join us for the 8th FGLI Consortium Annual Colloquium
Thursday, March 6 - Friday, March 7, 2025
Lehigh University | Bethlehem, PA
Annual Colloquium Overview
We are thrilled to announce that we are now inviting Members to express interest for the 2025 FGLI Consortium Annual Colloquium. This year, Colloquium will be hosted at Lehigh University from Thursday, March 6 - Friday, March 7.
The FGLI Consortium Annual Colloquium is small in size, and it is structured as an advanced seminar through which participants have the opportunity to dive into research within our field of practice and discuss emerging topics of importance. Participants examine how scholarship in the field informs the daily work of supporting FGLI students at colleges and universities where this group is underrepresented.
Given these modes of engagement and learning, Colloquium is designed for those working in higher education who wish to contribute to critical conversations at the intersections of theory and practice in the field of FGLI student access, belonging, and success.
Colloquium Topic: FGLI Student Support in a State of Emergency
In the last decade we have witnessed what seems to be the increasing regularization of emergency states–from wide-spread civic unrest to global pandemics and political protest to large-scale natural disasters. This prolonged “state of emergency” has had a keen impact on higher education, particularly in our work to support students whose socioeconomic status makes them especially vulnerable in emergency conditions.
As administrators, we have been called to be nimble amidst and within this state of constant change, creating (and often recreating) institutional policy and structures, developing response plans, and providing logistical, financial, and emotional support for students experiencing uncertainty, loss, and grief.
This year’s Colloquium will serve as a forum to discuss how this climate has and will continue to shape the experience of our FGLI students, as well as our own roles and responsibilities. We will focus on scholarship that examines what it means for a person or system to face prolonged emergency states and we will discuss how this applies in our FGLI student communities. Taking into account case studies of emergent situations from the past few years, we will consider and develop best practices for student support and institutional response. We will also explore the organizational structures of our institutions and create plans of action for strategic connections that will allow us to inform decision-making from our respective positions. Finally–and importantly–we will take time to learn about how to balance our service to others with our own needs and vulnerabilities.
Eligibility and Registration
As is common with seminar-style learning and brainstorming, Colloquium is designed to be a small gathering. Participation is limited, and we welcome registration requests from colleagues in the General Membership (as compared to Affiliate Membership) of the FGLI Consortium.
The Colloquium is FREE for those Members who participate. Thursday dinner and Friday breakfast and lunch are all included. Members who attend Colloquium need only cover their travel and lodging expenses.
If you are interested in joining us at Lehigh University March 6-7, please complete this Registration Interest Form by Monday, February 3 at Noon ET. We will confirm your participation by Friday, February 7.
All requests will be reviewed to determine a final list of participants that does not over-represent any one institution. Please email admin@fgliconsortium.org with any questions.
Past Colloquia
Columbia School of General Studies (2024)
Wesleyan University (2023)
Princeton University (2022)
Virtual Colloquium (2021)
Williams College (2019)
The University of Chicago (2018)
Northwestern University (2017)