This year’s conference sessions are organized within four tracks
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Planning for Change
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Research in Action
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Real Talk
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Growing Our Profession
Planning for Change
Change is constant in the California Community Colleges system, but meaningful transformation requires more than compliance—it requires intentional, equity-minded planning. This track explores the tools, frameworks, and strategies that IRPE professionals can use to center student voices, dismantle inequitable structures, and connect institutional effectiveness work directly to outcomes that matter.
Sessions will provide practical strategies for aligning local research and planning with systemwide initiatives, such as Vision 2030, Guided Pathways, and equitable hiring practices. Presenters will share approaches to integrating universal design principles, addressing office climate, and using planning as a lever for equity-driven institutional change.
This track invites participants to engage with frameworks that bridge planning and research, explore systemic solutions, and leave with actionable tools to move their institutions forward.
Research in Action
Research alone doesn’t create change—how we apply it does. This track focuses on the real-world application of IRPE research to improve student outcomes and advance equity. Case studies, experiments, and process stories will highlight how colleges are using data to drive transformation in classrooms, student services, and campus culture.
Sessions in this track will embrace the value of “works in progress,” showcasing not just polished results but also the pivots, setbacks, and lessons learned along the way. Presenters are encouraged to share experiments in using new methodologies, incorporating student researchers into projects, leveraging emerging tools like AI, or aligning local research with statewide priorities.
By focusing on the process of research in action, this track creates space for learning through experimentation, reflection, and iteration—reminding us that progress is often nonlinear but always valuable.
Real Talk
The work of equity and change is messy—and sometimes uncomfortable. This track provides open, facilitated discussions in which IRPE professionals can honestly explore the challenges that come with leading institutional change.
Topics may include navigating governance and politics, addressing resistance from colleagues or leadership, reflecting on positionality and bias, or grappling with failure and conflict. Rather than avoiding hard conversations, this track emphasizes their importance in building authentic relationships, developing trust, and creating conditions for transformation.
“Real Talk” sessions are not about perfect answers—they’re about naming the tensions we face as individuals and as a profession, and learning from each other in brave, constructive dialogue.
Growing Our Profession
The IRPE field is evolving alongside the California Community Colleges system, and sustaining this evolution requires us to invest in ourselves and each other. This track highlights the shifting landscape of our profession, the career trajectories available to IRPE professionals, and the resources needed to thrive in a rapidly changing higher education environment.
Sessions may cover professional and leadership development, mentorship models, and strategies for advancing workforce diversity in IRPE offices. They may also showcase ways to integrate student researchers into the profession, creating clear pathways for students to see themselves as future IRPE leaders.
By focusing on career growth, mentoring, and building communities of practice, this track helps us strengthen the IRPE pipeline, sustain shared learning beyond the conference, and shape the future of our profession together.