitting AVPs and VPSAs (and their equivalents) to help shape the 2025 NASPA AVP Symposium by serving as a program proposal reviewer. Apply today to contribute to this important process designed to ensure that the Symposium’s content is of the highest quality possible. Reviewer applications are due by September 12 , 2024. The program review period will begin on September 23 and conclude on October 4th . The call for program proposal reviewers system is open and will close on September 12, 2024.