It’s professional development season, a great time to reflect on how you hope to grow and learn this year. Whether you prefer large conferences, smaller institutes, certifications, or something in between, there are so many ways to invest in your development. If your institution provides professional development funding, I highly encourage you to consider joining us at the Institute on the Curricular Approach this October!
Many years ago, when I was a first-time Hall Director, I was asked to attend a conference in Southern California to learn about the concept of a curricular approach alongside a small group of colleagues. I didn’t have very high expectations because it seemed a bit academic compared to the more social conferences I had attended, but I was thrilled by the opportunity to return to my home state. What I found most valuable during my first ICA experience was gaining language for the ideas and values I had felt but had not yet known how to name.
ICA helped me reframe my role. I wasn’t just there to be a leader of fun and safety in my assigned building, I could also shape how students learned and grew while living on campus. ICA also helped my team examine our department’s political and cultural context in a way that gave me, as a new professional, hope and a new lens for imagining what our work could be. Having those conversations with my team at ICA was one of the first times I felt like I was fulfilling my purpose in the field. During those first few months, I had struggled to find meaning amid the chaos of opening; I felt confused with what my role was on paper and what it felt like on the day-to-day. I was also spreading myself too thin as a supervisor to overcompensate for the imposter syndrome I was navigating.
ICA reminded me that my value as an educator was not measured by how much I could carry. Instead, it was found in how intentionally I could examine the work, map it out with clarity, and help my team understand their roles and expectations. That realization gave me the confidence to see myself as not only as a Residence Life professional, but the Educator I had dreamt of becoming. The curricular approach taught me that “clear is kind.” Having clear and direct materials and expectations takes away the ambiguity that is challenging to navigate in any workplace.
The curricular approach has the capacity to transform organizations by keeping student learning at the center and ensuring that learning happens by design, not by chance. By creating clear expectations and connecting everyday work to a shared purpose, it empowers professionals to meet students’ evolving needs with greater intention, collaboration, and confidence.
Fast-forward through the years following my first ICA. I navigated the COVID-19 pandemic (yikes), transitioned to a new university and a new lateral position, and received the opportunity to build a curriculum from scratch alongside a new group of people. This was where I found my flow as a curricular leader. I wasn’t the loudest person on the committee, but I had the unique ability to zoom in and zoom out. I could see how small educational strategies contributed to the big picture and how our larger learning goals needed to shape even the smallest details. I was positive, resourceful, and constantly searching for ways to make our ideas work. During those days, I cannot count how many times I logged into Roompact to revisit the blue Developing a Co-Curricular Model e-book or searched the Roompact Blog for “intentional conversations” to see what incredible resources I could bring back to my team.
As I transitioned into a Manager role leading the residential curriculum on my campus, ICA remained the professional development experience I returned to again and again. Many of us leading curricular work on our campuses do not always have people we can turn to for guidance, bounce ideas off of, or consult when we don’t know which direction to take. At ICA, this was the place where I could develop the skills to address the challenges on my campus while being in community with other ideators and culture-makers.
This will be my fifth year attending ICA and my second year serving as ICA faculty. I can’t wait to once again experience the effervescent energy that comes from all the learning, questioning, and idea-sharing that happens at this institute. I applied to become an ICA faculty member two years ago because I wanted to model that you can be a leader without knowing every pedagogy or theory, or having every answer. I wanted to help make curricular concepts accessible and digestible, especially for new professionals searching for joy, purpose, and meaning in this work, just as I once was.
Thank you for reading a little about my journey with the curricular approach. This October, I invite you to join our amazing ICA faculty as we celebrate 20 years of the Institute on the Curricular Approach! These brilliant minds are truly the heart and soul of the institute. The conversations, relationships, and ideas you encounter at ICA might make a difference in your career, too.
The 2026 Institute on the Curricular Approach will take place October 18–21 in Costa Mesa, California. Learn more and register here.
