Michigan Pre-College Youth Webinar Series 2024

PCC Virtual Webinar

Unpacking the History of Privilege in Higher Education

And Cracking the Admissions Code to Selective Schools

Higher education started as a privileged institution designed to advance a particular kind of student. Although generations have fought to expand access to colleges and universities, privilege continues to shape gaps in knowledge and resources that impact everything from what schools students apply for to how they make their final decisions once accepted. Join me as we unpack this history, unlock the seven keys to selective admissions, and reaffirm our roles as equity warriors.

January 18, 2024
10:00 - 11:00 AM

PRESENTER

Laura Saavedra, Program Director, U-M Ann Arbor GEAR UP

Laura Saavedra has served as a higher education professional for over fourteen years, working at multiple post-secondary institutions in several functional areas across Ohio and Michigan. Currently, she serves as the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, GEAR UP Program Director for the Center for Educational Outreach (CEO), housed within the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Throughout her career, she has been committed to ensuring equitable pathways of opportunity through advocating for and empowering underrepresented, first-generation, and historically marginalized student groups. In addition to being a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, Laura is a proud second-generation Mexican-American, first-generation college graduate who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a Master of Arts in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University.

PCC Virtual Webinar

Connecting with Generation X Parents and Generation Z Students with a sneak peek into the Alpha’s

Revealing broader generational theory repeating in America, then focusing on understanding today’s traditional age college-bound audience from Generation “Z” students and their co-purchasing Generation “X’” parents. including recent research, enrollment state, and recruitment and admissions tips across the funnel. As a bonus, we’ll introduce the Alphas and provide insight into this emerging next generation in the college search in a few years.

March 13, 2024
12:00 - 1:00 PM

PRESENTER

Jeff Kallay, Senior VP of Enrollment Consulting, Echo Delta

Jeff is a nationally respected authority on campus visit experiences and student recruitment. Throughout his career, he has worked with more than 300 college and university campuses across the country to create compelling visit experiences—the kind of experiences that align with strategic enrollment goals while also forging strong connections with best-fit students and their families. Jeff graduated from Lee College with a Bachelor of Science in 1986. Now, as Senior Vice President of Enrollment Consulting at Echo Delta, Jeff serves as an on-campus advisor and training facilitator, providing analysis, insights, and generational research to help our clients showcase themselves with authenticity and transparency. Outside his agency responsibilities, Jeff remains an active thought leader in higher education and regularly commands speaking engagements at workshops and conferences nationwide.

PCC Virtual Webinar

What to do When You Feel Powerless: Supporting Complex Participants with Problematic Behavior

90-minute Training Workshop for Pre-College Staff

To provide a professional development opportunity for all pre-college program coordinators and staff to provide a training opportunity for your summer employees. This webinar will tackle challenging scenarios to help you and your team understand how to handle difficult situations when dealing with our pre-college participants. This unique opportunity for you to share this webinar with your staff will also be recorded for your use to share in the future as programs prepare for the upcoming summer sessions.

In any helping profession, we encounter participants who continually exhibit problematic behaviors in their lives or the lives of others. When confronted, they become defensive and refuse to take ownership. They can create a sense of helplessness in their support system and project their struggles onto anything but themselves. As frustrating as it is, these participants are the most vulnerable. And when they are K-12, even more so.

This workshop is designed to take specific examples of problem behaviors and break them down to a place of understanding where helpers begin to feel empowered instead of powerless. We will illustrate strategies and protocols that can be utilized to shift the problem to something more manageable structurally. Learn how to transition from a moralistic approach that relies too heavily on immediate behavioral change to a systemic approach that engages the problem at its root. Bring your concerns and situations to the webinar to create more awareness of how to help our helpers, or have them each attend this exclusive opportunity.

May 22, 2024
11:30 AM - 1:00 pM

PRESENTER

Mark Talaga, MA, LPC

Mark Talaga is the owner and director of the Center for Identity Potential, a private mental health practice that specializes in working with the gifted population. Dealing with people that has extremes in their developmental profiles provides Mark with the experience necessary to understand how systems need to be challenged to allow for the growth of outliers. As with individual clients, Mark understands that the challenge many programs face is failing to create a process that fits the unique nature of what is being addressed. When we know how to make a special process to solve a unique problem, we can better aid those involved in the goals of a program and facilitate more effective transitions.

I found the speakers incredibly insightful; their talks gave me many new ideas on how to promote college to my underrepresented students.

- 2019 conference attendee

Subscribe to the NEW PCC Listserv

The Michigan Pre-College and Youth Outreach Conference (PCC) is updating its email software and listserv in preparation for our 15th Annual Conference celebration! We are offering the chance for our network to confirm their interest in the PCC community as we move to a system.