The Comebacker Convening:
Improving Adult Access & Success
The 2020 Comebacker Convening was held on February 6-7, 2020 at the Louisville Marriott East in Louisville Kentucky. The event, which was co-sponsored by CPE and The Graduate! Network, focused on ways your campus can effectively recruit and serve the adult market.
For more information regarding the work of the The Graduate! Network, please visit: https://graduate-network.org/
Conference Materials
- Convening Program
- CPE President Thompson's Priorities
- 2020 Student Success Summit - Save the Date
- Twitter Feed: #comebackerconvening
Plenary Session Resources
Plenary sessions were held in the main ballroom. Each were live-streamed on the CPE YouTube page, and the recording of each session have been split, formatted and linked below.
| Session Title | Speaker/Moderator | Slides | Recording |
| Adult Completion Matters: The National Perspective | Hadass Sheffer, The Graduate! Network | Link | Link |
| Kentucky’s Promise: The Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship | Gloria McCall, KCTCS | Link | Link |
| Promises Kept: How Tennessee Reconnects Adults to Higher Education | Mike Krause, Tennessee Higher Education Commission & Student Assistance Corp | Link | Link |
| 55,000 Degrees and Beyond: Louisville’s Decade of Adult Attainment | Mary Gwen Wheeler, 55,000 Degrees | Link | Link |
| Elevating Student Voice in Improvement Efforts | Danette Howard, Lumina Foundation | Link | Link |
| Kentucky’s Big Attainment Goal: How We Get to 60% by 2030 | Aaron Thompson, Ph.D., CPE President | Link | Link |
| Effective Employer Partnerships | Dan Ash, The Graduate! Network | N/A | Link |
| The Case for the Adult-Friendly Institution | Matt Bergman, University of Louisville | Link | Link |
Breakout Session Resources
Breakout sessions were held in smaller meeting rooms. The sessions were not recorded or live-streamed.
| Session Title | Speaker/Moderator | Slides |
| Helping Adults Navigate Multiple Pathways to College and Careers | Tanya I. Garcia; facilitated by Lee Nimocks | Link |
| Creating Data-Driven Implementations That Work for Comebackers | Panel; facilitated by Hadass Sheffer | Link |
| Making It Easier to Come Back | Panel; facilitated by Matt Bergman | N/A |
| Redesigning Academic Systems for Adults | Nikolas Huot & Michelle Horton | |
| Best Practices for Advising Adults | Cindy Firestein | |
| Strategic Partnerships for Community-Based Outreach | Panel; facilitated by Bridgett Strickler | |
| Attracting and Retaining Underrepresented Populations | Panel; facilitated by Kathy Zandona | |
| Breaking Down Non-Academic Barriers and Braiding Resources | Panel; facilitated by Melissa Young |