Engineerica's 2025
Academic Center Summit Recap
Empowering Excellence in Academic Support
October 26-27, 2025 | Orlando, Florida
Welcoming Our Attendees
Engineerica’s Academic Center Summit took place October 26–28 in Orlando, Florida, bringing together learning center professionals from across the country to collaborate, share ideas, and explore new ways to support students in an ever-evolving educational landscape. Whether you joined us in person or are catching up now, we’re excited to share some of the inspiring moments and key highlights from this year’s event.
The excitement started on Sunday evening, as attendees came to the Celeste Hotel at the University of Central Florida to pick up their badges and attend our welcome reception, where Engineerica team members provided key information about the weekend, and our keynote speaker Dr. Saundra McGuire gave an exclusive preview of her presentation.
This reception offered valuable networking opportunities for attendees, and a way for folks to get to know each other before diving headfirst into their breakout sessions the following morning.
Dr. McGuire is a powerhouse in the learning center community. She fervently believes that investing in learning centers is an essential key to institutional and student success, and her invigorating presentation discussed how to make that happen. Attendees walked away inspired and with ideas for how to make their centers a nucleus for student success on their campuses, rather than an afterthought when it comes to budgeting and resources. We were immensely excited to be able to bring Dr. McGuire and her brilliant ideas and experience to our attendees.
Event Takeaways
Dynamic Breakout Sessions
Like last year, the Academic Center Summit offered a presentation track focused on professional development for learning center managers and employees. Presentations ranged from supporting students with disabilities, to authentic leadership strategies, to ideas for gamifying and improving tutor training. Last year’s keynote speaker Michael Frizell also presented new sessions on why and how learning center employees can and should seek professional publishing opportunities, leading a learning center through inevitable campus change, as well as an informational session on the CLADEA learning center member organizations.
Unique Excursion Opportunity
The Summit’s convenient location in central Florida meant that there were plenty of options to choose from when it came to after-hours fun. Since last year’s event was closer to Orlando’s famous theme parks, we decided to try something a little different this year. Attendees were transported to downtown Winter Park, a hidden gem of the central Florida area. Many chose to explore the many shops and restaurants along Park Avenue, while some took a look at the gorgeous campus of Rollins College, or enjoyed the picturesque Central Park. Even though the evening was subject to some rainy weather, it was hard to keep the attendees’ spirits down!
UCF Learning Center Tour
Thanks to the generosity of its staff, the Summit was able to offer a tour of UCF’s Student Academic Resource Center (SARC) and Writing Center, both located a short walk from the Celeste Hotel. Attendees learned about both centers and their unique but effective approaches to student success, as they serve one of the largest student populations of any public university in America. It was a great way to close out our conference, and attendees also enjoyed being able to see more of the UCF campus.
Interactive Software Training
In addition to professional development offerings for any learning center manager, the Academic Center Summit also offered a separate area dedicated to training and informational sessions regarding Engineerica’s learning center management solution, Accudemia. Users were given in-depth training opportunities and best practice tips that will enable them to better manage the traffic of their center and collect relevant and helpful data.
See You Next Time?
The Engineerica team is already preparing for the next Academic Center Summit, with plans to hold it in spring 2027. Stay subscribed to our email lists so you can be the first to know when registration opens up, and be sure to tell us if there is anything you’d like to see at the next event!
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