CADREI Conference Information

Leading with Purpose: Building Collaborative Communities from Day One
Your College * Your Partners * Our Field
A pre-conference institute of the 2026 CADREI Conference

Registration and Breakfast Buffet

📍 Savannah Ballroom

Welcome and Icebreaker

Frank Hernandez, President, CADREI

📍 Savannah Ballroom

A community-centered welcome that invites participants to reflect on what brought them to this role and what they hope to build - individually and collectively - in their first Year.

Introductions and Agenda Overview

Michelle Young, President-Elect, CADREI

📍 Savannah Ballroom

Break

The Dean & Entry Planning; Building a Collaborative Vision from Day One

Frank Hernandez, Michelle Young, & Joshua Newman

📍 Savannah Ballroom

Effective entry planning is the foundation for collaborative leadership. This session helps new deans develop a vision and strategy that is grounded in listening, partnership-building, and shared purpose - aligning institutional priorities with communities their college serves. Featuring a 30-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of Q&A Discussion.

The Dean & Budget, Finance & Fundraising: Resourcing Your Collaborative Vision

Andrew Daire, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

📍 Savannah Ballroom

Budgets are not just financial tools — they are statements of partnership and priority. This session introduces new deans to core budgeting and financial management principles, including operating, auxiliary, restricted, and endowment funds, revenue sources, and expenditure planning. Emphasis is placed on how financial decisions can resource collaborative initiatives and how to communicate resource needs effectively to internal and external stakeholders.

The session also addresses fundraising and development as essential tools for the collaborative dean. Participants will explore how to build a compelling case for their college’s work, cultivate relationships with donors and advancement partners, and align philanthropic goals with institutional mission and community priorities.

Email/Text/Coffee & Networking Break

Lunch Buffet & Community Conversations

📍 Oceanfront Beach Pavilion

Managing Up & Across: Building Collaborative Relationships with Senior Leadership

Cynthia Savage (TCU Associate Dean), Frankie Santos Laanan, & Sarah Garrity (SDSU Associate Dean)

📍 Salon ABC (Associate & Assistant Deans / Chairs / Directors)

Collaboration doesn’t just flow outward — it starts with how you work with those above and alongside you. This session equips associate and assistant deans with strategies for understanding their dean’s priorities, communicating across leadership levels, and co-creating a college culture grounded in shared purpose. Featuring a 60-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.

Managing Up: Partnering Effectively with Your Provost

Andrew Daire & Dawn Williams

📍 Savannah Ballroom (Deans)

Leading a college well means leading the relationship above you just as intentionally as the one below. This session equips deans with strategies for reading their provost’s priorities, communicating with clarity and confidence across the cabinet table, and aligning college goals with institutional strategy.

Academic Freedom & Shared Governance: Leading with Integrity in a Complex Landscape

Facilitator: Frank Hernandez
Presenters: Rob Knoeppel, Michael O'Malley, Kala Burrell Craft

📍 Savannah Ballroom

Academic freedom and shared governance are foundational to the integrity of any college or school of education — and among the most complex responsibilities a new dean will navigate. This session explores the dean’s role in protecting and advancing academic freedom while building a culture of genuine, shared governance with faculty. Topics include:

• Understanding the legal and institutional frameworks that govern academic freedom
• Navigating faculty senate relationships and building productive shared governance structures
• Managing controversial or politically sensitive research and curriculum
• Leading promotion, tenure, and merit processes with transparency and fairness
• Upholding core principles even under external political or institutional pressure

Email/Text Break

The Dean as Convener: Creating the Conditions for Collaboration

Facilitator: Barry Chung
Presenters: Gaetane Jean-Marie, Ingrid Lopez Guerra, Stephanie Rowley, & Jeffrey Fairbrother

📍 Savannah Ballroom

The most powerful thing a dean can do is create the conditions for others to collaborate — both inside the institution and across it. This session addresses the dean’s dual role as internal and external convener, exploring how to build the structures, relationships, and culture that make meaningful collaboration possible and sustainable.

Internal Convening:

• Building high-performing leadership teams and fostering a culture of collaboration within the college
• Strategic planning: when to convene, how to lead the process, and who should be at the table
• Developing and leading the faculty review process (promotion & tenure, merit) with transparency and shared ownership

External Convening:

• The dean’s external role as a connector, advocate, and community anchor
• Building and leveraging Advisory Boards and Boards of Visitors
• Cultivating cross-sector partnerships with K–12, community organizations, industry, and government

Commitments, Takeways & New Steps

Frank Hernandez, President, CADREI

📍 Savannah Ballroom

What partnerships will you build? What collaborative structures will you put in place? Participants reflect on the day’s insights and articulate individual commitments to leading with purpose in their first year — a bridge from the NDI into the full CADREI Conference beginning the next morning.

