Programs and Events

Universities and large organizations are complex adaptive systems, in that:

1. They consist of several heterogeneous agents/units, each of whom makes decisions about how to behave;
2. The agents/units interact with one another;
3. The interaction makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts.
4. Moreover, the decisions of each agent/unit change over time. As such, specific solutions to any challenge are hard to identify and it is never sufficient simply to apply previous solutions to new problems.

The good news is that, while making good decisions may be hard, it is not impossible. In this talk, we will go through a methodology on how to make good decisions in such complex adaptive systems.

While anytime is a time to set goals, New Year's resolutions are extremely popular. However, they are also popularly abandoned. The truth of this is exemplified by Equinox, the high-end gym chain, which announced in 2023 that it would not accept new members on January 1 because people who join a gym on January 1 aren't serious about getting fit. In this talk, we will discuss the various challenges we all have in setting achievable goals and committing to them, as well as how we can overcome those challenges to live up to the standards that we want to set for ourselves.

In this workshop, we will diagnose when challenges we face are systems-based or interpersonal, and practice how we can find our voice to speak to our values, prevent and/or mitigate obstacles to workflow, and establish expectations to create a positive working culture aligned with our mission.

Mentorship plays a crucial role in personal and professional development, offering a range of benefits for both mentors and mentees. It fosters learning, growth, and relationships that contribute to individual and organizational or communal success. It also provides a framework for the transfer of knowledge, the development of skills, and the cultivation of a support. This talk focus on what constitutes mentorship and how we can lean on our own experiences to mentor others well.

Research confirms what many of us know in our own lives: we're not great at predicting what will make us happy. Yet when we open ourselves to purpose and meaning, happiness and health also seem to come along. In this talk, we will demystify those big buzzword topics of happiness, well-being, and purpose, offering highlights and key takeaways from academic research. We'll propose strategies for how to incorporate purpose into one's daily routine.

Our current world has seen many failures of leadership, whether in the political, corporate, or social areas, and many have become cynical about whether ethical leadership is even possible today. In the talk, we will examine what ethical leadership means, what it entails, and how we can develop the skills that ethical leadership demands.

Living on purpose is correlated with health and happiness. We all need a reminder to focus on why it matters before how to make it happen — and some practical tools to integrate these big questions into our work with students. Demystify that big concept of purpose with a practical exercise to help keep our "why" front-and-center. Discover how you can live with purpose and create your own purpose roadmap to find your flow in mental and physical well-being.

Purpose is your destination and goals are the stepping-stones along the way. Yet all too often we forget why we’re doing what we’re doing when we’re so focused on meeting our success metrics. Understanding our meaning, our purpose and our goals (personally and professionally) won’t happen overnight, but through daily, small-steps exercises we can begin to notice patterns and demystify this often-daunting concept to ask why it matters and how to make it happen.

Purpose is key to resilience in times of uncertainty — but practically speaking, how do we put it into action in our everyday lives? This talk will demystify the concept of purpose, translate recent research into practical application and provide an actionable roadmap for students, faculty and administrators who seek to find their own personal purpose and encourage others on their journeys of meaning.

As the saying goes, money can’t buy happiness—but in modern America, we certainly try. We buy things, experiences, services, and, increasingly, advice on how to improve our happiness. The self-improvement industry is a more-than $12 billion business each year, and wellness and self-care are buzzwords associated with nearly every advertising campaign out there it seems. This talk provides an overview of the study of happiness and well-being, examines how consumers spend their dollars in pursuit of happiness, and explores the intersection of money and well-being and the emergence of the experience economy.

Connections matter — for success, for happiness and for meaningful thriving. This talk sets the stage for a conference to grow and serve the needs to a diverse community, putting people, place and purpose at the forefront of our minds. By weaving in concepts from human ecology — the study of how we intersect with our natural, built and social environments — and this talk explores the difference between EcoYou v. EgoYou approaches to happiness. You’ll leave the seminar with some new vocabulary and very "now" tips for more satisfying in-person interactions, a renewed sense of professional purpose and inspired to rekindle the community support we evolved to want and need.