UBUG Conference Agenda

 

Breakout Tracks

Business Intelligence

Student: Admission, Registrar, & Financial Aid

Information Technology

HR/Finance

Compliance/Regulatory

Vendor: Updates & New Products

12:00 p.m.

Registration and Lunch

Pulled Pork and BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Green Salad with House-made Ranch, Cole Slaw, Chips,  Cookies, and Assorted Beverages (water and sodas)

1:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker: Clair Canfield - The Beauty of Conflict

 

Clair Canfield is a senior lecturer at Utah State University with more than 17 years of experience teaching communication studies. His work focuses on interpersonal communication, conflict management, and conflict transformation, with an emphasis on practical strategies that improve relationships, organizations, and communities.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Weber State University and a master’s degree in Communication Studies from the University of Montana. While completing doctoral work at the University of Utah, he also earned a graduate certificate in conflict resolution and became a certified mediator. Drawing on extensive teaching and mediation experience, Clair is passionate about helping individuals and groups move beyond conflict avoidance and develop the skills to engage conflict constructively and create meaningful change.

2:30 p.m.

Break

3:00 p.m.

Breakout Session

Business Intelligence

Where the Wildcats Are: Ending the scheduling guessing game

Speaker: Keith Yowell - WSU
Room: D2 Room 110

Session Description

Student: Admission, Registrar, & Financial Aid

Banner Common Matching Rules

Speaker: Jake Ellsworth - UVU
Room: D2 Room 111

Session Description

Information Technology

Elevated Adaptation:  Navigating Higher Ed Transformation 

Speaker: Rene Eborn - WSU
Room: D2 Room 114

Session Description

HR/Finance

Deploying Automated Budget & Funds Transfer Forms

Speaker: Chaz Steimel - WSU
Room: D2 Room 113

Session Description

Compliance/Regulatory

Detecting Financial Aid Fraud 

Speaker: Eric Bennick - WSU
Room: D2 Room 112

Session Description

Vendor: Updates & New Products

Evisions Academic Engagement Accelerator

Speaker: Lauren Sherman
Room: D2 Room 117

Session Description

3:45 p.m.

Break/Snack - Vendor Exhibits (Stewart Center)

Packaged snacks (nuts, chips, granola bars, whole fruit, candy, assorted beverages)

4:15 p.m.

Breakout Session

Business Intelligence

Using Asana and AI for Project Prioritization

Speaker: John Bemis - WSU
Room: D2 Room 110

Session Description

Student: Admission, Registrar, & Financial Aid

The Home-grown EzReg Registration System

Speaker: Ian Niklason - WSU
Room: D2 Room 111

Session Description

Information Technology

Claude Code and SQL Reports

Speaker: Parker Grimes - SUU
Room: D2 Room 114

Session Description

HR/Finance

Cost Study Roundtable

Speakers: Chaz Steimel-WSU
Room: D2 Room 113

Session Description

Compliance/Regulatory

State Authorization, Prof. Licensure &  Workforce Pell - Where are we at?

Panel: Jed Spencer - WSU, Laurie Mcbride - SLCC, Katya Konkle - SUU, Sherri Melton - WSU, Gissel Santoyo - WSU
Room: D2 Room 112

Session Description

Vendor: Updates & New Products

Connected Campus: Unlocking the Power for Ellucian Student

Speaker: AJ Hubbard & Sarah Carroll - Ellucian
Room: D2 Room 117

Session Description

5:00 p.m.

Dinner, Networking, and Entertainment

Pecan Chicken, Roasted potatoes, Roasted Veggies, Rolls with Butter, Dessert

The evening event will include a catered dinner, light entertainment, and networking time. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with conference vendors and colleagues.

Gordon Greenwood & The Hurt - a band made up of established and highly-regarded local musicians.
Gordon Greenwood is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of funky soul music. The band is made up of some of Greenwood’s dream list of musicians who came together during the COVID pandemic.