NDI Welcome Reception

📍 Oceanfront Beach Pavilion

The Collaborative Imperative: Shared Purpose through Partnerships

The CADREI Conference theme for 2026 acknowledges the reality that no college or school of education succeeds in isolation. This theme foregrounds the power of cross-sector collaboration — between higher education and K–12 schools, communities, industry, non-profits, and local and federal government — as the engine of meaningful, lasting impact in education preparation.

Registration

📍 Sonesta Lobby

Breakfast Buffet

📍 Salon E

Welcome, Executive Committee & Opening Introductions

Frank Hernandez, President, CADREI, Texas Christian University

📍 Salon ABCD

Keynote Panel: Research-Practice Partnerships and Community Impact ★ NEW / UPDATED SESSION (Moderator – Michelle Young)

Na’ilah Suad Nasir, President, Spencer Foundation • Louis Gomez, UCLA

📍 Salon ABCD

Drawing on a recent report on community partnership and research, this keynote panel examines how Colleges of Education can build and sustain meaningful, equity-centered partnerships with communities. Na’ilah Suad Nasir and Louis Gomez bring complementary perspectives on what the research tells us about partnerships that last — and what the field must do differently to make collaborative impact possible.

Breakout Session A - Mini-Workshop

Deeply Understanding Your Partnership Landscape for Community Impact

Lisa Huffman and Kathie Maynard

📍 Jasper

Breakout Session B - Roundtable

Building an Engagement Enterprise: Advancing Community Impact Through Research, Partnerships, and Innovation in a College of Education and Human Development

Kui Xie and Joi L. Moore

📍 Savannah A

Breakout Session C - Critical Conversations (Co-Current Sessions)

The Collaborative Imperative: How Colleges and Schools of Education Are Reimagining Partnerships to Strengthen the Educator Workforce

Gaëtane Jean-Marie, Rachel Endo, Stephanie J. Rowley, Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher and Michelle D. Young

Breakout Session C - Round Table Discussion

What’s Next for Colleges and Schools of Education? Strategic Partnerships for Emerging Workforce Opportunities

Teresa Table Doughty

📍 Salon ABCD

Breakout Session D

Why Can’t We Be Friends: Collaborations in the Midst of Competition—How Can Deans Thrive Together as Partners in Education?

Malcolm B. Butler and André M. Green

📍 Savannah B

Lunch

📍 Salon E

Dean’s Panel: Building Partnerships Across Sectors — Lessons from the Field ★ NEW / UPDATED SESSION (Moderator – Y. Barry Chung)

Joseph Morgan, UNLV • Monika Williams Shealey, Temple University • Thomas Hodges, University of South Carolina

📍 Salon ABCD

Three deans from across the country share their experiences building meaningful cross-sector partnerships — with K–12 schools, communities, and beyond. This panel offers candid reflections on what works, what doesn’t, and what Colleges of Education must do to become true collaborative partners in their regions and fields.

Breakout Session A - Critical Conversations

Walking on Hot Coals, Spinning Plates, and Juggling Knives Alone: Dean Leadership in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) World

Tabitha Grier-Reed and Nicholas J. Pace

📍 Jasper

Breakout Session B - Mini-Workshop

Partnering for Impact: From Partnerships to Collaborative Ecosystems

Ingrid Guerra-López

📍 Savannah A

Breakout Session C - Critical Conversations

Organizational Identity and Partnership Opportunities in Research Colleges of Education

Jeffrey T. Fairbrother; Damon P. S. Andrew; Alan L. Smith

📍 Savannah B

Associate Deans Session (Co-Current Sessions)

Strategies from Associate/Assistant Deans for Research: Cultivating Grant Activity, Research Partnerships, and Faculty Scholarship

Robert Stupnisky, Maribeth Jorgensen, Shannon Dieringer, Stephen Zanskas, Meca Williams-Johnson, Danielle Dani and Daniel Maggin

Leading Amid Liminality: Associate Deans as Architects of Collaborative Leadership

Tamara Bertrand Jones, Tiffany J. Davis and Tomika Ferguson

📍 Salon ABCD

Email / Text Break

Building Cross-Sector Partnerships: From Fundraising to Ecosystem Building ★ NEW / UPDATED SESSION - (Moderator, Stephanie Rowley)

Presenters: Kui Xie, University of Missouri, Lisa Huffman, University of Cincinnati, Jeffrey Fairbrother, Auburn University & Jerlando Jackson, Michigan State University

📍 Salon ABCD

This session expands the traditional conversation about development and fundraising into a broader framework of cross-sector partnership — with K–12 schools, communities, nonprofits, industry, and government. Participants will explore how to build a compelling case for their college’s work, cultivate relationships across sectors, and align philanthropic and partnership goals with institutional mission. Seasoned leaders share practical strategies and lessons learned.

