Looking for a way to get connected?! Join us at our next Regional Conference to become more engaged with ACUI. Regional Conferences focus on building community, offering professional development, expanding networks, connecting with mentors, and learning skills that can translate to any career. Regional Conferences have been designed with a renewed focus on emerging professionals and students to help them connect with others, share ideas, and learn best practices.
We are excited to welcome you to Marquette University for an unforgettable ACUI Region V Conference experience.
Whether this is your first ACUI conference or you’re a longtime member of the Region V community, you’ll find meaningful opportunities to build relationships, exchange ideas, and grow alongside colleagues who are passionate about creating vibrant campus communities. Engage in thought-provoking conversations, discover practical strategies to bring back to your institution, and leave feeling energized by the collective wisdom and support of your professional network.
When we gather with purpose, we strengthen our campuses, our profession, and one another. We can’t wait to welcome you to Milwaukee as we gather to learn, connect, and thrive—together.
Registration
Online registration closes on Sunday, November 1. If you wish to register after November 1, please email us at regions@acui.org.
Regular (Through October 19)
- Professional Member: $335
- Professional Nonmember: $435
- Student Member: $225
- Student Nonmember: $325
- Retiree: $280
- Member One-Day Registration: $175
- Nonmember One-Day Registration: $225
Late (After October 19)
- Professional Member: $385
- Professional Nonmember: $485
- Student Member: $285
- Student Nonmember: $385
- Retiree: $330
- Member One-Day Registration: $225
- Nonmember One-Day Registration: $275
Schedule
The full schedule is now available on Eventsential. Some information related to the conference, including access to prerecorded sessions, Zoom links to the live sessions, and the attendee list, are now only available to registered conference attendees.
You will need to create an account with Eventsential to access locked down features via the desktop site or the mobile app. Here is how you do that:
- Either visit the desktop site or download the Eventsential app from your phone’s app store.
- Select “Log In” in the upper right corner.
- As prompted, enter the email address used when you registered.
- If you have never created an account with Eventsential, it will ask for your first and last name, then send an email for you to sign in to the event (as confirmation of your identity).
- If you have created an account with Eventsential before, it will simply send an email that will allow you to sign in to the event.
- When logging in to Eventsential in the future, you will simply need to provide your email address, then use the link provided via email to access your account. There is no requirement to create a password.
If upon initial access of the conference program website, you are unable to access the locked down sections, please refresh or navigate to another content area. This should dismiss the message about restrictions. If access issues persist, please request assistance through the “Need Help” feature on the program website.
Keynote Speaker: Bryan Lewis
What do you remember about being a college student? The classes? The exams? The late nights? The friends? The professors? The moments that made you laugh, question, struggle, or discover something about yourself?
In higher education, we spend considerable time talking about engagement, belonging, retention, and student success. Yet beneath all of those concepts is a remarkably simple idea: connection to the actual student.
Over the past nearly 40 years as a student, faculty member, and administrator in higher education, I have realized that some of our most meaningful moments are often the ones we don’t recognize as meaningful at the time. A conversation in a hallway on the way out to our cars. A question after class. Suggesting a student engage in an activity they are not sure they want to go to, but might just like. Asking how someone is doing—and actually listening to the answer. Encouraging someone to try.
We rarely, if ever, know or consciously think about which interaction will stay with a student, which word of encouragement will matter, or which seemingly ordinary moment will become part of someone’s story that day, and perhaps beyond. We are just doing what we do, every day, to try to make a difference.
This session is an invitation to remember what it felt like to be a student, to recognize the extraordinary potential in ordinary interactions, and to try—to reach out, to listen, to connect, and to make a difference to every student, every time, every day.
Because sometimes, the moment we barely remember is the moment someone else never forgets.
Region V Conference Adventures
Monday, November 16, 2:30–5 P.M.
Travel & Lodging
Hotel Options
Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel
139 East Kilbourn Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Rate: $189/night
Deadline: October 26
DoubleTree by Hilton Milwaukee Downtown
611 W Wisconsin Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Rate: $189/night
Deadline: October 23
Conference Planning Team
Erin McCollum
2026 Conference Coordinator
Iowa State University
erinmcc@iastate.edu
Dan Abbott
University of Wisconsin–Steven’s Point
dabbott@uwsp.edu
Krystal Hakes
University of Wisconsin–Madison
khakes@wisc.edu
Abigail V Gnewikow
University of Wisconsin–Platteville
gnewikowa@uwplatt.edu
Michael Herz
University of Nebraska
mherz3@nebraska.edu
Todd Peters
North Dakota State University
todd.peters@ndsu.edu
Zack Kohlwey
Host Campus Coordinator
Marquette University
zachary.kohlwey@marquette.edu
Elise Grabowska
University of Minnesota Morris
egrabow@morris.umn.edu
Linda Luk
Northwestern University
Linda@northwestern.edu
Grace Bosquez
University of Minnesota Morris
bosqu016@morris.umn.edu
Justin Rudisille
ACUI Central Office Liaison
jrudisille@acui.org
Stay up to date with the latest conference updates through our regional social media channels!
Request approval to attend the ACUI Region V Conference with this justification letter template. It highlights the benefits of attendance, from professional growth to institutional impact, empowering you to build a strong case for your request.