Saturday, March 14, 2026
Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601  

• 2:30 - 3:00 PM: Registration & Check-In 
• 3:00 - 4:00 PM: New Member orientation and networking (this includes new individuals to TRUCEN overall and/or those attending the annual meeting for the first time) 
  • Facilitator: Maurice Smith, Associate Director, Center for Public Service, Tulane University 
• 4:00 - 5:30 PM: Opening Plenary: Critical Hope & Community Engagement in Today’s Environment 
  • 4:00 - 4:15 PM: Opening Remarks: 
    • Renee Miller Zientek, Executive Director, Center for Community Engaged Learning, Michigan State University
    • Kelly Bencola, Director of Leadership Development and Community Engagement, Northwestern University 
  • 4:15 - 4:30 PM: The Scholarship of Critical Hope and Community Engagement
    Now, more than ever, higher education needs to leverage critical hope – to sit in the middle of the tensions of reality while fostering a passion for the possible. How do frameworks focused on critical hope interact with the scholarship and research around community engagement? What practices may support critical hope? What role does higher education play in fostering hope? 
    • Susan Haarman, Associate Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship, Loyola University Chicago 
    • Patrick Green, Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship, Loyola University Chicago 
  • 4:30 - 5:30 PM: Perspectives from Chicago Community Engaged Leaders
    • Moderator: Mony Ruiz -Velasco, Commissioner, State of Illinois Human Rights Commission
    • Kelly Bencola, Director of Leadership Development and Community Engagement, Northwestern University 
    • Patrick Green, Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship, Loyola University Chicago 
    • Lionel Allen, Interim Vice Chancellor for Engagement, University of Illinois Chicago (invited) 
• 5:30 - 6:30 PM: Networking cocktail reception
• 6:30 - 8:30 PM: TRUCEN welcome dinner 
  • Welcome remarks from Bobbie Laur, President, Campus Compact  

Sunday, March 15, 2026
Northwestern University, Downtown Campus 

• 8:30 - 9:15 AM: Breakfast
• 9:15 - 9:30 AM: Welcome, Introductions, and Agenda Setting 
  • Neeraja Aravamudan, Director, Edward Ginsberg Center, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
  • Senior Leader, Northwestern University 
• 9:30 - 10:30 AM: Leading in this Moment: Our roles, our work, and where we go from here
  During this conversation, Bobbie Laur will engage several senior leaders from TRUCEN institutions that have navigated or finalized agreements with the White House over the past year following investigations.  The discussion will center on the impact of those investigations and agreements on civic and community engagement programming, partnerships, priorities, and culture.  
  • Mary Jo Callan, Stark Family Executive Director of the Swearer Center for Public Service and Vice President for Community Engagement, Brown University 
  • Shalom Staub, Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director, Center for Community Engagement, University of California Los Angeles
  • Rita Hodges, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania​​​​​​
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM: Small Group Discussion #1
  Participants will be intentionally organized into groups of 10-15, and moderated by a member of the TRUCEN Leadership Committee.  Small group discussions will unpack TRUCEN panels, discuss how institutions and individuals are responding to this moment and adapting/maintaining community engaged work.  Additionally, participants will share initiatives and new opportunities for moving community engagement forward.  
• 12:00 - 1:00 PM: Networking Lunch & Fresh Air 
• 1:00 - 1:15 PM: What if community engagement data could think? 
  • George Luc, Cofounder & CEO, Give Pulse ​​​​​​
• 1:15 - 2:15 PM: Lightning Talks - Emerging Trends in the Field 
  During the lightning talks, TRUCEN participants will hear from three innovative leaders who are working in collaboration with R1 institutions to advance work connected and aligned to civic and community engagement.  Following the lightning sessions, there will be 30 minutes for Q&A. 
  • Facilitated by: Maurice Smith, Associate Director, Center for Public Service, Tulane University 
  • Dialogue and Deliberation Expansion across R1 Institutions: 
    • Tim Shaffer, inaugural Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse and director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative, at the University of Delaware.  Tim is also a senior advisor with the National Institute for Civil Discourse.
  • Next System Studies: A New Academic Curriculum 
    • Ben Manski, Assistant Professor of Public Sociology and Director, of Next System Studies George Mason University 
      • Reference: Can the Academy Meet the Moment? The Promise of Next System Studies | Nonprofit Quarterly
  • First Job Choices: Getting More Students into Public Service Career Paths 
    • Stephanie Champi, Head of Research, Data and Strategy, Rising Generations 
      • Reference: The rising generation needs a norm–shift on early job choices 
      • Reference: First Jobs Matter More Than We Think - The Atlantic 
  • 30 min Q&A
• 2:15 - 3:30 PM: Small Group Discussion #2
  The groups will be comprised of the same individuals from the morning session.  In the afternoon, small group discussions will center on discussing the emergent models and opportunities shared during the lightning sessions and continuing discussions from the morning.  Additionally, participants will be asked to lift up needs for TRUCEN programming, resources, and support
• 3:30 - 3:45 PM: Coffee Break
• 3:45 - 4:15 PM: Reporting out from Small Groups
• 4:15 - 4:30 PM: Closing Comments
  • James Roland, Senior Director, Center for Civic and Community Engagement, Emory University
  • Laurel Hirt, Director, Center for Community Engaged Learning, University of Minnesota
•  4:30 PM: Return to Hotel
• 5:00 - 7:00 PM: Optional Happy Hour, Big Bar, Hyatt Regency Chicago

We’ve intentionally kept Monday morning open so that TRUCEN attendees are free to either take some decompression time before Compact26 kicks off at 1:15 or to participate in one of the pre-conference workshops, which will run from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM on Monday.