 

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast

Bacon, Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, Roasted Potatoes, French Toast Bake, Fresh Fruit, Coffee, Water, and Juice

8:30 a.m.

Keynote Speaker: Sania Khan, VP of Product Management, Ellucian (Platinum Sponsor)

9:15 a.m.

Break

9:30 a.m.

Breakout Session

Business Intelligence

Creation of standardized metrics

Speaker: Andrea Bringhurst-Utah Tech
Room: D2 Room 110

Session Description

Student: Admission, Registrar, & Financial Aid

Designing for Go-Live: Implementation Lessons From a Salesforce Education Cloud Launch

Speaker: Lindsay Farnworth - USU
Room: D2 Room 111

Session Description

Information Technology

Evolution of the ML Ecosystem

Speaker: Keith Yowell - WSU
Room: D2 Room 114

Session Description

HR/Finance

Secure 2.0 Roth Catch-up Contribution Requirement

Speaker: Steven Clark - USU
Room: D2 Room 113

Session Description

Compliance/Regulatory

Utah State Aid

Speaker: Cassidy Dragunat - USHE
Room: D2 Room 112

Session Description

Vendor: Updates & New Products

Closing the Digital Experience Gap

Speaker: Max Nadler - Pathify
Room: D2 Room 117

Session Description

10:15 a.m.

Break/Snack - Vendor Exhibits (Stewart Center)

Packaged snacks (nuts, chips, granola bars, whole fruit, candy, assorted beverages)

10:45 a.m.

Breakout Session

Business Intelligence

Fit More With Less: Practical Layout Techniques for Informative Tableau Dashboards

Speaker: Jack Niklason - WSU
Room: D2 Room 110

Session Description

Vendor: Updates & New Products

Student Application Fraud in 2026: How to protect your school, your staff and students from this rapidly evolving problem. 
AM Simpkins and Associates (AMSA)and our SAFE Platform

Speaker: Tyler Merwin
Room: D2 Room 111

Session Description

Information Technology

ROI:  A Roundtable Conversation on Leveraging Finance and Student data to Help Leaders Make Informed Decisions

Speaker: Chaz Steimel-WSU
Room: D2 Room 114

Session Description

HR/Finance

Faculty Load and Compensation (FLAC)

Speakers: Bryce Yearsley - WSU
Room: D2 Room 113

Session Description

Compliance/Regulatory

Sub-120 Credit Degrees: What They Mean for Licensure and Mobility

Speaker: Gissel Santoyo - WSU
Room: D2 Room 112

Vendor: Updates & New Products

The Efficiency Edge: Rethinking the Integrity Review Process

Speaker: David Jero - Honorlock
Room: D2 Room 117

Session Description

11:30 a.m.

Break

11:45 a.m.

Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather - Debrief on each Track

Stop. Reflect. Refine. Don’t head back to your campus with a notebook full of ideas you’ll never open again. Join your peers for a high-speed synthesis session where we strip away the conference hype and get real about what works. We’ll identify the "Hot Topics" that actually have legs, filter out the "Keynote Magic," and help each other craft the "Monday Morning Plan" for our respective campuses.

 

Business Intelligence

Speaker: Gail Niklason - WSU
Room: D2 Room 110
 

Student: Admission, Registrar, & Financial Aid

Speaker: Jed Spencer - WSU
Room: D2 Room 111
 

Information Technology

Speaker: David Fernelius - WSU
Room: D2 Room 114
 

HR/Finance

Speakers: Chaz Steimel, Abel Mkina - WSU
Room: D2 Room 113
 

Compliance/Regulatory

Speaker: Gissel Santoyo - WSU
Room: D2 Room 112
 

12:30 p.m.

Grab and Go Box Lunch

Mix of Turkey & Swiss, Ham & Sharp Cheddar, and Chicken Caesar Salad with a bag of chips, a cookie, and assorted beverages

1:00 p.m.

UBUG Committee Chair - Concluding Remarks & Swag Giveaway

2:00 p.m.

End of UBUG