The Transition Symposium is a two-day virtual professional development opportunity for higher education professionals dedicated to supporting and enhancing student transition programs and initiatives. 

The symposium will include keynote presentations, educational breakout sessions, and networking opportunities, all of which will equip participants with innovative practices, emerging trends, and actionable insights to support diverse student populations during pivotal transitions. 

Whether you work with transfer students, first-year programs, or special populations, the symposium will provide the tools and connections to drive meaningful impact at your institution.

2025 Transition Symposium Dates:

February 26 and 27, 2025
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. CT

Register now

Call for Session proposals

The 2025 Transition Symposium will include opportunities for participants to share their work in supporting student transitions. Proposals should reflect innovative practices, evidence-based strategies, or impactful experiences in one or more of the following areas:

  • Transfer Student Success: Strategies and programs designed to onboard and retain transfer students, including fostering their sense of belonging and integrating them into the institution.
  • Inclusive Practices: Approaches for addressing the unique needs of first-generation, out-of-state, historically underrepresented, and commuter students.
  • Research and Leading Practices: Showcasing case studies, benchmarking, and examples of effective programs from diverse institutions. 
  • Collaborative Approaches: Building partnerships across departments or institutions to enhance the transition experience.
  • Emerging Trends: Highlighting new challenges, research, or practices related to transition in higher education.

For the 2025 Symposium, we are offering three distinct session formats to meet varied needs and interests of our participants: 

  • 50-minute Educational Sessions: These sessions should focus on providing actionable insights and evidence-based strategies relevant to student transition programs and initiatives and should include interactive elements such as Q&As, discussions, or activities. 
  • 20-minute Program Highlights: These sessions should showcase specific programs, initiatives, or case studies that support student transitions and provide an overview of program goals, implementation, outcomes, and key data. 
  • 1-Hour Facilitated Roundtable Discussion: These interactive sessions should focus on a specific student population (e.g. transfer, first-generation, out of state, historically, underrepresented, commuter, etc.) and provide a collaborative space to discuss challenges, strategies, and insights related to specific student populations. The facilitator will prepare questions or topics to guide the discussion and encourage peer-to-peer learning.

Session proposals are due by Monday, January 6, 2025. Decisions will be communicated on January 14, 2025.

Submit a session proposal

Registration will open in December 2024.

Read the NODA cancellation policy.

By participating in the Transition Symposium, attendees will:

  1. Deepen their understanding of the student transition process and its impact on belonging, retention, and success.
  2. Develop a deeper understanding of the unique needs and challenges faced by transfer students
  3. Explore evidence-based practices and innovative approaches to support special populations, including first-generation, out-of-state, commuter, and historically underrepresented students, during key educational transitions.
  4. Engage in collaborative discussions and networking with professionals dedicated to orientation, transition, and retention (OTR) within higher education.
  5. Expand their knowledge of trends and leading practices that extend beyond orientation to encompass the holistic transition experience.