Invitation to Elevate Equity: Illinois

11/20/2024

The below message is being sent on behalf of IACAC.

Join us for Elevate Equity: Illinois

When: Monday, December 9, 2024

Where: UIC Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum, 725 W Roosevelt Rd., Chicago, IL

Hosted by: NACAC, The Joyce Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies

Why Attend?

Use your professional expertise to collaborate with elected officials, policy leaders, and other education professionals to advance access to equitable postsecondary options for Illinois students. Please note this event is open to all. You do not need to be a member of NACAC to attend.

Objectives:

Analyze access issues like FAFSA, recent Supreme Court decisions and others, and their effects on access and recruiting.
Identify other current challenges to equity.
Discover best practices in Illinois for access and advising.
Create actionable steps for improving postsecondary education equity.

Register by: Tuesday, December 2, 2024, 11:59 p.m. ET (10:59 p.m. CT)
*You do not need to be a NACAC member to attend*

Agenda & Speakers:

Session #1: Ensuring College Advising Amplifies Student Voice
Students and institutions have changed drastically over the years, and it is important for college advising to keep up. While the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard/UNC limited what demographic information application readers can see, it does not limit what students or counselors can say about the applicant's background. How can school counselors and college advisors ensure that students feel comfortable sharing the full breadth of their stories? What do colleges and universities feel is the best way to learn about the experiences of applicants as it relates to their racial and ethnic background? There are few other fields where it is more important to meet people where they are than college advising and this session's goal is to yield best practices that can be shared throughout the counseling and advising community.
Speakers: Illinois ACAC representative and admission representatives from UIUC and/or UChicago

Session #2: Ensuring Direct Admissions Works
As some institutions across the country returned to mandating submitting test scores, this is a prime opportunity to engage and learn strategies to ensure direct admissions works for the students of Illinois. This session will allow participants to discuss how direct admissions should be implemented in Illinois. How can institutions, counselors, and policymakers come together and ensure that burdens are, in fact, reduced for students? It will be important to distill principles around communication and engagement as well as establish roles for educational stakeholders to ensure success.
Speakers: Governor's Office representative and Ginger Ostro, IBHE

Session #3: Recovery from Five Years of Upheaval
The first year of the new "Better FAFSA" left many students, families, educators, and institutions confused and frustrated through their FAFSA experience. Some students even opted out of higher education either because they were unable to complete the FAFSA in time, they did not receive their financial aid award letter with sufficient time to cover any gaps, or they were simply turned off by the whole situation. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the FAFSA that caused students from underserved communities to stop out, the COVID-19 pandemic had an outsized effect on students who came from similar backgrounds. What can Illinois, K-12, and higher education do to re-engage students that have stopped out to return to their educational journeys and what can we do to ensure that the effects of the last few years of upheaval are mitigated as soon as possible?
Speaker: Amanda Janice Roberson, Vice President of Operations, Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)

Questions? Contact Gracy Olmeda at golmeda@nacacnet.org or Jennifer Brown at jbrown@nacacnet.org.

Learn more and register today!

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