Staff and Faculty Symposium
Staff and Faculty Symposium
Rooted in Community, Rising in Purpose: Surviving and Thriving at SMC
Join us on October 16th, 2025.
This year’s Symposium is a chance to highlight the great things happening across campus and connect with colleagues from all areas. Whether it is a project, a partnership, or an innovative idea, this is your opportunity to showcase it.
Symposium Details
When: Thursday, October 16, 2025. From 9AM - 5PM
Where: Soda Center, Saint Mary's College of California Campus
Who: For Faculty and Staff
Cost: Admission is Free!
Calling for presenters! See details below.
2025 Symposium Themes
Rooted in Community, Rising in Purpose: Surviving and Thriving at SMC
- Elephant in the Room: Finding Common Ground in Difficult Conversations
- Navigating Higher Ed in a Post-Truth Era
- Breaking Silos: Paving Collaborative Pathways at SMC
- Humble Brag: Finding Joy in Teaching and Learning
Submit Your Proposal!
Calling all Presenters!
Submit a proposal for a presentation! Even if your ideas are not fully developed, submit a proposal so we can connect you with people who may be interested in similar themes. See themes above for this year’s symposium:
Deadline for submitting proposals is Friday, August 28, 2025.
What is the Staff and Faculty Symposium?
The Staff and Faculty Symposium is an event open to all staff and faculty. Attend to see what your colleagues are working on, share insights, and collaborate on innovative ideas.
This symposium originates in SMUG—Saint Mary’s User Group—an internal conference initially developed in 2019 by the Administrative Information Services (AIS) department in response to improving staff knowledge of Colleague (the institutional data depository). After the hiatus during the pandemic, mini-SMUG returned to campus in the spring of 2024 to serve a more expanded purpose of connecting staff and faculty on the topics of “share best practices, ideas, and what you are working on with colleagues and/or students.”
Testimonials
"The symposium left me feeling energized and excited about the work we are doing at Saint Mary's. I felt more strongly connected to the Saint Mary's community and impressed with the offerings of my colleagues. It is easy to get caught up in the work we are doing and wonder if we should be taking the time away, but it was absolutely worth it."
"The symposium is a great way to meet others from around the school and to hear about what they're dealing with and engaged with; see how our positions overlap while working towards a common goal; to see how the siloed departments actually work together to create SMC."
"This was an event full of dynamic, emerging and inspiring and learning from and with each other! We are all doing cool things and it is so great to hear about them!"
"I experienced 2 days of learning through panels, interactive opportunities, and community time, which opened my awareness to the diverse faculty and staff population on campus, and the mission and structure of different departments. I felt connected and engaged and left with incredible sensations of belonging and increased faith in—and dedication to—our fabulous SMC."
2024 Symposium
Symposium 2025 Committee Members
Swetta Abeyta - Library
Adriana Botello - IT Services
Makiko Imamura - Academic Affairs
Monique Lane - Faculty
Sarah Vital - Library
2024 Sponsors
Thank you for your contributions to this event!
- Academic Success
- Institutional and Educational Effectiveness Division, Academic Affairs
- IT Services
- Jostens
- Meetings Events and Conferences
- Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion
- Staff Council
Questions? Contact Us.
Interested in sponsoring this event?
Have an idea for the Staff and Faculty Symposium?
Contact Swetta Abeyta, sba2@stmarys-ca.edu, for more information.