Baltimore has always been a city with a point of view. H.L. Mencken said it was a place “where a man can think, and say what he thinks,” and you feel that the minute you step onto its streets. Anne Tyler reminded us that Baltimore is “quirky and stubborn and unpretentious,” a city that moves at its own rhythm, confident in the value of its people. And Ta-Nehisi Coates captured the deeper truth: that these streets shape imaginations and sharpen instincts, reminding you that truth, survival, and hope sit side-by-side here.

Stand on its streets for more than a minute and you feel it: the weight of history, the edge of reinvention, the quiet confidence that transformation is possible even when the world won’t sit still. For higher ed leaders navigating one of the most volatile and complex eras the sector has ever seen, there may be no better setting for our annual conference, experience: LIAISON, in Baltimore June 8-10.

Baltimore’s grit, imagination, and sense of community are a model of exactly what our graduate, undergraduate, and professional programs need right now. And that’s a big reason we’re convening our annual conference there this year.

A City Fluent in Change—and a Conference Designed for Navigators

Perched on the edge of the Chesapeake, Baltimore has lived many lives: shipbuilding powerhouse, research hub, cultural anchor, innovation corridor. Reinvention is an ethos, a recurring pattern.

Higher ed is living through its own version of that pattern. We are balancing:

  • Mission and modernization.
  • Tradition and transformation.
  • Institutional legacy and the urgent need to redesign student pathways.

In the current moment, no school has the luxury of standing still. This year’s conference is built for professionals operating in exactly that environment. Whether your challenge is enrollment volatility, policy turbulence, funding uncertainty, shifting student expectations, or the sheer operational pressure of doing more with less, our sessions are designed to help you navigate the headwinds and harness the opportunities they create.

Baltimore is a perfect mirror for that journey: pragmatic, clear-eyed, and forward-leaning without losing its sense of purpose.

The Power of Community: Shared Memory, Shared Hope

If there’s one constant in Baltimore’s character, it’s community: tightly woven, fiercely committed, shaped by honesty about the past and optimism for the future. American philosopher Josiah Royce described community as the fusion of shared memory and shared hope.

Our conference embodies exactly that:

  • Shared memory | We gather to look squarely at what’s happened: progress and persistence despite a pattern of disruption, demographic shifts, cultural conflict, regulatory overhauls, pipeline volatility, and operational strain.
  • Shared hope | We meet to design what comes next: reimagined recruitment models, smarter decision-making frameworks, stronger cross-campus alignment, the strategic use of technology, and a commitment to equity that isn’t ornamental, but operational.

In a moment when every institution feels the weight of uncertainty, this community is an antidote. It’s where truth-telling meets possibility-making.

Stewardship in Turbulent Times: Why You Need to Be in the Room

Baltimore embodies the three qualities higher-ed leaders need most right now: honesty, imagination, and resolve.

We’ve built this conference around those traits:

  • Honesty
    We will name the pressures plainly: the financial headwinds, the enrollment unpredictability, the cultural and political crosscurrents reshaping how institutions show up for students.
  • Imagination
    We’ll explore what’s emerging: AI-driven optimization, flexible credentialing, new student markets, creative partnerships, and more agile models for admissions, advising, and retention.
  • Resolve
    And we’ll do the work: tactical sessions, hands-on learning, peer-tested strategies, and space to ask the questions you can’t ask anywhere else.

Because the truth is simple: In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, no one should navigate alone. Joining us in Baltimore means being surrounded by colleagues who understand the work, understand the stakes, and understand that the future won’t be inherited, it will be built.

Why Register Now

This isn’t just a conference. It’s a chance to step out of crisis-mode thinking and into community. To reclaim a little clarity. To sharpen your perspective. To gather tools that actually hold up under real-world pressure. And it’s a chance to do it in a city that knows something about resilience, reinvention, and the stubborn belief that change—even turbulent, messy change—is survivable with the right people beside you.

Baltimore is built for this moment. So is this experience: LIAISON.

We’d love to see you there. Registration is now open!