September 2025 Edition

Mónica Byrne-Jiménez

UCEA Executive Director

The UCEA Guest Room Block at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Resort and Casino is SOLD OUT from Tuesday, November 18 thru Saturday, November 22. Rooms are still available on Saturday, November 22 and Sunday, November 23.  

UCEA has overflow guest room blocks at three nearby hotels. Reserve your room today as these rooms will go fast.

To register, click the Member Login button in the upper right corner of the UCEA homepage. If you’re unable to access your member profile, contact us at info@ucea.org for help.

All presenters, facilitators, and graduate students must register.

Registration rates increase beginning October 16.

Make sure you are able to login to your UCEA profile and access Convention Registration prior to the deadline.

Email us if you have difficulty accessing your UCEA profile.

The convention planning team has been hard at work planning for a wide range of convention details. We are excited to continue to preview highlights related to this year’s convention in San Juan Puerto Rico. We will continue to provide previews of convention highlights in forthcoming newsletters as details are finalized. We hope that you will be able to join us for this year’s convention!

This year’s UCEA convention takes a capacity-building perspective as our key approach for supporting our community and the field of educational leadership at this moment in time. Our opening keynote address launches these efforts and builds a bridge to some of the workshops that will occur later in the convention designed to cultivate resilience through collaborative and partnership-oriented efforts.

We are excited to announce that Dr. Patricia Virella, Associate Professor at Montclair State University, will provide this year’s opening general session keynote address on Thursday November 20 at 11:00am. Her session explores how communities, educators, and especially youth in Puerto Rico forged new collaborative leadership pathways to navigate through various challenges faced in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican experience offers lessons in resilience, and Dr. Virella will surface these lessons for our consideration. Click here to learn more about her talk.

As a part of our capacity-building efforts, that follow Dr. Virella’s opening address, we will feature three additional workshops designed to build collaboration and partnership-oriented capacitiesThese three workshops that are scheduled on Friday and Saturday. Click the link to learn more about these three workshops that are scheduled on Friday and Saturday.  We hope that you will join one or more of these workshops during your conference experience.

We also recognize an array of communication-oriented capacities as critical to our community at this time. Thus, we will feature a set of communication-oriented capacity building workshops on our final general session on Saturday morning. Click here to learn more about these workshops.  We hope that you will choose one of these workshops to attend.

An active member of the UCEA community, Dr. Cristóbal Rodríguez, served as a member of the the White House Initiative and Presidential Advisory Commission for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics in partnership with then Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.  Among other things, this initiative advocated for public education in Puerto Rico. A broad assortment of individuals engaged with this initiative will share key lessons and implications from this work for Puerto Rico and the rest of the US. Click the link to learn more about this special session that will occur on Friday afternoon.

Check out the Schedule-At-A-Glance to view all the highlights and happenings at #UCEA25

Want to see when you are presenting or facilitating? The online schedule is available in All Academic.

Access the online schedule by clicking the red UCEA Member Login button and then by clicking the yellow All Academic button.

The schedule is still in progress and not finalized.

Saturday presentations or sessions will not be moved. So plan your travel accordingly.

In the coming weeks, we will continue to publicize information about the remaining general sessions as well as other special events and opportunities that will occur at this year’s convention. Stay tuned!

Each year, the UCEA Convention is attended by leading educational leadership and policy scholars from research institutions across the country and abroad. As a non-profit organization, UCEA relies on the support of our member institutions, like yours, to ensure a successful Annual Convention, Graduate Student Summit, and Jackson Scholars Research Symposium.

Sponsorship offers an excellent opportunity to showcase your institution, college, or program, with recognition and visibility leading up to and throughout the Convention.

Please click here to explore the different sponsorship benefits and levels. Opportunities include supporting graduate students, keynote speakers, networking events, and branding.

This year’s Annual Banquet is set for Saturday, November 22, 2025.
Keep an eye out for more details — time and location coming soon!

Clark Seminar nominations are due December 1. Departments/PSRs may nominate up to two outstanding doctoral students in educational leadership or education policy who have largely completed coursework and are advancing a dissertation proposal. The nomination packet includes an online form, a blinded 150-word program abstract, and a blinded statement of proposed research (maximum three single-spaced pages). The Call for Reviewers and Mentors is also due December 1; interested faculty should submit the brief mentor/reviewer interest form by the same deadline. The seminar convenes just before the 2026 AERA Annual Meeting, on April 7 in Los Angeles. For details, visit https://www.ucea.org/clark.php

Questions: clark@ucea.org 

Want to shape leadership education and the field? Want to share impactful research with a national and international audience? Want to lead one of UCEA's premier journals? Then maybe you want to host the Journal of Research on Leadership Education (JRLE)! See the Request For Proposals for more information and important deadlines.

We are looking for two colleagues to join UCEA's amazing team of Associate Directors. The AD for Faculty Development will help UCEA strengthen its programming for faculty across the entire professional trajectory. The AD for Publications will support UCEA's journals and other information to keep the field engaged.

Creating uncertainty for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, the U.S. Justice Department confirmed in late August that it would not defend federal grants for those institutions in a lawsuit. Along a similar policy vein, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it will cut about $350 million in federal grant funding to minority-serving institutions. Days later, however, ED announced that it will award one-time funds totaling $495 million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities.

Policymakers in Washington, D.C. are negotiating multiple federal budget proposals. The House version would cut nearly $5.2 billion from Title I funding; the Senate version would increase it by $50 million; and the Trump Administration version would keep Title I funding flat but cut or eliminate nine other K-12 formula-funded programs. Notably, the Senate version includes many safeguards to protect Title I funding and operations within the Department of Education.

Having a hard time keeping up with the flurry of federal executive actions? Check out UCEA’s new Education Executive Action Tracker.

Graduate Student Summit Preparation Webinar, November 5 at 7 pm ET. Save the date for our fall webinar for graduate students to support in the preparation and planning for UCEA Convention in Puerto Rico. Check out the flyer and RSVP at the tinyurl. 

The Graduate Student Council is launching a new WhatsApp group! This group is a space for you to connect with other graduate students, stay up-to-date on UCEA-related events, and find resources that can support your academic journey. The UCEA Grad Connex group is also a great way to prepare for the upcoming 2025 UCEA Convention as we will be posting GSS programming schedules and updates. Join the UCEA Graduate Student WhatsApp group here! Feel free to use this as a way to connect with other graduate students attending and find potential roommates for the UCEA Convention!

The new school year has just begun, but it’s never too early for districts to start planning their summer learning programs! In fact, early planning is a key to success, according to a new report, sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. Learn about how superintendents, district staff, community stakeholders, families, students, teachers, and school leaders work together to support these vital student development opportunities.

Want to learn even more about the important work of summer learning programs? Check out UCEA’s recent Summer Learning 101 webinar with researchers, organizers, and district leaders who are driving student success through year-round learning. And for insights into the latest Wallace-sponsored research on summer learning, browse UCEA’s new Summer Learning Primer.

Don’t forget to order your official UCEA gear! Our brand-new online apparel store is live and stocked with everything you need to show your UCEA pride—from comfy hoodies and timeless tees to mugs, hats, and more.

Whether you're presenting at the UCEA Annual Convention, leading a lecture, or just lounging at home, do it in style.