UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Registration has opened for Penn State’s biannual conference that focuses on how higher education professionals can support adult learners.
The Hendrick Best Practices for Adult Learners Conference will be held Monday, April 8, at the Penn State University Park campus, and it will be streamed online for virtual attendees. Anyone who works to support adult learners at Penn State or at any institution in the country is invited to attend.
Registration is open through April 3.
The keynote speaker will be Matt Bergman, the vice president of academic innovation at Student Ready Strategies. Bergman’s research and practice focuses on student persistence, prior learning assessment, leadership and degree-completion programs. He is the author of “Unfinished Business: Compelling Stories of Adult Student Persistence.”
Conference attendees can choose between two tracks: One, recruiting and retaining adult learners, focuses on the best practices in admissions and recruiting, academic advising and other services and aspects of the student experience. The other, teaching theory and practice, will focus on teaching adult learners in higher education.
Sessions will include talks from experts, panel discussions with current Penn State adult learners, and recognition of the outstanding service award for a Penn State employee who supports these students.
Adult learners comprise a significant population of Penn State’s undergraduate student body, with more than 13,000 students attending the University through one if its 24 campuses, including University Park and Penn State World Campus. Adult learners represent 69% of World Campus’ total undergraduate student population.
Penn State’s Commission for Adult Learners sponsors the conference, which is named in honor of the late Shirley Hendrick, associate dean for continuing education in the Penn State Smeal College of Business and the inaugural chair of the commission.
The 2023-24 academic year marks the 25th anniversary of the commission, which comprises administrators, faculty and staff from the academic colleges and campuses of the University who are dedicated to reviewing policies and practices that improve the experience of the adult learner.
Register for the conference on the Hendrick Conference website.