Please join Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, John Coleman at a virtual webinar Spotlight on Success: Student Success Symposium Revisited on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 via Zoom webinar from 8:30 – 11:00 am. At this webinar, participants will be able to engage in two of the most highly rated Breakout Sessions from the Student Success Symposium that was held on February 5th. Join the ongoing discussion about what our campus is doing and will do to bolster retention and graduation rates, close equity gaps and enhance the Illinois experience. Registrations will be accepted until Monday, March 9, 2026, at 11:59 pm.
Webinar Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:30-8:45 am | Welcome |
| 8:45-9:00 am | Welcome and Remarks from Provost Coleman |
| 9:00 – 9:45 am | Session #1 – From Conflict to Care: How Belonging Practices Restore and Reconnect Communities as a Pathway to Student Success |
| 9:45 – 10:00 am | Session #1 Q&A with the Presenters |
| 10:00 – 10:45 am | Session #2 – Tackling the Four Biggest Career Fears |
| 10:45 – 11:00 am | Session #2 Q&A with the Presenters |
Session #1
From Conflict to Care: How Belonging Practices Restore and Reconnect Communities as a Pathway to Student Success
Presenters: Datia Flowers and Ross Wantland
Presentation Abstract: Belonging is a critical yet often overlooked factor in student success. When conflict or harm occurs within higher education environments, students’ sense of safety and connection to the institution can quickly erode, directly impacting mental health, academic achievement, and ultimately retention. This interactive session, led by staff from the University of Illinois’s Campus Belonging unit, explores how intentional practices of belonging, restorative justice, and collective care can transform conflict into opportunities for learning, healing, reconnection, which promotes student success. Grounded in a conflict to care framework, presenters will share a four-stage model that centers belonging as a foundation for holistic student growth. Through a combination of data and dialogue, participants will learn how Campus Belonging defines and fosters belonging through bias response and proactive belonging practices. We will highlight our mediation and restorative justice services, as well as the broader strategies used to create safe spaces for healing after harm or tension. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how to embed belonging into daily practice, moving beyond punitive actions toward approaches that strengthens trust, and builds inclusion, to encourage student engagement and success both academically and personally.
Session #2
Tackling the Four Biggest Career Fears
Presenters: Christina Swanson, Morgan Smith, Leanne Cunningham and Calen Gutwein
Presentation Abstract: “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.” – Fred Rogers. It is human to have career fears. Students don’t talk about these fears so they don’t know that everyone else is feeling the same way. It grows into something that feels unmanageable and isolating. We have our own fears, too. It is hard to know how to support students through these complex issues. And we can feel just as alone. Let’s come together to make career support more manageable. The four speakers will share some strategies we have used in our classes and advising appointments to tackle each of the biggest career fears we see in our students:- I’m not good enough- I’ll make the wrong choice- I haven’t done enough to be unique or special- If I don’t succeed at this there’s nothing else for me. We want to learn from you, too. Everyone has something meaningful to contribute. Let’s work together to show our students just how valuable, confident, unique, and capable they truly are. We want you to leave knowing how capable you are, too.