Symposium 2010: Speakers

An Educator's Guide to the Future

Do we really want a future when vacuum cleaners can argue with us? Will the coming automation of healthcare lead to the automation of caring? Why can teenagers pay attention to ten things at once and still be, like, bored? In this thought-provoking tour of modern times, David Zach will explore how trends and traditions will affect education. This session will help you face the future with a solid sense of hope, inspiration, and a recognition that we still need to get the job done. You'll rethink the balance between change and continuity—and the need to hold on to that which shouldn't change. We'll consider such notions as hope, trust, community, the value of work, and why dragons really do exist and why we must (re)learn to defeat them.

David Zach is one of the few professionally trained futurists on this planet, having earned a master's degree in Studies of the Future from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. As a futurist, Dave has worked with more than 1,300 associations, corporations, and colleges, offering insight on the personal and professional impact of strategic trends in areas including technology, economics, business, education, demographics, and society. Dave previously worked at Johnson Controls and Northwestern Mutual Life in the roles of environmental scanning and strategic planning. He also taught Future Studies in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Since 1987, he mostly sits and read everything he can, studying trends and traditions and trying to identify their implications. He is the author of two books, including Worth Remembering: The Future Value of Old Ideas, which was published in June 2008. Dave is a member of the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center Advisory Council and on the board of the American Chesterton Society. Past activities include AIA-WI Board; Future Milwaukee Advisory Board; Community Advisory Board for public radio station WUWM; board member of eInnovate; member of the downtown Rotary Club of Milwaukee; and chairman of the Goals for Greater Milwaukee 2000 Education Committee.

Session CPE Info

Learning Objective: Participants will learn about the future of education and how to protect traditions while acknowledging trends.

Program Level: Overview
Estimated CPE Hours: 1.5
Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge and Applications

Delivery Method: Group-Live
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None

Top Challenges Independent Schools Face

As President and CEO of United Educators, Janice Abraham observes daily the problems faced by educational institutions, from colleges and universities to independent schools. Along with run-of-the-mill concerns, the current environment brings additional economic, demographic, and political challenges. In this session, Janice will review the top challenges in the operations of educational institutions and provide suggestions for how schools can successfully address these issues.

Janice Abraham joined United Educators Insurance as President and CEO in January 1998. She is also President and CEO of United Educators Management Company. Janice has more than 25 years of experience in serving the higher education community through her work as Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer at Whitman College (1989-1997), various senior positions at Cornell University (1985-1989), and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), where she served as a staff associate. She began her career as an international banker with J.P. Morgan. Janice serves on many nonprofit boards and committees, including the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; United Educators and UEMC; Whitman College; Whitman College and Waycrosse Investment Committees; American University's School of International Service Dean's Advisory Council; and Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges Consulting Editorial Board. She is a former president of the Western Association of College and University Business Officers (WACUBO) and a past member of the board of directors of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the National Risk Retention Association.

Session CPE Info

Learning Objective: Participants will learn about the operational challenges facing independent schools and hear strategies for tackling these challenges.

Program Level: Overview
Estimated CPE Hours: 1.5
Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge and Applications

Delivery Method: Group-Live
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None

Attention Must be Paid: Finding Focus in the Age of Distraction

How can we rekindle attention in an era of split-screen thinking, hyper-mobility, overload, and texting-while-driving? Is deep focus a skill set of the past? Most importantly, how can we create digital-age workplaces that are high-tech yet reflective, global yet richly connected? Join award-winning author and columnist Maggie Jackson as she shares provocative findings from her groundbreaking book, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, a work that has sparked a national conversation on our culture of distraction and the steps we, as workers, parents, and citizens, need to take to harness our most important human faculty.

Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist known for her penetrating coverage of social issues. She writes the popular "Balancing Acts" column in the Sunday Boston Globe and has written for The New York Times, BusinessWeek, National Public Radio, and other national publications. Her latest book, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, which was released in paperback in fall 2009, details the steep costs of our current epidemic deficits of attention, while revealing the astonishing scientific discoveries that can help us rekindle our powers of focus in a world of speed and overload. A former foreign correspondent for The Associated Press in Tokyo and London, Jackson has won numerous awards for her coverage of work-life issues, including the Media Award from the Work-Life Council of the Conference Board. The daughter of two teachers, Maggie graduated from Milton Academy, Yale University, and the London School of Economics. She lives in New York City with her family.

Session CPE Info

Learning Objective: Participants will learn about how today's fast-paced, always online world affects our ability to pay attention and think critically, and the implications for our schools and our students.

Program Level: Overview
Estimated CPE Hours: 1.5
Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge and Applications

Delivery Method: Group-Live
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None