Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges (OATYC) Annual Conference at Owens Community College
Welcome to the home of the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges (OATYC) Annual Conference for 2026. This page will be your resource for the conference, with more information added for programming and events as it becomes available.
Conference Date and Venue
Friday, Oct. 9, 2026 | Owens Community College
Heritage Hall
310 2nd Street
Perrysburg, OH 43551
View Heritage Hall Building Map (PDF)
Campus Address (Main Campus Entrance)
30335 Oregon Road
Perrysburg, OH 43551
A Looking Glass Approach to Higher Education
Conference attendees are invited to step through the looking glass to explore bold, creative solutions to the challenges facing higher education.
The novel, Through the Looking Glass (and What Alice Found There), deals with compelling themes no less relevant today than when the book was first published in 1871. Most notably, it deals with themes including social positioning, identity, order/structure and self-reliance.
Much like Lewis Carroll’s world of literary nonsense—where logic twists, meanings shift, and the impossible becomes possible—our conference encourages innovative approaches to student success, institutional resilience and community building among faculty members in Ohio.
Call for Proposals
The deadline for proposal submissions has closed. The Call for Proposals is retained below as a reference.
Download the Call for Proposals (PDF)
Conference Registration
Please use the link below to register for the conference.
Presenter/Award Nominee Registration: $110 (upon proposal acceptance)
Attendee Registration: $130
Registration Deadline: September 30, 2026. There will be no registration available on the event day.
Tentative Conference Schedule
View Heritage Hall Building Map (PDF)
| Session/Activity | Event Start Time | Event End Time | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration & Wayfinding Tables | 8:30 a.m. | 3:30 p.m. | Information, Directions, Handouts, Snacks | Heritage Hall Atrium |
| Breakfast | 8:30 a.m. | 9:30 a.m. | Breakfast, Networking/Social Time | Heritage Hall Atrium |
| Opening and Keynote Event | 9 a.m. | 10 a.m. | Keynote Event | Heritage Hall 123 |
| Concurrent Session A | 10:10 a.m. | 11 a.m. | Scholarly Presentations | Heritage Hall Classrooms 127, 130, 156, 157, 158 |
| Concurrent Session B | 11:10 a.m. | 12 p.m. | Scholarly Presentations | Heritage Hall Classrooms 127, 130, 156, 157, 158 |
| Lunch | 12 p.m. | 1 p.m. | Lunch, Networking/Social Time, Special Sponsor Presentation | Heritage Hall Atrium and Room 158 |
| Concurrent Session C | 1:10 p.m. | 2 p.m. | Scholarly Presentations | Heritage Hall Classrooms 127, 130, 156, 157, 158 |
| Awards Ceremony and Closing | 2:10 p.m. | 3 p.m. | Awards, Conference 2027 Announcement | Veterans Hall 201 |
| OPTIONAL TOUR | 3 p.m. | 4 p.m. | To tour our advanced manufacturing facilities, labs and class spaces. Sign up at our wayfinding table on the conference day. | The Dana Center (located across the street from Veterans Hall and about a 5-minute walk) |
Tentative Presentation Schedule
| Sessions (Subject to Change) |
Heritage Hall 156 | Heritage Hall 157 | Heritage Hall 158 | Heritage Hall 127 | Heritage Hall 130 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concurrent Session A | Through the Looking Glass: AI as a Mirror for Student Communication Growth | Reimagining Rural Cybersecurity Pathways Through Mobile Outreach and Community Engagement | The Mirror & The Map: Reflective Teaching for the Modern Adjunct | Two Ways of Falling Through the Looking Glass in the Writing Classroom: Reimagining Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium AND Embedding NACE Competencies for Real-World Readiness |
One Film, Many Classrooms: Multidisciplinary Teaching with Sinners |
| Concurrent Session B | Through the Digital Looking Glass: Reimagining Online Teaching in the Age of AI | Teaching in the Attention Economy: Reframing Student Engagement as Cognitive Endurance | Bring Back the Novel: Addressing the Reading Crisis in the Composition Classroom | Leveling Up Engagement: What Videogames Can Teach Us About Online Course Design | |
| Concurrent Session C | Down the Rabbit Hole of Clinical Judgment: AI & Micro-Simulations That Work | Reimagining College Classrooms Through UDL | Reimagining how students identify the value of their learning using the Value Statements Model | Building a Cohesive Learning Community: Bridging Clinical Education Across a Two-Year Cohort |
Hotel Information
Hilton Garden Inn
6165 Levis Commons Blvd.
Perrysburg, OH 43551
Our friends at the Hilton Garden Inn Toledo Perrysburg are happy to assist with overnight accommodation needs.
To book a reservation
- Online: Access group preferred rates
- By Phone: Call (419) 873-0700 and request the group rate using code 928.
- Deadline: Reservations must be booked by Sept. 18, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST as the block will release at midnight.
Maps
- Directions from Hilton Garden Inn to Heritage Hall
- Directions from Heritage Hall to Hilton Garden Inn
Keynote Speaker
Having stepped through the looking glass, we hope this conference will challenge preconceptions and examine different points of view that exist in the world of community college education in Ohio.
Our keynote event will feature a panel of individuals closely associated with the student experience in higher education—actual students! A group of our local juniors and seniors will be in attendance to share their unique viewpoints and opinions as to what higher education means to them, and more broadly, students today as well as the potential impacts those viewpoints and opinions will have on a given campus community. Together in this interactive session, we might solve some problems (or not). We might even raise new problems to address.
“How puzzling all these changes are! I’m never sure what I’m going to be, from one minute to another.” (Chapter 5, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland).
Questions? Contact Us.
Michael Pfahl
OATYC 2026 Conference Co-Chairperson
Phone: (567) 661–7270
Email Michael