Mon, August 3
11:00 AM -12:00 PM

Description

This session will explore AI as a leadership/decision-support tool in administrative and financial settings. Focus will be on judgment, risk, and accountability, as well as what AI can and cannot reliably do and how leaders should use it responsibly.  

Mon, August 3
11:00 AM -12:00 PM

Description

Have you sat through a presentation that felt like a total snooze fest - or worse, like pulling teeth? We've all experienced sessions where slides were overloaded, the flow felt disjointed, and staying engaged felt nearly impossible. But presentations don't have to be that way! In this session, you'll discover how to apply adult learning principles to design presentations that help audiences retain information and actively engage. You'll explore best practices for structuring your presentation, designing clean and compelling slides, and incorporating interactive strategies to help keep learners attentive and involved. Transform your presentations into clear, captivating, and memorable learning experiences starting today!

Description

This session examines the critical distinction between leadership and management and their shared role in cultivating a culture of belonging. Participants explore how inclusive leadership is practiced daily, particularly during change and complexity. Through reflection and applied discussion, attendees identify strategies to lead with courage, engage with empathy, and sustain trust while delivering results.

Description

Higher education leaders make decisions every day that carry risk– whether they realize it or not. From campus safety and compliance obligations to financial pressures and reputational concerns, the modern university operates in an environment filled with uncertainty. This session introduces participants to the fundamentals of risk management in higher education and provides a practical framework for identifying and evaluating risks across the institution. Rather than focusing solely on worst-case scenarios, we’ll explore how risk awareness can support better decision-making, stronger governance, and more resilient institutions. Participants will leave with tools and perspectives that can be applied immediately within their own functional areas.

Description

This dynamic and experiential workshop helps participants strengthen how they show up and speak up in professional settings. Designed to integrate reflection, real world scenarios, and practice, the session cultivates clarity of both message and intention, empowering leaders to communicate under pressure with calm, curiosity, and confidence.

Description

This session will explore AI as a leadership/decision-support tool in administrative and financial settings. Focus will be on judgment, risk, and accountability, as well as what AI can and cannot reliably do and how leaders should use it responsibly.  

Description

Discover how Microsoft Copilot Web (Chat) can help you research faster, draft content, summarize information, and support everyday work tasks. This session provides a practical overview of what Copilot can do, when to use it, and tips for getting better results.

 Description

This session explores how leaders strengthen executive presence, credibility, and influence within complex institutional environments. Participants gain will practical strategies to elevate their voice and personal brand, navigate power dynamics, and lead with confidence—regardless of role or level.

 Description

A facilitated, small‑group networking session where participants connect with peers to share challenges, exchange perspectives, and develop actionable solutions grounded in institutional experience.

Description

Higher education institutions continue to face increasing financial pressure driven by enrollment volatility, rising labor and benefit costs, inflation, deferred maintenance, and evolving student needs. This session explores practical strategies for managing budgets effectively in resource-constrained environments while maintaining alignment with institutional mission and strategic priorities.

Participants will examine common drivers of structural deficits and cost pressures across academic and administrative units. The session will introduce tools such as scenario planning, cost analysis, and multi-year forecasting to support data-informed decision making. Through applied examples and guided activities, attendees will practice evaluating trade-offs, identifying efficiencies, and balancing short-term reductions with long-term sustainability.

Description

This hands‑on session explores how to communicate effectively with generative AI by crafting clear, purposeful prompts. Participants will learn prompt structure, examine the art and science of prompting using the GCSE framework (Goal, Context, Source, Expectations), and practice refining prompts to improve accuracy and usefulness. The session emphasizes iteration, feedback, and extending prompts to support real‑world tasks using tools like Microsoft Copilot.

Description

This session explores how to collaborate and influence effectively across teams, especially without formal authority. Participants learn practical tools to build trust, communicate with clarity and empathy, and navigate cross-functional resistance. Grounded in inclusive practices, the session emphasizes shared accountability, relationship-building, and influence strategies that strengthen collaboration and drive results in complex organizational environments.

Mon, August 3
1:30 -4:30 PM

Open to All Tracks

For those in Tracks 1 - 3, this will override your Monday afternoon sessions.

 Description

Friday Night at the ER is a fun and interactive business simulation used to teach systems thinking and collaborative leadership. Participants manage interconnected hospital departments during a high-pressure 24-hour scenario, making real-time decisions about staffing, patient flow, and resource allocation. The experience highlights how siloed decision-making affects overall performance and emphasizes cross-functional communication, strategic coordination, and problem-solving in complex organizations.

Description

This session introduces the fundamentals of generative AI, including what it is, its history, how it works, and how it is being used across higher education and the workplace. Participants will explore key concepts, including large language models, common AI tools, ethical considerations, and responsible use guidelines, with an emphasis on campus‑approved technologies.

Description

Designed for professionals who are new to higher education or new to institutional budgeting, this session provides a practical overview of how colleges and universities are funded, structured, and managed from a financial perspective.

Participants will explore core concepts including operating vs capital budgets, restricted vs unrestricted funds, revenue sources such as tuition, state appropriations, grants, and auxiliaries, and the fundamentals of budget models commonly used in higher education. The session will also clarify the distinctions between accounting, finance, and budgeting, and explain how financial decisions reflect institutional mission and values.

Through interactive discussion and applied examples, attendees will gain a foundational understanding of how resources flow through an institution, how budget decisions are made, and how various campus units contribute to financial sustainability. Participants will leave better prepared to engage in budget conversations and to understand their role within the broader financial framework of their institution. 

