Josie received her Ed.D. from the California Lutheran University doctoral program, studying higher education leadership. She is an alumna of Northern Arizona University with a Master’s degree in Counseling and holds undergraduate degrees from South Dakota State University, where she double-majored in Sociology and Human Development and Family Studies.

Josie's research is grant-funded and award-winning.  Her dissertation was on college student leaders and their behaviors and experiences with social media. Utilizing a mixed methodology, she sought out an understanding and definition of digital student leadership and produced six pillars of digital student leadership education. She also conducted a study on Student Affairs Senior Level Administrators who are high users of social media, which produced a Digital Leadership Framework and Digital Decision Making Model in Higher Ed. Dr. Ahlquist maintains an active research agenda, currently undertaking three separate research projects with colleagues around the globe, and holds a research associate position with Florida State University.

She is very attuned to the landscape of higher education and is passionate about developing the leadership capacity of college students, as well as administrators. She brings over a decade of experience in the field of higher education in areas such as student activities, campus recreation, student unions, marketing, residence life, judicial affairs, student leadership, and new student orientation.  Dr. Ahlquist currently serves as a research associate and leadership instructor with Florida State University, teaching undergraduate, master's, and doctoral-level courses.

As an international leadership speaker, Josie has trained thousands of students and education professionals. Her vision is to provide a digital remix of how to empower leaders of the 21st century. Her presentations balance education and entertainment, using high energy and interaction along with learning outcomes and attendee reflection. She has spoken to a variety of campuses around the world, including Thompson Rivers University, Occidental College, Wittenburg University, Fresno State University, Indiana University Southeast, New York University Abu Dhabi, and Rollins College.

For the fourth year in a row, she has been named to the “Top 50 Must-Read Higher Education Technology Blogs” by Ed Tech Magazine.  Her podcast, Josie & The Podcast, was featured by The Chronicle of Higher Ed as a podcast to subscribe to. You can find her blogging and podcasting at www.josieahlquist.com. 

 As a writer, she is a co-author in the Handbook of Student Affairs Administration textbook, writing the chapter on Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media. She is also published in The Journal of Leadership Studies in a thought piece called Trending Now: Digital Leadership Education using Social Media and the Social Change Model.  She is also a co-editor and author in the New Directions in Student Services volume, “Engaging the Digital Generation," as well as co-editor and author in the recently published New Directions in Student Leadership, "Going Digital in Student Leadership." Her new book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education: Purposeful Social Media in a Connected World, was listed as an Amazon #1 new release for college and university student life.

Dr. Kevin Kruger draws on more than 40 years of experience in higher education. Since 2012, he has served as president and CEO for NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Prior to his role as president, Dr. Kruger worked for 18 years as the associate executive director and served as the chief operating officer (COO) and chief financial officer (CFO) for NASPA. He has held a range of student affairs positions at Southern Methodist University and the University of Maryland. As NASPA president, Dr. Kruger represents student affairs at a variety of national forums and is a frequent contributor to higher education news stories on the college student experience. Dr. Kruger has published and presented nationally and globally on trends in higher education, student success, degree completion strategies for low-income/first-generation students, and change management and leadership in higher education. Dr. Kruger received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland. He is the proud father of two children, both recent college graduates.

Dr. Amelia Parnell, who will assume the presidency of NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education on July 1, 2024, is an accomplished higher education executive and an internationally recognized thought leader regarding current issues and emerging trends in the field. She is a passionate advocate for higher education as a tool for personal advancement and impact, and she seeks opportunities to partner with organizations and individuals who share her sincere commitment to centering students' needs.

As the vice president for research and policy for NASPA, Dr. Parnell leads many of the association's scholarly and advocacy-focused activities. During her eight-year tenure in this role, she has fostered genuine partnerships with college administrators, researchers, grantmakers, and other higher education professionals. Dr. Parnell’s previous policy and practitioner experiences include roles in association management, legislative policy analysis, internal audit, and TRIO programs. Her research portfolio includes studies of leadership in higher education, with a focus on college presidents and vice presidents.

