Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges

Three times a year, COPLAC hosts regional conferences highlighting undergraduate student research, and scholarly, and creative work. All conferences were virtual during 2021-22. Six member campuses sent students, faculty, and staff to the November 2021 Northeast Regional Conference. Four member campuses sent students, faculty, and staff to the November 2021 Midwest/West Regional Conference. Six member campuses sent students, faculty, and staff to the April 2022 Southeast Regional Conference.

In July 2021 and in June 2022, COPLAC hosted three in-person events for faculty and administrators. The first offered professional development specific to leadership at a public liberal arts college for 23 deans, associate deans, and associate provosts from 16 of our member institutions. The second focused on women faculty in STEM fields at public liberal arts universities (33 faculty and staff from 16 member institutions participated). The third highlighted equity and the power to transform COPLAC campuses (58 participants).

To help member institutions share resources, policies, models, protocols, messaging, ideas, and approaches to common issues, COPLAC hosted approximately twenty meetings for communities of practice. During these peer-to-peer conversations, representatives from 26 member institutions discussed strategies for how their campuses addressed numerous higher education issues. Communities of practice that met included marketing and communication offices, enrollment and admissions offices, TRIO programs, study abroad/away offices, chief diversity offices, lifelong learning centers, centers for teaching and learning, and chief academic officers.