2019 ODC Conference

The Organizational Development Consortium (ODC) Conference came back to its original host location as we gathered at Wake Downtown and on the Wake Forest Reynolda campus for our 2019 conference. We were 43 participants representing 25 institutions of higher education from across the United States who gathered from June 11th through 13th to network and share best practices regarding organizational development, professional development, learning, training, and coaching.

The conference began with a welcome reception at Wake Downtown and a keynote offered by Alana James, Associate Director of Community Engagement. Alana shared the work that is taking place in that space to build on the strengths of the Wake Forest and Winston-Salem communities through mutual learning. It was both exciting and inspiring to hear the good work and collaborations taking hold there.

Attendees moved to Farrell Hall for the next day and a half to learn from each other regarding best practices and new initiatives happening in the organizational development higher education space. The following sessions were a part of our experience:

• Session One: Career Pathing: Building a tool to build a brighter future, by Wanda Hayes and Randall H. Lucius, Emory University
• Session Two: Supervisor Training Panel Discussion, which was put together by Maggie Denna and Josh Warren, University of Georgia. The panel moderator was Josh Warren and the panel  included:
  • Chris Dahlquist, Western Carolina University
  • Tanya Ladd, University of Cincinnati
  • Ken Pinnock, University of Denver
  • Maggie Denna, University of Georgia
• Session Three: Interrogating what we are doing; Discovering the next big thing, by LaTrese Ferguson, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Session Four: Creating the Workplace We Want, by Mark Trommer, University of Arizona
• Session Five: Developing an ODC Content Exchange, by Nathan Strong, University of South Carolina and Melissa Clodfelter, Wake Forest University
• Session Six: Ignite Sessions (5 minutes on a topic of the presenter’s choosing as 15 slides advanced automatically every 20 seconds), Topics and Presenters:
  • Perfection Prevents Progress, by Broc Edwards, Baylor University
  • A Manager’s Role in Wellbeing, by Ken Pinnock, University of Denver
  • Identifying the Causes of Team Performance Issues, by Nathan Strong, University of South Carolina
  • What?!? How is That a Technical?!?, by Ron Tredway, University of Tennessee System
• Session Seven: Fearless Succession Planning, by Carolyn Cullen, University of Virginia

Also scattered throughout the conference were Roundtable Discussions. Attendees placed post it notes on a wall and as time allowed, we held open discussions about a variety of topics from learning management systems to types of assessments used in our respective settings.

The 2020 Organizational Development Consortium Conference will be held May 18th through 20th at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.

Institutions in Attendance: Appalachian State University, Baylor University, Durham Technical Community College, East Tennessee State University, Elon University, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Penn State, Rice University, Samford University, University of Arizona, University of Cincinnati, University of Denver, University of Georgia, University of Louisville, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of North Carolina Greensboro, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee System, University of Virginia, Wake Forest University, Washington and Lee University, Western Carolina University.