IASPA Conference Presentations

2025 Conference Presentations- Click HERE to access all Presentations

• Evolving HR Strategies: From Morale to Retention, Transforming Challenges into Opportunities
  Jeffrey Bergholtz, Eric Melnyczenko, Louis Lee

• Tenured Teacher Dismissals: Case Studies from Recent Decisions
  Thomas Garretson, Dr. Gina Hermann

• The Background Check Says What?
  Natacia Campbell Tominov, Luis Rodriguez

• Global Talent, Local Impact: Effective Strategies for Recruiting & Onboarding International Teachers
  Vicki Larson, Amber Bowgren

• Creating Pathways to Complete Your Teacher Pipeline Puzzle
  Sara Dail, Micaela Jones, Kerry Frank

• From Warning Signs to Action: Investigating Educator Misconduct in the Era of Faith's Law
  Kathleen Kelly Colgan

• Principle of Powerful Communication
  (Presenter info not provided)

• Hot Topics in Employment and Labor Law for 2025-2026
  Sara Boucek

• Unlocking the Leadership Power: From Newbie to Leadership Superstar!!
  Angelica Romano, Scott Bramley

• Taming the ADA Interactive Process
  Abigail Rogers

• Bridging the Gap: Streamlining Recruitment Between HR and Hiring Managers
  Nina Youabb, Sofia Alvarez

• What You Wish You Knew Before Your First Negotiations
  Julie-Ann Fuchs, Dean Romano

• We - are - family! (At work)
  Kendra Asbury

• Drink the Kool-AID - AI in the HR Office
  David Bruno, Dale Fisher, Ed.D.

• Empowering Black Excellence: Building Systems to Recruit, Reward, and Retain Black Educators & Admin
  Dr. Stephanie Morgan Harris

• Who will take the throne?
  Monica Schroeder, Michael Rodrigo

• Beyond Belonging: Strategies for Creating Engaged School Communities
  Danielle Carter, Doug Bolton

• How to Deal with the Use and Abuse of Union Grievances
  Jeff Goelitz

• Righting the Ship without Rocking the Boat: Writing Effective Communications for Documentation
  Phil Georgia, Gabe Cappozzo

• Maintaining Faith- Impact, Investigation, and Advocacy
  James Britton

• The World of GLP-1s
  Brian O'Keeffe, Nick Rabatic, Peter Norton

• Using AI and Tech Tools to Streamline Stay Interviews
  Susan Fumo

• Collaborative Relationships with Unions: "Alone We Can Do So Little; Together We Can Do So Much!"
  Julia Wheaton, Beth Barton, Michelle Etchason, Katie McMillan

• Painting a Portrait: The Impact of Portrait of a Graduate and Educator on a District
  Jeff Knapp, Tony Bagshaw

• A Multi-Faceted Approach to Using AI in the District Office
  Josh Chambers, Julie Swartzloff, Edward Piotrowski

• When Good Things Go Bad – PDP’s, Remediation Plans, and Addressing Poorly Performing Tenured Teacher
  Benjamin Shaw, Athena Christofalos

• TRS Benefits for HR Managers
  Sandie Benhart

• Welcoming Global Talent: Leveraging the Power of J-1 Visa Educators
  Dr. Dominique Moore, Dr. LaShanta Williams

• Recruit, Retain, and Diversify: Collaborative Strategies to Solve Staffing Challenges
  Jim O'Connor

• AI-Powered HR: Revolutionizing Workflows with Smart Tools
  Dr. Lisa Luna

• What's the Job and What's the Pay? Job Analysis at the District Office
  Jane Pedersen

• ROE Audit Unveiled: Gear Up for Compliance Success
  Gabe Cappozzo, Abigail Holba, Nina Youabb, Meredith Haugens

2024 Conference Presentations

• Faith's Law - Where are we now?
• Putting the Human in Human Resources
• Investigation Best Practices
• 5 Steps for Crisis Management for the HR Leader
• Hybrid & Remote Work Conditions
• Panel: Student Teachers from A to Z (Pipelines, Payments, etc.)
• Making Sure Your District's Equity Initiatives are Legally Compliant in the face of Increased Challenges
• Leading from HR to Superintendency
• Leading with Heart: A Variety of Districts' Stories of Leading Through Loss
• Panel: Everything Employee Wellness
• Growing & Retaining Your People Through Transitional Processes