Description

Ever noticed how some people just click with you, while others take a bit more decoding? In this interactive session, you’ll explore your communication style using the DiSC assessment and discover how others prefer to interact, making relationships more effective. You’ll learn to recognize the four communication styles, interpret your personal results, and practice reading the styles of others. Walk away with practical strategies to adapt your approach, strengthen relationships, and communicate more effectively—skills that will elevate both your teamwork and leadership.

Note: A DiSC assessment will be provided and must be completed prior to attending this session.

Description

This session offers a general grants management overview to provide administrators with a general grants management foundation. Understanding key concepts and identifying value-added activities that are key to successfully managing sponsored research in higher education. Join us as we build a network of colleagues who have similar roles and responsibilities and who face many of the same challenges and opportunities.

Description

Life is filled with negotiations. Join us to learn some skills to build your awareness and maximize your opportunities. Viewing negotiation as an opportunity for insightful communication and potential collaboration can lead to big success. Can you turn disputes into partnerships? Can you build better partnership deals? Learn to navigate tension and create opportunities to get the very best offers in your role and in executive job search. Negotiating is a critical leadership skill that can propel you to the next level.

Description

The Collective Impact Framework, first published in 2011 and updated in 2021, has been used successfully in a multitude of situations to solve wicked problems with equity-based approaches.  In this session we will briefly cover the five tenants of a Collective Impact framework and provide examples of how the effort has been successfully deployed at two public research universities, to enhance the student experience while creating greater collaboration, stake holding, efficiency, equity, and impact.  We will break up into groups and identify a wicked problem facing their institution and come up with a "game-plan" based off this framework.

 Description

What if success didn’t lead to happiness—but happiness led to success? We’ll explore how the latest research in positive psychology and organizational behavior—led by thought leaders like Shawn Achor and Adam Grant—offers a transformative lens on leadership, fulfillment, and achievement. Designed specifically for you, this session offers actionable tools to ignite personal joy, elevate professional performance, and build more connected, purpose-driven networks. Through evidence-based practices and real-world insights, we’ll examine how happiness is not a byproduct of success, but a powerful driver of it. You’ll learn how to: • Rewire your mindset for authentic optimism and resilience • Amplify your strengths while expanding the impact of your network • Lead with joy, compassion, and clarity—even in high-stakes environments Together, we’ll create space to celebrate the success of others—without comparison, scarcity, or burnout. This is a call to move beyond surviving in our careers and toward thriving—as individuals and as a collective.

 Description

This session will synthesize Track 1 lessons learned and preview what to expect as participants continue on their BMI journey.

Description

This session equips leaders with practical tools to navigate difficult conversations, manage conflict, and reinforce accountability while maintaining trust. The focus is on real‑life higher‑education scenarios and leading with clarity under pressure and volatility. 

Description

The Track 2 curriculum provides a stimulating and challenging environment in which students work closely with colleagues and BMI faculty. The case study process introduced on Tuesday morning, August 4 is put into practice with Case Study Small Groups discussing the participants’ individually prepared case studies.

Description

Financial sustainability requires coordinated planning across finance, human resources, and operational units. Misalignment among these areas can result in inefficient staffing models, unclear accountability, and budget decisions that fail to support institutional strategy. This session focuses on building integrated planning frameworks that connect budget development, workforce planning, and operational execution. Participants will explore how staffing costs, service models, enrollment trends, and operational demands intersect and influence long-term financial health. The session highlights governance structures, shared data dashboards, and cross-functional communication strategies that promote transparency and collaboration.

Through case-based discussion and interactive exercises, attendees will identify opportunities to break down silos, align resource allocation with institutional priorities, and create coordinated solutions that advance both fiscal responsibility and organizational effectiveness.

Description

Sustainability begins from within. This reflective, high‑value session explores how self‑leadership, energy management, and values alignment drive long‑term success. Participants discover their unique “Success Formula”, the blend of mindset, habits, and values that supports resilience, performance, and authenticity in leadership.

Description

Track 3 is the capstone course at BMI.  Class participants will be exposed to theory and practical application of strategic planning principles.  Topics include Balanced Scorecard, Values/Vision/Mission, Strategic Goals/Initiatives/Measures, Change Management, etc. 

Description

This session will explore using AI to improve administrative workflows and reduce friction through better process design rather than new tools. We would examine where AI can support efficiency while preserving professional discretion and institutional control over operations, etc.

Description

In organizations, failure is often hidden although it shapes our most consequential decisions. In this interactive session, we will explore how setbacks can become powerful leadership assets and discuss strategies to transform missteps into insights to lead with greater courage and clarity.

Description

Asset-Based Approach: this works particularly well when there is something of a scarcity mentality, but is also a good habit in all situations. With the participants, we will work through a Kretmann/McKnight Asset Map aimed at a particular situation of their choosing, to demonstrate personal, collegial, unit, divisional, institutional, system-wide, and community assets that might provide meaningful resources when approaching a defined challenge. Line of Sight: this is a way of thinking through from institutional priorities to highly local or even individual activities, through a stair-cased series of strategic levels and actions. For the conference, I will walk the participants through an example of this line of sight/cascade in order to demonstrate value for stake-holding and strategic unity. Then participants will be asked to draft a cascade of their own for discussion. The wrap up activity will focus on how taking an asset-based approach creates inclusion and line of sight creates stake-holding, two fundamental facets of successful change leadership.