August 2026: Student Affairs Making Headlines - Conferences and Webinars

Published Aug 01, 2026 by

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Disability Support Services

Postsecondary Disability Training Institute

Nancy Ausherman from Disability Support Services attended the 36th Annual Postsecondary Disability Training Institute in Portland, ME from June 2-5th. Nancy presented a workshop titled Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services 101. This session reviewed basic information about working with students with various levels of hearing loss. Participants learned how to read audiograms, discussed communication issues in the classroom, as well as learned best practices when hiring qualified interpreters and captioning options. Nancy emphasized engaging students in the interactive process to gain understanding of their lived experiences when making accommodation decisions. There were approximately 25-30 attendees in this session.

AHEAD Annual Conference

During the week of July 20, Disability Support Services (DSS) staff Maddie Adams, Brenna Smith, and Dr. Paul Harwell attended and presented at the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) annual conference in Providence, Rhode Island. This national gathering brought together professionals from across the country to share best practices, explore emerging trends, and strengthen the collective effectiveness as disability professionals in higher education, which continue to inform and enrich our work at ECU. DSS is grateful for the opportunity to attend and represent ECU at this year’s AHEAD conference.

ECU staff led two sessions during the week:

Paul Harwell and Maddie Adams presented Make Confident Decisions: A Practical Framework to Determine Necessary and Reasonable Accommodation. This is the second year to share this popular presentation that coached attendees on using a structured decision-making model that helps new and seasoned professionals make consistent, clear, and confident accommodation determinations.
Paul Harwell presented Best Practices for Notetaking Accommodations. This comprehensive presentation shared best practices and research-based guidance on supporting notetaking accommodations. The session was also part of the AHEAD Virtual Conference the following week.

Three DSS staff members at AHEAD Conference

Career Services

Summer Webinars with SoACE

Strategic Conversations - July Event Image

This summer, Director of Career Services Nadirah Pippen continued her service as Assistant Chair of the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SoACE) Career Center Leaders Knowledge Group, partnering with Chair Michael Estepp (Assistant Vice Provost Baylor University Career Center) to support college and university career services leaders across the Southeastern region.

The Career Center Leaders Knowledge Group brings together directors and senior leaders responsible for strategic planning, budgeting, staffing, assessment, and organizational leadership. Together, Pippen and Estepp launched the Strategic Conversations Series, a new forum designed to foster meaningful dialogue and idea-sharing around some of the most pressing issues facing career services today.

Topics included:

Budgeting and Resource Stewardship
Investing in People: Staff Development, Incentives, and Wellness
Maximizing Efficiency: Doing More with Less and Scaling Services

The series has provided career services leaders across the region with an opportunity to share innovative practices, explore solutions to common challenges, and strengthen professional collaboration at a time of significant change in higher education.