PDC 2025 Highlights
Success Education Colleges’ 2026 Professional Development Conference will be held on Friday, December 4, 2026!
Welcome to SEC’s 2026 Professional Development Conference
Welcome to Success Education Colleges’ 2026 Professional Development Conference (PDC)! This annual gathering is our opportunity to learn, grow, and strengthen our skills that make a difference in the lives of our students every single day.
At SEC, we know that “Our Students Are at Their Best When We’re at Our Best.” That is why we continue to invest in developing each of you—because your growth fuels our students’ success.
Last year at our President’s Retreat, we introduced the SEED theme—Students Empowered Every Day for Success. That idea continues here at PDC, as we recognize that it is our Team Members who plant and cultivate those seeds through teaching, mentoring, and supporting. Every interaction—whether in the classroom, our clinical sites, or on campus—helps students take root and thrive.
This year’s conference will follow our proven format: inspiring general sessions combined with terrific learning labs, organized into four tracks—Leadership, Nursing Faculty, Compliance, and Faculty. You’ll have the chance to tailor the day to your role and learning goals, while hearing from presenters who will challenge and inspire us.
As you take part in today’s sessions, remember: the knowledge and energy you invest here become the seeds of success for the students we are privileged to serve.
Let’s make this PDC another step forward in growing together—for each other, and for the students whose futures we help cultivate.
2024 Highlights
2023 Highlights
2022 Highlights
2019 Highlights
2018 Highlights
PDC 2026 Schedule
Friday, December 4, 2026 | 7:15 am – 4:35 pm
Schedule Legend
7:15am – 8:15am Registration and Continental Breakfast
Check in, enjoy a light breakfast, and connect with colleagues as the day begins.
8:30am – 10:15am Opening General Session (Ballroom A, B, & C)
10:15am – 10:30am Break
10:30am – 11:20am Learning Lab Block #1
Conext Pt1
Coming Soon
*Mandatory for every Team Member to attend one time
Teaching Future Professionals: Developing Employability Skills Through Classroom Management
Classroom management extends beyond maintaining order—it is an opportunity to reinforce the professional behaviors students will need in the workplace. This session focuses on integrating employability skills such as communication, teamwork, punctuality, accountability, critical thinking, and professionalism into daily classroom expectations. Faculty will learn strategies to help students develop workplace habits while preparing them for success in clinical, externship, and industry settings.
Learning Outcomes:
- Reinforce workplace expectations within the classroom.
- Teach professionalism through everyday classroom interactions.
- Connect classroom behaviors to employer expectations.
- Prepare students for success during externships and employment.
Part 1: Redeveloping your Course with the End in Mind
The purpose of this session is for the participant to be able to redevelop their course with intentionality, focusing on the Course Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of using a scaffold approach for the concepts of safety, clinical judgment, communication, professional standards, etc.
Owen Hanson
Coming Soon
How to Be an “A Player”
Becoming an “A Player” doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intentional training, practice, ownership, and a commitment to mastering your role. This Learning Lab provides a practical playbook for getting the most out of the training process, building confidence through hands-on learning, and turning what you learn into consistent execution. Participants will explore how to take ownership of their development, seek the support and feedback they need, and build the skills and habits that make them valuable, dependable members of their team.
The Overloaded Learner
Our students want to learn they’re just running on empty. Between 12-hour shifts, family responsibilities, and a fast-paced program, the thing they’re shortest on isn’t motivation. It’s mental bandwidth. This session breaks down the science of cognitive overload in everyday terms and shows how the behaviors that frustrate us most skipping directions, asking questions we just answered, freezing on multi-step problems, pasting assignments into AI are usually signs of an overloaded brain, not a lazy student. We’ll also look at how students raised on Google, YouTube, and chat apps really learn, and get honest about AI: when it becomes a crutch that does students’ thinking for them, and when it’s a helpful tool that boosts practice and understanding. You’ll walk away with six simple teaching strategies, practical ways to show students how to use AI well, and a quick “overload audit” of one of your own assignments.
