Explore the 2025 CPED Convening Pre-Convening Workshops

An Advocacy Narrative of One’s Own: Using the SAGE Protocol to Help Emerging Practitioner-Scholars Rise as Leaders 

During this interactive workshop, the presenters will share a new tool, the Scholar Advocate Guided Engagement (SAGE) Protocol, and provide examples of how the tool is currently being used in the presenters’ program as part of coursework and dissertation advisement for EdD candidates. Participants will be provided with examples of syllabi to demonstrate how the protocol can be embedded in doctoral coursework and transcripts of discussions between faculty and EdD candidates to demonstrate its use in dissertation advisement. Participants are encouraged to bring their in-progress syllabi and plans for dissertation advisement and will be given time and support for identifying ways in which they might use this tool in their own programs. 

Presented by: Tabetha Bernstein-Danis, Kathleen Stanfa, Casey Horvath, Dawn Laubner (Kutztown University of Pennsylvania) 

Bridging the Academy and the Public: Empowering Faculty Advisors to Guide Doctoral Students in Public Scholarship 

This workshop helps faculty advisors guide doctoral students in integrating public scholarship into their dissertations. Public scholarship, engaged, accessible, and socially relevant research, extends academia into public discourse, policymaking, and community action. Yet, students often lack formal support in navigating its challenges within traditional dissertation structures. Advisors will explore key principles and strategies to support students in designing and implementing public-facing research.  

  Presented by: Ane Johnson, Monica Reid Kerrigan (Rowan University) 

The Hands-on Workshop about Hands-on Workshops: Human-AI Partnership as a New Classroom Model for EdD Programs 

This interactive workshop introduces EdD faculty to human-AI partnerships for revolutionizing instruction and course design. Participants will engage with AI tools to redesign syllabi, develop rubrics, create presentations, and support students' Problems of Practice. By workshop end, participants will: (1) develop AI competence for course revision; (2) create AI-enhanced course materials; (3) design a custom chatbot; and (4) formulate an ethical AI integration plan. Participants will leave with tangible products and strategies that enhance educational experiences for faculty and doctoral students. Bring a laptop and course materials to revise! 

Presented by: Kristi Santi (University of Houston), Reshid Walker (Delaware State University), Michael Kozak (Drexel University), Kathy Lease (Texas A&M University - Texarkana) 

Integrating Meditation and Breathwork into Classrooms to Assist Doctoral Students with Mental Health 

Graduate students’ mental health remains a prominent international concern. Research has mainly focused on mental health of undergraduates; however, depression and anxiety appear as common among doctoral students, and their rates of psychological distress may be higher. Mind-body practices, such as meditation and breath work, have been found to reduce stress and anxiety and improve focus and mental and physical well-being. During this workshop, attendees will learn several mind-body practices being studied in a university EdD program and learn how to implement them effectively in virtual or in-person classrooms. 

Presented by: Steve Haberlin, Madison Moore, Edith Parrow, Stacia Clowes, Laura Snyder, Amanda E. Evans (University of Central Florida) 

Re-conceptualizing the DiP Research Sequence: Threading User-Centered Storytelling Methods throughout Research Coursework to Elevate Professionals who Can Engage in Lasting Change for Everyone 

The workshop discusses how to listen to student voices, facilitate changes in research sequences, and create method courses to meet students where they are and provide the tools to respond to any challenge. Our learning goals engage participants with activities, grounded in CPED’s framework/design concepts, to develop user-centered approaches to embedding Improvement Science within research methods coursework (quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed).  

Presented by: Dustine Thomas, Jacqueline Hawkins, Detra D. Johnson (University of Houston) 

Uncovering Your Program’s Stories and Imagining Its Future: Engaging in a CPED-Inspired Program Self-Study  

How can self-study help EdD programs uncover their stories and shape their future? In this interactive workshop, participants will engage with tools from CPED’s 2024 Collaborative Self-Study Project. Facilitators from three institutions will guide attendees through examining program data, identifying stakeholder narratives, and reflecting on alignment with CPED principles. Centering faculty-led inquiry and underrepresented voices, this session offers an adaptable process for launching a self-study and gaining insight into how programs are experienced by students, faculty, alumni, and others. 

Presented by: Amy Markos, Jennifer C. Theriault, Sarah Capello (Arizona State University) 

Witnessing the Indigestible: Spirit-Led Exchange on Educational Anti-Blackness  

This workshop invites participants into a sacred practice of witnessing educational anti-Blackness through endarkened epistemological traditions. Drawing from our research with Black women leaders and Black girls, we create space to experience how America's educational promise has always included gratuitous ontological violence toward Black people. Rather than learning "about" these approaches, participants will be immersed in the spiritual practice of faithful witnessing, feeling how traditional academic tools frequently sanitize Black pain for white consumption.  

Presented by: Latrina Johnson, Darla Davenport-Powell (American University)