Pre-Conference Sessions
Expand your learning experience with pre-conference sessions that provide deep dives into vital topics.
Already registered but looking to enhance your conference experience? Follow these instructions. All times listed are in Eastern Time (US).
All pre-conference sessions cost $25. Limited Space.
Sunday, June 21: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Tour: Flamingo Crossings Village – Home to Students on Disney’s College Program
Join us and experience the magic of 10,400 beds! This is one of the largest purpose-built student-employee housing communities in the world. Discover how American Campus Communities partners with Disney to operate, and maintain a high-density, high-turnover, residential community aligned with an international brand. The tour highlights business operations, facilities management, branding and marketing strategies, and stakeholder collaboration at scale. Attendees will examine promising practices in design for durability and experience, operational efficiency, student mental health and brand alignment, with discussion focused on lessons and models transferable to college and university housing contexts of varying sizes. Transportation to be provided.
Mid-Level Forum
This is a special opportunity for mid-level professionals to exchange strategies and resources, and to discuss issues that are pertinent to their everyday responsibilities.
Senior Housing Officer Forum (Large Colleges and Universities)
This is a special opportunity for senior housing officers from housing programs with over 3,000 beds to exchange strategies and resources, and to discuss issues that are pertinent to their everyday responsibilities. This forum will provide the chance for participants to take the time to honestly reflect and talk with colleagues. Inspired by dialogue that occurs at some state-wide, regional, Big Ten, PAC-12 and similar-type meetings, the forum provides a broader scale, giving SHOs from larger housing programs around the world a candid venue for discussion. This is intended to be an intimate setting for sharing ideas, talking over solutions, and building strong professional relationships.
Senior Housing Officer Forum (Small Colleges and Universities)
This is a special opportunity for senior housing officers from housing programs with up to 3,000 beds to exchange strategies and resources, and to discuss issues that are pertinent to their everyday responsibilities. This forum will provide the chance for participants to take the time to honestly reflect and talk with colleagues. Inspired by dialogue that occurs at some state-wide, regional, Big Ten, PAC-12 and similar-type meetings, the forum provides a broader scale, giving SHOs from smaller housing programs around the world a candid venue for discussion. This is intended to be an intimate setting for sharing ideas, talking over solutions, and building strong professional relationships.
Leveraging Partnerships and Reimaging the Move-In Processes
The Fall 2026 move-in process will mark the fourth year that Texas State has completed a centralized move-in process. With this, Texas State has navigated various challenges including rapid on-campus growth, city infrastructure changes, construction, and buy-in from key stakeholders. For our 2025 Fall Move-in, our team hired Kimley-Horn, a traffic engineering company, to observe and assess the effectiveness of the centralized move-in process. Join us to learn about how our team navigates a +10,000 move-in process and work through several exercises to gain a better understanding of how to build a centralized move in process while navigating partnerships with, the city of San Marcos, campus leadership, traffic engineers, and other key stakeholders to develop a move-in process designed to serve 15,000 on-campus residents. As a pre-conference session, this workshop is designed as a tool for participants to understand how TXST built a comprehensive centralized move-in process, for participants to begin asking questions on what would be needed to develop their own centralized move-in process, and leave the session with tangible resources to begin that process themselves. This session will cover topics throughout the move-in process such as pre-arrival communications, planning and logistics, staffing and budgeting, and post-move-in assessment.
Integrating Insight and Impact: How Review and Reflection Drive Strategic Growth
During Spring 2024, Housing and Residence Life (HRL) at George Mason University embarked on a two-year CAS (Council for the Advancement of Standards) program review process. Through this process, HRL engaged in a full financial and operational review, creating a unique opportunity to align assessment, operations, and strategic direction. To guide this work, HRL established a strategic planning committee that integrated findings from both internal and external review processes to develop a five-year strategic plan designed to propel the unit forward. During this session, participants will learn about the essential components of conducting a comprehensive program review—including internal and external assessments—along with insights, lessons learned, and best practices from leading a strategic planning process informed by multiple data sources. Interactive case studies will provide participants the opportunity to learn more about CAS standards and the scoring process before collaborating in small groups to draft a strategic plan based on their practice evaluation.
Sunday, June 21: 1-4 p.m.