As a frequent keynote speaker at national and regional conferences, Dr. Parnell presents on topics related to student affairs, college affordability, student learning outcomes, and institutions' use of data and analytics. She has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and PBS Newshour.

Dr. Parnell recently completed four years of service on the Board of Directors for EDUCAUSE, where she was chair of the Finance & Investment Committee and the Audit Committee. She is also the chair of the Higher Education Equity Network (HEEN), a collective impact network representing more than 25 organizations at the forefront of addressing racial equity in higher education.

Dr. Parnell enjoys her work as an adjunct instructor and campus lecturer because it helps her ground her work through enriching engagements with students and peers. She is energized by making complex concepts easy to understand, so she hosts her podcast, Speaking of College, a source of reliable answers to college-related questions. She is also the author of the book, You Are A Data Person, which she wrote to encourage all higher education professionals to discover and embrace their unique data identity. Amelia holds a Ph.D. in higher education from Florida State University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Florida A & M University.

Dr. John O’Brien serves as the president and CEO of EDUCAUSE,  a nonprofit organization seeking to inspire the transformation of higher education in service to a greater good.  EDUCAUSE serves over 2,000 member colleges, universities, and organizations from 41 countries who themselves collectively serve over 14 million students. 

He speaks and writes on a variety of topics related to higher education, technology, and the crucial intersection where the two meet. Throughout his career in higher education, John has served as an academic, technology, and institutional leader. He was a faculty leader in instructional technology, a statewide IT project leader, and associate vice chancellor/deputy CIO at the system level. He has been a college provost and president of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, the fourth-largest higher education system in the United States. Immediately prior to his appointment at EDUCAUSE, he served as the system’s senior vice chancellor of academic and student affairs. 

 John holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Augustana University, a master’s degree in Anglo-Irish Literature from Trinity College Dublin, and a doctorate in English from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Shawna Patterson-Stephens (she, her, hers) is an award-winning scholar-practitioner with 20 years of experience in higher education. Dr. Patterson-Stephens serves as the Vice President for Inclusive Excellence and Belonging in the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at her alma mater, Central Michigan University (CMU). Providing vision and oversight throughout her division, Shawna is instrumental in collaborating across divisions, alumni, external organizations, and broader communities throughout the region to encourage transformative social change through advanced education. The Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at CMU notably provides strategy and direction toward achieving institutionalized inclusive excellence.

In addition to her commitments at CMU, Dr. Patterson-Stephens teaches for New England College. Shawna’s research interests include Black and Latinx issues in higher education, media influences in the postsecondary sector, and critical theory in higher educational contexts. She also experiments with various modes of knowledge dissemination to ensure scholarship remains accessible, evidenced through projects like the podcast "Scholar Tea." Dr. Patterson-Stephens serves as the PI for the Central Michigan University NSF Aspire Alliance for Inclusion and Diverse STEM Faculty Grant. Shawna is currently a co-PI in a national project examining the experiences of Black doctoral women in higher education (Black Women Doctoral Students). Additionally, she is co-editor of "Advancing Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education" (Information Age Publishing). 

Dr. Patterson-Stephens enjoys participating in community outreach. In addition to her responsibilities as a board member for the Dr. Melvin C. Terrell Educational Foundation, Shawna contributes to the research writing bootcamp committee for the Sisters of the Academy. Furthermore, she is a board member of CMU’s Black alumni chapter, the CMU Research Corporation, and recently concluded four years of service on the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) governing board. Dr. Patterson-Stephens is a proud member of NCNW, the NAACP, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, The Links, Incorporated, and Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated.

 Meeting Structural Determinism with Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education

In seeking to create a culture of care, concern, and belonging for an increasingly diverse constituency, many institutions of higher learning have sought ways to embed inclusive excellence across their infrastructure. However, given the sociopolitical context of institutionalized identity-based exclusion, as well as increasingly nuanced understandings of social identity development and expression in the United States, many colleges and universities struggle to offer seemingly “authentic” modes of support for the populations they seek to serve. This discussion focuses on ways to define and identify structural determinism in practice and pedagogy in an effort to cultivate pluralistic learning environments that are holistically beneficial to campus communities.