NATCHITOCHES – Several members of Northwestern State University’s faculty and staff will participate in the University of Louisiana System’s fourth annual “For Our Future Conference” March 17-19.  The conference will be held virtually, but some NSU faculty will present in person from the NSU campus for the state-wide live stream.

Colleagues are invited to watch the in-person presentations.  The keynote, closing panels and awards will be also be streamed for faculty and staff who wish to view the programs in person in the specified venues.

The pre-conference discussion will focus on the UL System’s shift in campus culture as it relates to sexual violence and sexual harassment through its partnership with STAR (Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response).  Representatives from STAR will participate to share what the partnership means for the System and its member institutions. Separate registration is required for this event.

The keynote speaker will be Yong Zhao, expert on globalization and education. Zhao serves as a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in educational leadership and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia.

The on-campus schedule of presenters, locations and topics are as follows.

 

Wednesday, March 17

3 p.m. – Pre-Conference Panel, Ballroom, Student Union

 

Thursday, March 18

9-10:15 a.m. – Keynote – Teacher Education Center and Lucile M. Hendrick Room, Student Union

10:30-11:15  a.m. – (Concurrent Session) Jessie Church – Teacher Education Center Auditorium, “LA Pre-Educator Pathway & Educators Rising: A Statewide Teacher Education Network for Improving the Teacher Pipeline”

10:30-11:15 a.m. – (Concurrent Session) Rebecca Riall – Lucile M. Hendrick Room, Student Union, “Native People: Beyond Stereotypes, Towards Inclusion and Government Partnership”

2-2:45 p.m. – (Concurrent Session) Jennifer Kelly and Mary Edith Stacy – Lucile M. Hendrick Room, Student Union, “Ensuring Student Access and Affordability in Louisiana”

3 p.m. – Closing Panel – Teacher Education Center and Lucile M. Hendrick Room, Student Union

 

Friday, March 19

10-11 a.m.- (Concurrent Session) John Dunn, Joshua McDaniel, Holley Shivers, Joseph Stepp, Katrina Woolsey-Jordan and James Mischler – Teacher Education Center Auditorium, “Implicit Bias: How to Uncouple Bias from the Decision-Making Process”

10-11 a.m. – (Concurrent Session) Shahriar Jahan Hossain and Rafiqul Islam – Cane River Room, Student Union, “Virtual laboratory experience in engineering education”

10-11 a.m. – (Concurrent Session) Oliver Molina – Ballroom, Student Union, “Music as an impetus for Social Change”

11:30-12:30 a.m. – Closing/Awards – Ballroom, Student Union

 

NSU’s sister schools in the UL System will participate in the “For Our Future” Conference.  Those include Grambling, Louisiana Tech, McNeese, Nicholls, Southeastern, UL-Lafayette, UL-Monroe and the University of New Orleans.

More information and a full schedule of tracks is available at https://www.ulsystem.edu/for-our-future-conference-2021/.