ACHE South Region
2026 Save the Date 2026 Call for Proposals
Join us for the ACHE 2026 South Annual Conference
in the beautiful Savannah, GA | February 16-18, 2026
2026 Call for Proposals
ACHE South is now accepting proposals for our upcoming conference, Beyond the books: Nurturing the well-being of higher education communities. This event brings together educators, administrators, workforce development professionals, and student support advocates to explore strategies that foster well-being, resilience, and success for faculty, staff, and nontraditional students in higher education. This year’s theme explores how higher education institutions can prioritize the holistic well-being of faculty, staff, and students. It focuses on creating supportive environments that foster emotional resilience,social connection, and spiritual fulfillment. Sessions will highlight practices that promote a thriving, compassionate campus culture. The deadline for proposal submissions is November 5, 2025.
We invite proposals that address the following themes:
Emotional Resilience
• Faculty & Staff:
o Burnout prevention: Strategies for supporting overextended educators and staff.
o Emotional wellness: Mindfulness, stress management, and self-care practices.
o Compassionate leadership: Creating people-centered departmental cultures.
o Work-life balance: Policies and practices that support healthier workloads.
o Faculty and staff development: Equipping educators with tools to recognize and respond to emotional health challenges in the classroom.
o Holistic advising: Incorporating emotional wellness into academic counseling.
• Students (traditional and non-traditional):
o Burnout prevention: Strategies for supporting overextended traditional students navigating academic pressure and nontraditional students balancing studies with work and family.
o Innovative practices: Best practices for engaging and retaining students through support efforts (traditional, non-traditional, and online).
o Emotional wellness: Mindfulness, stress management, and self-care practices.
o Resilience in transition: Supporting students who are first-generation, transfer, or returning after time away from education.
o Workforce readiness and resilience: Helping students build coping skills for high-pressure careers, including adaptability and managing change in evolving industries.
Social Connection and Community Building
• Faculty & Staff:
o Campus belonging: Fostering inclusion, connection, and engagement.
o Empathy in education: Building stronger faculty-student relationships.
o Collaborative learning: Group-based projects that promote meaningful connections.
o Civic engagement: Service-learning programs to strengthen social bonds.
o Support networks: Peer mentoring and mental health advocacy programs.
• Students (traditional and non-traditional):
o Engaging nontraditional students: Strategies for engaging commuter students, adult learners, and online students who often feel disconnected from campus life.
o Campus belonging: Fostering inclusion, connection, and engagement.
o Networking: Developing programs that connect students with alumni and industry leaders.
o Peer mentorship programs: Creating bridges between traditional and nontraditional students to share experiences and foster connection.
o Workforce collaboration and networking: Partnerships with local industries to create mentorship, internship, and apprenticeship opportunities that connect students to both peers and professionals.
Spiritual and Values-Based Support
• Faculty & Staff:
o Values-based leadership: Infusing compassion and empathy into academic culture.
o Personal growth and reflection: Workshops on integrating personal values with professional roles, retreats for academic renewal, sessions on rediscoveringpurpose and passion in teaching or student support.
o Workshops or faculty and staff support groups: faith-based, season-of-life, career advancement, work-life balance, servant leadership.
• Students (traditional and non-traditional):
o Purpose-driven learning: Helping students connect education and vocation to personal meaning.
o Interfaith and spiritual programming: Offering inclusive, non-denominational support.
o Ethics in the workforce: Preparing graduates to bring values-based leadership and ethical decision-making into their careers.
o Service: Opportunities for students to focus on servant leadership and the value of contributing to your community.
Hotel Information
DeSoto Hotel
- $213/night plus tax and fees
- Booking Deadline: January 26, 2026
How to Reserve:
- Click below to book your room at the special rate
- Or call the hotel directly at (866) 810-5325 and mention code 2602ACHSOU and Association for Continuing Higher Education
Book Here
2026 Conference Registration Rates
Early Bird Rate (Before January 30, 2026)
- ACHE Member: $425
- ACHE Non-Member: $500
Regular Rate (After January 30, 2026)
- ACHE Member: $450
- ACHE Non-Member: $525
Register Now
- The ACHE South Region includes members in the following locations:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Caribbean
- Puerto Rico
- Jamaica
Region Information
South Region Officers
-
Patrick Guilbaud
Director Extended Education / Associate Professor Winthrop University (803)323-4785Chair -
Dianna Rust
Professor and Program Coordinator Middle Tennessee State University (615)898-5325Past Chair -
Marie Mallory
Ph.D. in Communication Chair, Strategic and Personal Communication Liberty University (256)493-9846Chair-Elect -
Beth Crawford
Professor and Department Head University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (423)425-5286Secretary -
Marilyn Read
Director of Continuing Education Delta State University (662)846-4874Treasurer