Legal Topics 

• Surviving HR Post Pandemic
  by Sara Boucek of Kriha Boucek 
• Upcoming Trends in Employment Lawn(2024)
• How Can I Help You? A Systematic Approach to Accommodating Employees!
  by Barbara Erickson and Ellen Rothenberg of Hodges Loizzi 
• Your Employee Did What? Case Studies in School Personnel
  by Chris Miller of Miller, Tracy, Braun, and Funk  (2023)
• Legislative Updates
  by Shelli Anderson and Nicki Bazer of Franczek (2023)
• Employees' Religious Rights/Expression in Schools - First Amendment
  by Dawn Hinkle of Engler, Callaway, Baasten, & Sraga
• Employee Mental Health Issues and Accommodations
  by A. Lynn Himes of Himes Petrarca
• Tips, Traps, and Timelines for Effective Evaluations, PDPs, and Remediation Plans
  by Jeff Goelitz of Hodges Loizzi 
• Legal Hot Topics Laura Knittle, Aimee Delaney & Vincent Rizzo from Hinshaw & Culbertson HCLE Standard: Risk Management (2022)
• Panel on Implementation of HB 18 Todd Hayden from Robbins Schwartz with Practitioners Cheryl Moore, Julie Tobin and Nick Baughmann - Facilitated by Marci Conlin HCLE Standard: Risk Management, Performance Management (Talent Development)(2022)
• Supporting LGBTQ+ Employees Laura Knittle, Aimee Delaney and Vincent Rizzo from Hinshaw Culbertson HCLE standard: Experience Management (2022)
• Surviving and Thriving in a COVID Labor Market Sara Boucek of Kriha Boucek HCLE Standard:Recruitment (Talent Acquisition) Risk Management, Strategy
• Harassment Reboot - What Today's Education HR Professionals Need to Know (2020)
• Personnel Files-What's In What's Out (2020)
• Employee Discipline - Warn, Remediate, Terminate? (2019)
• Key Criteria and Components of Job Descriptions 1 (2019)
• Key Criteria and Components of Job Descriptions 2 (2019)
• Personnel Records: How to Maintain When to Disclose 1 (2019)
• Personnel Records: How to Maintain when to Disclose 2 (2019
• Workers' Comp - Best Management Practices (2018)
• Reviewing Criminal History Records (2018)
• Just Cause (2017)
• Dealing with the Use, Misuse, Abuse of Union Grievances (2016)
• The Dos and Don’ts of Employee Investigations (2016)
• Investigation and Discipline of School Employees: Strategies to Minimize Grievance, Charges and Lawsuits – Handout (2012)

Staff Evaluation (Teacher, Support, Administrator) 

• "Unsatisfactory" Teacher Evaluation Appeals (2020)
• Rethinking Tenured Staff Evaluation (2020)
• Remediation and PDPs (2015)
• Professional Development and Remediation Plans (2015)
• PDP and Remediation Plans (2014)

Collective Bargaining

• Collective Bargaining in 2023 During High Inflation and Staffing Shortages
  by Tony Loizzi of Hodges Loizzi (HCLE Standard: Risk Management)
• Contract Negotiations in 2024
• Collective Bargaining in 2022 Cindi DeCola from HLERK HCLE Standard: Risk Management, Experience Management(2022)
• Bargaining for Innovation or Inflexible Rule Making (2020)
• ABC's of Collective Bargaining & Do's and Don'ts for Management (2020)

Leaves of Absence

• FMLA/ADA "How Can I Help You? No - Really HOW?" (2024)
• FMLA Essentials for the Public Sector Practitioner (2024)
• Leaves of Absence in 2022: Out with the Old, In with the New Abby Rogers from Engler, Callaway Baasten & Sraga HCLE Standard: Risk Management, Work-Life Integration, Compensation and Benefits (2022)
• Is Your Employee Disabled or Just a Jerk? Practicing the Art of Human Resources Lynn Himes and Adam Dauksas from Himes, Petrarca & Fester HCLE Standard: Compensation and Benefits (Total Rewards), Risk Management, Experience Management
• Debunking Some common FMLA Leave Myths (2020)
• FMLA and Mental Health (2019)
• FMLA Primer (2016)

Hiring / Staffing/ Recruiting

• Unconscious Bias in Hiring Practices  by Dr. LeViis Haney
• Retention is the New Recruitment: Using Stay Interviews to Better Market & Brand Your District
• Using Modern Technology to Recruit Top Candidates & Manage Attendance
• Solving Your Teacher Shortages
  by Dr. Michael Robinson of Proximity Learning
• The Real "R & R" of HR: Recruitment and Retention
  by Dr. Sara Burnett (HCLE Standard: Experience Management)
• Panel Discussion: Recruiting Strategies for Support Staff
  by Dr. James Robinette, Dr. Natacia Campbell Tominov, and Jeff Bergholtz
• Panel Discussion: Recruiting Strategies for Professional Staff
  by Dr. Phil Georgia, Dr. Natacia Campbell Tominov, Chris Wolk, and Brad Carter
• Recruiting and Retaining High Quality Staff
  by Kaitlin Economon of American Fidelity 
• Cultivating Leadership to Recruit and Retain People from Diverse Backgrounds (2022)
• Need Bilingual Teachers? Foreign Exchange Agencies & You! (2022)
• Recruitment, Communication, and Storytelling Dr. Monica Schroeder and Nicholas Glenn HCLE standard: Recruitment (Talent Acquisition) (2022)
• Do Your Teachers Look Like Your Students? Hear One District’s Successful Journey to Increasing Staff Diversity Doug Eccarius and Dr. Louis Lee HCLE Standard: Recruitment (Talent Acquisition) (2022)
• Recruiting and Retaining Paraeducators and Classified Staff: A Tale of Two Districts Mike Amadei and Lori Thum HCLE standard: Work-Life Integration (2022)
• EdRecruiter 2022: Key Insights to Drive Your District's Recruitment (vendor presentation) David DePasquale and Jen Mosley HCLE Standard: Recruitment (2022)
• Recruit Like a Retailer Brian White HCLE Standard: Recruitment (Talent Acquisition) (2022)
• Reduction in Force Primer Dana Fattore Crumley from Franczek HCLE standard: Process Management, Risk Management
• Hiring Practices and Procedures-Eliminating Implicit Bias in Hiring (2020)
• Exit Interviews as an Improvement Tool (2018)
• Stay Interview Questions (2018)
• Knowledge Transfer Exit Questions (2018)
• Hiring Protocols (2017)
• Onboarding New Hires (2017)