Closing Announcements

Frank Hernandez, President, CADREI, Texas Christian University

📍 Salon ABCD

Break

CADREI Reception

📍 Prefunction E

CADREI Dinner

📍 Salon EFGH

Breakfast Buffet

📍 Salon E

Welcome, Executive Committee & Opening Introductions

Frank Hernandez, President, CADREI, Texas Christian University

📍 Salon ABCD

Special Topic: Leading Through the Budget Crisis — Doing More with Less in Colleges of Education ★ NEW / UPDATED SESSION — (Moderator – Paola Sztajn)

Panelists: Chrystalla Mouza, UIUC, Maneka Brooks, Portland State University & Aaron Kuntz, FIU, Robert Berry III, IU

📍 Salon ABCD

Higher education is facing an unprecedented wave of budget shortfalls, RIFs, layoffs, program eliminations, and voluntary retirement programs — and Colleges of Education are not immune. This session brings together deans navigating these pressures firsthand to discuss how they are leading with integrity, protecting faculty and students, sustaining their research mission, and finding creative paths forward when resources are shrinking. A frank, peer-to-peer conversation for leaders doing more with less.

Breakout Session A - Roundtable

From Compliance to Collaboration: Leveraging CAEP Quality Assurance Systems to Advance Faculty Research and Partnerships

Malina Monaco and David Rock

📍 Jasper

Breakout Session B - Critical Conversations

Championing The CIRCLE: Creating a Collaborative Space to Break Down Barriers and Promote a Deeper Understanding of Diverse Disabilities

Stephen W. Dittmore, Madalina Tanase, Amanda Pascale, Jennifer Kane and Sydney McNeill

📍 Savannah A

Breakout Session C - Mini-Workshop

Shaping the Narrative: Responding to Current Discourse on Education

Marc Van Overbeke; Paola Sztajn; Chrystalla Mouza

📍 Savannah B

Breakout Session D - Critical Conversations

Building the Ecosystem: Statewide Research Infrastructure as a New Leadership Imperative for Schools of Education

Michelle D. Young, Joi A. Spencer and Tom Smith

📍 Salon ABCD

Lunch & CADREI Business Meeting

📍 Salon ABCD

CADREI Business Meeting & Presidential Transition

📍 Salon ABCD

1. Approval of Minutes from Fall 2025 Business Meeting — Michelle Young, University of California, Berkeley

2. Treasurer’s Report — Chrystalla Mouza, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

3. Presidential Transition — Frank Hernandez passes the presidency to Michelle Young, UC Berkeley

4. Announcements — Frank Hernandez, Texas Christian University

Policy Update: The Federal Education Landscape — Research Funding, Teacher Preparation & Beyond ★ NEW / UPDATED SESSION (Moderator, Gaetane Jean-Marie)

Jacqueline King • Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, President & CEO, AACTE

📍 Salon ABCD

Two leading policy voices share the latest developments shaping Colleges of Education at the federal level. Topics will include:

• Current status and outlook for education research funding through IES and NSF

• Federal policy affecting teacher preparation programs

• Legislative and regulatory developments impacting higher education and educator pipelines

• Strategies for deans to engage, advocate, and respond effectively in a shifting policy environment

Email / Text Break

Unconference: Open Conversation for Deans ★ NEW / UPDATED SESSION

Facilitator: Jeffrey Fairbrother

📍 Salon ABCD, Jasper, Savannah A, Savannah B

An open, participant-driven session where deans self-select into small groups of 4–6 to discuss the topics most relevant to them. The room will be divided into groups around themes that emerge from the community — no formal agenda, just honest peer conversation among leaders navigating the same challenges.

Group topics will be identified and posted at the start of the session. Participants choose where they want to contribute.

Closing Announcements

Michelle Young, UC Berkley

📍 Salon ABCD

Reflection

CADREI Deans’ Reception / Appetizers — Wear your school/college’s gear!

📍 Oceanfront Beach Pavilion

Check-out / Departure

📍 Lobby