Welcome back to Academic Year 2025-26! We hope you had a restful summer and are ready to engage once again with our students. This year, we are delighted to welcome our new President, Joyce C. Ester, Ph.D., as well as new faculty, staff members, and students.

We have curated the themes and topics of this year’s Shared Governance Conference to highlight our new Institutional Strategic Framework 2030 - Better Together, our involvement with the National Institute for Student Success, the launch of the new Strategic Enrollment Plan, and the ideas of our new President – all in one event.

Subscribe to RSS Feed (Opens in New Window)

Schedule of Events
2025
Tuesday, August 19th
8:30 AM

Registration

Office of the Provost, Governors State University

Outside Lakeside Lounge/Hall of Honors

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM

9:00 AM

Opening Remarks

Beverly A. Schneller, Governors State University
Josh Sopiarz, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

9:15 AM

Better Together: The 2030 Institutional Framework and Relational Teaching

Beverly A. Schneller, Governors State University
Stephen Wagner, Governors State University
Timothy W. Pedigo Ph.D., Governors State University
Amanda Evans, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

9:15 AM - 10:15 AM

10:15 AM

Evaluation and SEIs (to Include PT, Sabbaticals, Release Time, Act 100, SEIs, and Divisional Criteria)

Olumide Ijose, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

10:15 AM - 11:15 AM

11:15 AM

Lunch

Governors State University

Lakeside Lounge

11:15 AM - 12:00 PM

12:00 PM

Presidential Remarks / CPA Announcement

Joyce Ester, Governors State University
Scott Sowinski, Governors State University
Laura Wells-Man, Governors State University

Lakeside Lounge

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM

12:15 PM

ADA Compliance: BB Ally and Communities of Practice

Nikki LaGrone, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

12:15 PM - 1:15 PM

1:15 PM

Grants and Sponsored Research; Special Campus-wide Grants - AI and Pedagogy, Pluralism

Office of Sponsored Programs and Research, Governors State University
Jason Zingsheim, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

2:15 PM

University Curriculum Committee, Policy 2 and Policy 5

Timothy Harrington, Governors State University
Josh Sopiarz, Governors State University
Lisa Helm, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

2:15 PM - 3:15 PM

3:15 PM

Closing Remarks & Retreat Conclusion

Beverly A. Schneller, Governors State University
Josh Sopiarz, Governors State University

Hall of Honors

3:15 PM - 3:30 PM