Compliance
Coming Soon
11:20am – 11:30am Break
11:35am – 12:25pm Learning Lab Block #2
Conext Pt1
Coming Soon
*Mandatory for every Team Member to attend one time
Part 2: Moving the Plan into Practice
The purpose of this session is for the participant to engage in clinical judgment classroom activities that support the UDL-framework
Learning Objectives
- Describe the process of course redevelopment.
- Analyze a current course with intentionality to promote its redevelopment.
- Apply course learning outcomes and content objectives to scaffold concepts of safety, clinical judgment, communication, and professional standards supporting the UDL-framework.
- Evaluate various clinical judgment learning activities.
Owen Hanson
Coming Soon
Creating a Culture of Accountability: Classroom Management for Adult Learners
Adult learners bring diverse life experiences, responsibilities, and expectations into the classroom. This session equips faculty with practical strategies to establish clear expectations, foster mutual respect, and create an environment where students take ownership of their learning. Participants will learn techniques for setting classroom norms, addressing disruptive behaviors professionally, and maintaining consistency while balancing empathy with accountability.
Learning Outcomes:
- Establish classroom expectations from Day One.
- Implement proactive classroom management strategies.
- Address disruptive behavior with professionalism and consistency.
- Build student accountability through clear communication and expectations.
Compliance
Coming Soon
Anatomy of a Referral Event
Coming Soon
The Art of Crucial Conversations
Navigating difficult conversations with team members and students
12:25pm – 12:35pm Break
12:35pm – 1:45pm Lunch & Midday Holiday Celebration (Ballroom A, B & C)
- 2026 Pacesetter Awards
- Years of Service Awards
- State of SEC
- Fuerst Family Foundation
- 3 Minute Mingles
2:00pm – 2:50pm Learning Lab Block #3
Conext Pt1
Coming Soon
*Mandatory for every Team Member to attend one time
Owen Hanson
Coming Soon
Anatomy of a Referral Event
Coming Soon
Beyond Your Campus
A networking-focused Learning Lab designed to bring colleagues from across SEC together to connect, share ideas, and learn from one another. Participants will have the opportunity to exchange perspectives, discuss what’s working at their campuses, and build relationships across locations and departments that extend beyond the session.
The Overloaded Learner
Our students want to learn they’re just running on empty. Between 12-hour shifts, family responsibilities, and a fast-paced program, the thing they’re shortest on isn’t motivation. It’s mental bandwidth. This session breaks down the science of cognitive overload in everyday terms and shows how the behaviors that frustrate us most skipping directions, asking questions we just answered, freezing on multi-step problems, pasting assignments into AI are usually signs of an overloaded brain, not a lazy student. We’ll also look at how students raised on Google, YouTube, and chat apps really learn, and get honest about AI: when it becomes a crutch that does students’ thinking for them, and when it’s a helpful tool that boosts practice and understanding. You’ll walk away with six simple teaching strategies, practical ways to show students how to use AI well, and a quick “overload audit” of one of your own assignments.
Ask The Executive Committee Anything
Anonymous questions and candid answers from SEC’s executive team. Like a Town Hall!
Compliance
Coming Soon
2:50pm – 3:20pm Cookies & Connections (Ballroom A, B, & C)
- Enjoy a sweet break with colleagues and take a moment to reflect
- Traditional SEC Raffles
3:20pm – 4:45pm Closing General Session (Ballroom A, B, & C)
- Campus of Distinction Awards
- First Circle Inductees
- SECret Santa
- Event Check-Out
○ A new QR code will be displayed at the conclusion of this session for all attendees to scan before departure.
PDC Presenters
Meet our esteemed presenters. Click on any of them to learn more!