General 

• Keynote: "Faith's Law - Her Story and Next Steps"
  by Faith Colson and Cindi DeCola (2023)
• 5 Shifts to Address the National Teacher Shortage
  by Kelly Coash-Johnson  (2023)
• Can You Pass the Test of Just Cause?
  by Dr. Dale Fisher and Dr. Danielle Carter (2023)
• Shifting Stats in Your Favor
  by Michelle Plaushines, Dr. Nick Kohn, and Katie Blandford of Qualtrics  (2023)
• Anatomy of the Onboarding Process
  by Debby Marquardt  (2023)
• Panel Discussion: Equity Planning
  by Dr. Megan Johnson, Dr. Shelley Wagner, and Matthew Zediker   (2023)
• Lead Like Lasso
  by Dr. Kendra Asbury  (2023)
• Investing in your 85%: Rethinking Traditional Practices Through a Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  by Dr. Michael Smith and Brent Raby  (2023)
• Human Resources and Business Office, A Perfect Pair
  by Angelica Romano and Nina Youabb  (2023)
• You're New? Consider These Basic Investigation Tips
  by Tom Kim  (2023)
• Status of Race Conscious DEI Plans Post October 2022 Supreme Court Arguments
  by Frank Garrett of Robbins Schwartz  
• Panel Discussion: HR Branding Including the Use of Social Media
  by Brian Kaye, Dr. David Bruno, Dr. Vicki Larson, and Dr. Monica Schroeder  (2023)
• A Spot in the Lot: Using Formal and Informal Recognition to Build Culture and Employee Satisfaction Kathleen Kelly Colgan and Dr. David Bruno HCLE Standard: Work-Life Integration (Total Rewards) (2022)
• Sizing Up Your Leadership: What is Your Trajectory? Craig Collins HCLE Standard: Strategy, Experience Management, Risk Management (2022)
• From Great to Greater - Feedback that Makes a Difference Lindsay Jonas HCLE Standard: Performance Management (Talent Development) (2022)
• Digging Deep: Committing to the Social Emotional Well-Being of a School Community in a Post-Pandemic Reality Kelly Tess HCLE Standard: Work-Life Integration (Total Rewards) (2022)
• Re-Setting Strong Working Relationships through Conflict Resolution by Shelley Taylor HCLE Standard: Experience Management, Work-Life Integration (Total Rewards) (2022)
• Building Positive Culture through Differentiated Professional Learning Jeffrey Bergholtz and Dr. Rob Lang HCLE Standard: Training and Development (2022)
• Never a Dull Moment - Case Studies and Tales from HR Dr. Gina Herrmann and Thomas Garretson from Robbins Schwartz HCLE standard: Performance Management (Talent Development)
• A National View of the Teacher Shortage Kelly Coash-Johnson HCLE standard: Planning and Preparation (Talent Acquisition)
• Trauma-Informed, Resilience-Oriented Leadership Laurie Campbell & Karen Rice-Harris HCLE Standard: Work-Life Integration (Total Rewards)
• Increasing Productivity and Engagement Through Employee Wellbeing (vendor presentation) Kaitlin Economon HCLE standard: Work-Life Integration (Total Rewards)
• Branding Your HR Department Brian White HCLE standard: Workforce Planning
  Translating PHCLE Revised Standards into Practice Dr. Beth Dalton and Danette Meyer HCLE Standard: Strategy (2022)
• Power, Proverbs and Interpersonal Prowess - Reading and Managing Emotions at the Meeting Table (2020)
• Who are the Exemplars in Your Organization? (2020)
• Coffee Talk - Building Positive Culture One Sip at a Time (2020)
• Focus on Unconscious Bias with Conscious Actions (2020)
• Supporting New Leaders Through an HR Lens (2020)
• How do we truly make a difference using difficult conversations and systematic change? (2020)
• Happiness in Human Resources (2020)
• Be Kind, But Also Be Strategic: Enhance Culture, But Also Stay Out of HR Jail (2020)