Entry-Level & Advancing Professional Forum
This half-day session is designed to provide entry and advancing (up to 7 years of experience) campus housing professionals with a focused space to engage with peers in similar roles who seek promising practices related to student interaction, supervision, community development, advising, professional development, and work-life negotiation and boundaries. Participants will also learn more about ACUHO-I, its networks, and how to get involved with the Association and stay engaged during the conference. This experience will be led through a moderated experience that will allow for issues dialogue, problem-solving, networking, and skills application through large- and small-group activities.
Global Symposium 5
If you’re planning on attending 2026 Campus Home. LIVE!, we invite you to enhance your experience by joining us for the association’s Global Symposium. The symposium actively engages both U.S.-based and non-U.S.-based professionals in housing and residence life focusing on the impact of global contexts of higher education on our operations. The purpose of the symposium is to leverage the strengths of a global professional housing community to be on the forefront of housing and residence life best practices. The symposium is an excellent opportunity to build relationships with professionals from around the world through idea sharing and discussion.
The Higher Education Challenge: Navigating Campus Politics
Higher education is as political as it is professional. This interactive session draws inspiration from MTV’s The Challenge to unpack unwritten rules, shifting alliances, and decision-making dynamics that shape campus life. Through games, reflection, and case study strategy rounds, participants will learn to navigate power, build influence ethically, and remain grounded in purpose within politically complex environments.
Advancing to Senior Housing Leadership: Navigating Career Paths, Skills, and System Dynamics
This pre-conference session is designed for housing professionals who aspire to build a long-term career as senior housing officers (SHOs). The workshop acknowledges the unique challenges of stepping into the senior-most leadership role of an established housing and residence life department—where institutional nuances and pre-existing departmental cultures deeply influence leadership approaches. Participants will explore how to honor and understand these complexities, shifting from a “fixer” mindset to becoming a visionary leader responsible for strategic planning and evolving their leadership identity.
Beyond the expected operational duties, the session centers on the “other stuff”: the political acumen, managing up, navigating system dynamics, and building relationships that often make or break success in senior roles. Using stories and experiences from seasoned SHOs who have successfully navigated these challenges, participants will engage with real-world insights. Through this storytelling and a strategy-driven format, this time will focus on helping attendees identify and develop a plan for developing the crucial career readiness skills needed to thrive as a senior housing leader in diverse higher education contexts.
Forged in the Fire: Rebirth and Reclamation for Diverse Professionals in Higher Education
In the current higher education landscape, professionals are navigating unprecedented challenges marked by declining institutional resources, the erosion and defunding of Minority-Serving initiatives, and increased scrutiny of both professional competency and culturally responsive work. Simultaneously, many professionals are experiencing the silencing of their voices, the narrowing of their roles, and heightened surveillance of programs designed to support historically marginalized students. This session creates intentional space to name these realities, critically examine their impact, and move collectively toward renewal and reclamation.
Participants will explore the systemic and political factors contributing to the decline of Minority-Serving programs and initiatives, including how shifting institutional priorities, external pressures, and narratives around “neutrality” and “efficiency” disproportionately affect equity-led work. The session will also unpack how these dynamics manifest interpersonally through questioned expertise, professional invisibility, and emotional labor, while examining the parallel responsibility professionals carry to protect the identities, dignity, and sense of belonging of the students they serve.
Service Design for Housing Operations: Reimagining Departments and Processes
During this hands-on workshop, participants will be introduced to service design as a practical approach to improving housing operations and departmental processes. Participants will use design tools such as empathy mapping, stakeholder mapping, and journey mapping, to examine real housing processes, identify pain points, and prototype solutions. Attendees will leave with a draft action plan to pilot a service improvement on their own campus.
The Critical Role Housing Professionals in Design & Construction
This session will demystify campus housing and design construction processes, and the critical role Housing Professionals play in their success, from identifying needs to expand or upgrade residential facilities to planning, designing, or renovating halls. The session introduces the language, phases, and decision-making framework that shapes campus residences – areas in which Housing Professionals are often asked to engage without formal training. Participants will gain a clear understanding of how projects move forward through a systematic approach that ensures institutional and departmental goals are realized and projects stay on track from concept to completion.