(Updated often, please be sure to check back)
Dinez “Dee” Swanson, Nursing Education Specialist, Elsevier
As a nursing education specialist at Elsevier, Dee provides faculty with invaluable guidance on implementing active teaching strategies and effectively utilizing digital resources. Drawing from a diverse nursing background that includes family practice, women’s health, and pediatrics, Dee brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Dee’s teaching experience spans various educational environments, encompassing lab, clinical, simulation, and didactic instruction at all educational levels, whether in-person or online. She advocates for the integration of clinical practices into the classroom to enhance students’ critical thinking and clinical judgment abilities. Furthermore, Dee’s extensive knowledge in curriculum design, program evaluation, and accreditation processes enhances her capacity to assist faculty in delivering top-tier nursing education.
Owen Hanson, Author | Entrepreneur
Owen Hanson’s story is one of ambition, consequence, accountability, and rebuilding. A former USC football player and member of Pete Carroll’s national championship teams, Owen appeared destined for a life of achievement and opportunity. But his pursuit of acceptance, wealth, and status led him from illegal sports gambling into international drug trafficking, money laundering, and ties to a powerful cartel—choices that ultimately cost him everything. During years in federal prison, Owen confronted the decisions that had shaped his life and began the difficult work of taking responsibility, rebuilding his character, and finding a new sense of purpose. While incarcerated, he earned his MBA and developed the idea for California Ice Protein, a protein-based frozen dessert company he launched after his release. Owen is the author of The California Kid and the subject of the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime docuseries Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel. Today, he shares his story with uncommon honesty—not to celebrate his former life, but to reveal the consequences of unchecked ambition and the power of choosing a different path. Through his message of accountability, resilience, and redemption, Owen challenges audiences to redefine success, recognize where their decisions are leading them, and understand that even after failure, it is possible to take ownership, rebuild, and create a more meaningful future.
Karin J. Sherrill, Nurse Educator
Karin is a nurse educator passionate about student success, scrambled teaching strategies, and immersing clinical judgment into nursing education. Since retiring after 30 years of teaching in ADN and BSN programs, she now works as a consultant to facilitate educators in developing safe and competent nurses. As a consultant with F.A. Davis, Karin has been involved with the development of content in the Davis Advantage products, and motivating faculty through webinars and conferences.
Kelli Blocher, Accreditation & Compliance Expert
Kelli Blocher has been involved in private post-secondary education since 2007 and brings a wealth of unique experience—having served in both accreditation and compliance roles. She has worked as an Accreditation Specialist for a national accrediting agency and as a Regulatory Affairs Specialist on the school side in Corporate Regulatory Affairs.
Kelli spent nearly eight years with the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) before transitioning to the private sector, where she supported a college system with seventeen campuses. She later moved into consulting, drawing on her extensive regulatory background and knowledge. Having conducted more than 300 site visit evaluations, served as a liaison on the Programmatic Accreditation Committee for Medical Assisting, and participated in numerous commission meetings, Kelli is skilled at making complex compliance standards clear and actionable. Beyond her regulatory expertise, she combines comprehensive policy, procedure, and process assessments with personalized coaching to help institutions bridge compliance gaps effectively.
Kelli holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and a Master’s degree in Human Services from Liberty University.
Angela Fleming, Education Leader
Experienced education leader with over a decade of expertise in online learning, curriculum development and academic administration. Adept in program development and strategic leadership across higher education and healthcare sectors, Angela has demonstrated a consistent track record of improving student outcomes, ensuring compliance with accreditation standards, and driving innovation in instructional design. Known for her ability to build effective support systems, she manages faculty and program operations to foster student success and retention. Angela’s dedication to academic excellence, commitment to fostering collaborative learning environments, and proficiency in aligning educational programs with institutional objectives make her a dynamic leader in higher education.
Videos From 2025 PDC
Thank you to our Distinguished Sponsors!
Location
Ontario Convention Center: 2000 E Convention Center Way, Ontario, CA 91764