Back to Events

College Students of the Future: A Human Forecast

A collaborative strategic foresight experience.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (EST)

Join Us Virtually

College Students of the Future: 
A Human Forecast

Overview

What if we stopped planning for students as they are today—and started designing for who they are becoming?

As higher education leaders, we feel the pressure to be more student-centered than ever. But student-centered design requires more than improving today’s services—it requires anticipating tomorrow’s learners. 

Join AFIT and the Institute for the Future (IFTF) for a 90-minute interactive foresight experience designed to help our community explore a critical question: 

Who are the students of future—and what will they need from us? 

Together, we’ll share emerging signals of change from across our network, explore how today’s fringe trends could become tomorrow’s norms, and imagine provocative futures that stretch how we think about learning, support, and institutional design. 

This session is not about predictions. It’s about building shared foresight—so we can make better, more human-centered decisions today. 

What You’ll Experience 

In this highly interactive virtual session, you will: 

  • Share your own surprising signal of change and hear what others in the network are sensing
  • Learn how to identify and interpret today’s early signals to develop foresight and insight
  • Participate in small-group breakout exercises to build your foresight muscle about emerging shifts in student behavior, expectations, and needs 
  • Engage in Flip the Future, an IFTF foresight imagination exercise that challenges assumptions and expands what’s possible 

  • Build a collective picture of future learners that can inform strategy, design, and decision-making across the AFIT network 

This experience is designed to spark curiosity, deepen insight, and leave you thinking differently about the students you serve—now and in the years ahead. 

Why This Matters Now

Student-centered design is no longer optional—but designing for the future student requires new muscles. 

This session will help you: 

  • Move beyond incremental change toward future-ready thinking 

  • Build confidence in navigating uncertainty 

  • Strengthen your ability to bring a long-term perspective into your strategic decision making

  • Begin the year with a shared “stake in the ground” you can revisit and refine over time 

Who Should Attend

This session is ideal for: 

  • Presidents and CEOs 

  • Senior leaders responsible for strategy, innovation, and student success 

  • AFIT members who want to strengthen foresight capabilities and future-focused leadership 

No prior experience with foresight is required—just curiosity and a willingness to explore. 

Space is limited, so reserve your seat today! 

Please note: This event includes two highly interactive breakouts that rely on carefully sized groups and dynamic mixing, so participants will need to join individually from their own computers rather than as a shared Zoom group. This also creates more opportunity to engage with peers from other institutions.

Lyn Jeffery 

Distinguished Fellow & Director, IFTF Foresight Essentials 

Lyn Jeffery leads IFTF’s Foresight Essentials program, supporting people, organizations, and communities to develop their own foresight capacities. A cultural anthropologist and an IFTF Distinguished Fellow, Lyn explores how people make sense of the rapidly changing world around them, whether a “left-behind” child in a Sichuan village, a leader in a multinational organization developing their own futures thinking skills, or an amateur musician experimenting with new VR instruments.  

Before joining IFTF, Lyn worked in China as a tour guide, nonprofit researcher, Fulbright scholar and television producer. Lyn has enduring interests in learning experience design, mobility, social media, collaborative technologies. She holds a BA in Chinese Studies and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Registration Options

Credits Price
AFIT Community Members
If you are an AFIT member CEO, AFIT Rep, or employee of an AFIT member organization — this ticket is for you. 
$199.00
Guests
If you are not an employee of an AFIT member organization — this ticket is for you. 
$299.00
Bonnie Baerwald
View
Bonnie Baerwald President Moraine Park Technical College
Lorena Blanco-Silva
View
Lorena Blanco-Silva Chief of Staff Central New Mexico Community College
Chris Cavazos
Chris Cavazos Dean of Students Central New Mexico Community College
Daniel Chevez
View
Daniel Chevez Executive Assistant to the President San Antonio College
Sunita Cooke
View
Sunita Cooke Superintendent/President MiraCosta Community College
Cami Cooley
Cami Cooley College of Southern Maryland
Tracy Dryden
View
Tracy Dryden Chief of Staff and Excellence Western Technical College
Janelle Elias
View
Janelle Elias Vice President Rio Salado College
James Genandt
View
James Genandt President & CEO Manhattan Area Technical College
Liz Gerber
View
Liz Gerber Highland Community College
Kristin Gubser
View
Kristin Gubser Associate VP, Workforce Strategies & External Affairs GateWay Community College
Donna Hanks
View
Donna Hanks Director of Instructional Support and Professional Development Western Dakota Technical College
Lyn Jeffery
Lyn Jeffery Director, IFTF Foresight Essentials Institute for the Future
Deborah Kish Stephan
View
Deborah Kish Stephan Brandon Campus President Hillsborough Community College, Brandon Campus
Laurel Klinkenberg
View
Laurel Klinkenberg Vice President of Academic Affairs North Iowa Area Community College
Lorelei Konopka
View
Lorelei Konopka Vice President for Academic Affairs Glendale Community College
Kristin Laudenslager
View
Kristin Laudenslager Marketing Coordinator
Erika Liodice
View
Erika Liodice Executive Director
Lynette Livingston
View
Lynette Livingston Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Chippewa Valley Technical College
Kathy Malcolm
View
Kathy Malcolm Executive Director of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness Black Hawk College
Rachel McGuire
View
Rachel McGuire Vice President of Student Development & Success NIACC
Demi Michelau
View
Demi Michelau President Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Nick Nissley
View
Nick Nissley President Northwestern Michigan College
Jake Ormond
Jake Ormond Associate Vice President, Institutional Effectiveness Glendale Community College
Cinthia Reyes
View
Cinthia Reyes Executive Director & Dean of Career & Technical Education Arizona Western College
Fred Rice
View
Fred Rice Associate Vice President of Academics Moraine Park Technical College
Steve Rice
View
Steve Rice Finance Coordinator
Michael Rohlena
View
Michael Rohlena Assoc Dean of Instruction for Career & Technical Education Western Iowa Tech Community College
Russ Rothamer
View
Russ Rothamer Executive Vice President Aims Community College
Sandi Scott
Sandi Scott Dean of Students University of Wisconsin-Stout
Jason Slade
View
Jason Slade Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Northwestern Michigan College
Tony Stout
Tony Stout College of Southern Maryland
Mitch Talenfeld
View
Mitch Talenfeld CEO MDT Marketing
Chris Tombari
Chris Tombari Community College of Aurora
Catherine Trouth
View
Catherine Trouth Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research Central Wyoming College
Ashley Van Heest
View
Ashley Van Heest Chief Strategy Officer Jackson College
Liz Wallace
View
Liz Wallace Learning Design Coordinator
Meridith Wentz
View
Meridith Wentz Assistant Chancellor for Planning, Assessment, Research, & Quality University of Wisconsin-Stout
Susan Wood
View
Susan Wood Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Eastern Arizona College
Teena Zindel-McWilliams
View
Teena Zindel-McWilliams Director, Institutional and Academic Planning Richland Community College
1 Other Registered Attendees

For More Information:

Paul Klute
Paul Klute
Technology Coordinator