Pre-Conference Sessions (AM/PM) will be held on Tuesday September 22, 2026
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 - Lunch not included.
Two sessions (One Morning AND One Afternoon Session): $150 - Lunch included.
All payments must be submitted to ICLCA by August 2026. No refunds will be provided after this date. Questions should be addressed to the ICLCA Treasurer at Treasurer@nclca.org.
ICLCA Pre-Con Session Summaries
MORNING SESSIONS (9:00 AM-12:00PM)
Pre-Con A
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? This session introduces 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 have dedicated time for writing.
Pre-Con B
Title: Daring to Be a Wholehearted Supervisor
Presenter(s): Stephanie Walker
Summary: This workshop expands upon a 2025 conference session to allow more active time to engage in personal reflection and develop action plans. Participants will be introduced to the work of Dr. Brené Brown, receive feedback through a personal inventory, define a supervisory challenge, develop a plan to address it, and gain critical feedback from peers. A Participant Guide will serve as a personal workbook throughout the session.
Pre-Con C
Title: Facilitating Reflexivity in Student Learning Units: Foundations for Relational Practice
Presenter(s): Kersten Merry-Knack, Kelly Ryan, Danielle Gardiner Milln
Summary: This preconference session explores strategies for prioritizing and facilitating reflexivity among student affairs professionals, grounded in Indigenous values and relational approaches. Participants examine how their identities, assumptions, and positionalities shape their interactions with students, colleagues, and institutional systems through guided activities, reflective journaling, peer dialogue, and structured debriefing.
Pre-Con D
Title: Open Access Embedded Tutoring Training
Presenter(s): Tiffany-Anne M. Elliott
Summary: This session introduces open-access embedded tutoring training developed through dissertation research. Participants will learn about the embedded tutoring model and access free, adaptable materials covering definitions, best practices, classroom integration, assessment, program implementation, learning activities, and an optional certification component.
Pre-Con E
Title: Winning Moves: Game-Based Tutor Training
Presenter(s): Lynell R. Williams
Summary: This highly interactive session introduces gamification and the neuroscience behind game-based training. Participants will experience various tutor training games, explore how they connect to specific training goals, and discuss how to adapt them for their learning center contexts, leaving with access to reproducible game materials and strategies for creating custom games.
Pre-Con F
Title: Elevating Tutor and Mentor Professional Development Programs with Cultural Competence Training
Presenter(s): Nicole Brun-Mercer, Grace Nunamaker
Summary: This workshop walks attendees through five hands-on activities designed to cultivate cultural competence: Identity Mapping, Community Mapping, Strengths-based Learning and Leading, Tackling Barriers, and Cultural Competence Goal Setting. Participants leave with tools to elevate professional development offerings and provide more culturally responsive support in their learning centers.
AFTERNOON SESSIONS (1:00 PM-4:00PM)
Pre-Con G
Title: Elevating Your Learning Center to New Heights
Presenter(s): Laura L. Sanders
Summary: This pre-conference workshop will explore ways to elevate your learning center programs and services to new heights. Current Standards for Learning Centers will be discussed along with ways to clearly provide thorough responses on the Learning Center Certification Application and to show how you are striving for excellence.
Pre-Con H
Title: From Awkward to Awesome: Innovative Activities that Elevate Tutor Training
Presenter(s): Elyse Budkie
Summary: This interactive workshop showcases a variety of innovative, low-prep icebreaker activities designed to energize your tutor training while building communication, collaboration, and connection. Participants will experience activities such as Tutor Bingo, The Marshmallow Challenge, Cups, Seminole Says, and many more that move beyond introductions to promote engagement, teamwork, and problem-solving.
Pre-Con I
Title: Data You Can Use: Building and Prototyping a Learning Center Impact Story
Presenter(s): Stacey Blackwell, Tami Kopischke Smith, Leah Rineck
Summary: This highly interactive workshop provides a structured framework combining Design Thinking and Goal-Oriented Group Coaching. Participants will strategically audit existing institutional data, develop a drafted outline of a data-driven impact story tailored for key decision-makers, and define concrete next steps for on-campus prototyping and user feedback.
Pre-Con J
Title: Exam Reviews: Meeting Students Where They Are and Getting Lots of Contacts
Presenter(s): William Thomas, Caitlin Danborn, Trey Brock
Summary: Learn how the Mizzou Learning Center expanded exam reviews from six classes and 1,000 student contacts to over 20 classes and nearly 10,000 contacts. This interactive session covers expansion processes, tutor training, space management, course selection, marketing strategies, and pitfalls to avoid, leaving participants with 3–5 courses they can implement exam reviews for.
Pre-Con K
Title: Design Lab: Build an Academic Event That Scales
Presenter(s): Larissa I. Szwez
Summary: This pre-conference design lab equips participants with a practical, repeatable approach to building academic events that elevate student success without overextending staff capacity. Participants select an event track (exam preparation, project support, finals study, or partner-based events) and complete guided build sprints producing a ready-to-launch blueprint with templates and assessment plans.
Pre-Con L
Title: Redesigning the Tutor Interview Experience by Borrowing Better Practices
Presenter(s): Aliyah Postell
Summary: Hiring student staff is a shared responsibility across academic support centers, yet the processes we use to do so can vary widely. Over the years, we’ve refined our tutor hiring criteria and assessment practices, testing multiple interview models to balance behavioral questions with content evaluation. However, one persistent issue remained: timing. With many tutors graduating each spring, our hiring cycle overlapped with one of the most demanding points in the academic year, often stretching the interview process across several weeks and placing strain on both staff and candidates. This prompted a key question: what if hiring didn’t have to take that long?
