2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This evidence-based practice paper describes the design and impact of a national convening aimed at addressing leadership challenges among graduate student leaders within National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Centers (ERCs). The overarching goal of the convening was to foster leadership skills, collaboration, shared learning, and a sense of community within graduate student leaders from across the ERCs. Developing graduate student leadership is critical for both individual professional growth and the long-term success of ERCs. While Student Leadership Councils (SLCs), mandated by the NSF ERC Program, provide leadership opportunities, graduate student leaders often face challenges related to leadership turnover and limited opportunities for cross-center learning. To address these gaps, twenty-four graduate student leaders from 14 ERCs were convened for a 2-day ERC Meeting for Graduate Student Leaders in March of 2025. The meeting built on a prior 2024 ERC Conference for Leaders that included both education and graduate student leaders. These two convenings were supported through NSF funding to the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR). At the 2025 graduate student-only meeting, the goals were to: 1. strengthen personal and professional connections, 2. foster a collaborative community for sharing best practices and forging collaborations, and 3. establish sustainable structures to support leadership continuity. Most of the participants were SLC representatives with roles such as president/chair, vice president/co-chair, professional development liaison, or industry liaison. The design of the meeting was based on lessons learned from the earlier conference that demonstrated: 1. the value of a facilitated discussion approach to enhance engagement and collaboration and 2. the importance of cultivating an environment of connection and trust. Four ERC education directors and a former ERC graduate student leader planned the meeting. A second ERC-savvy graduate student was added to help implement the facilitator discussion approach. To address the importance of a conducive environment, the meeting was deliberately held at the same venue to leverage the familiar trust-building setting among participants of the previous conference. Results confirmed that the event provided a highly conducive environment for learning, engagement, and collaboration. Assessment results (100% response rate) indicated a highly effective meeting experience. Participants were pleased with the conference logistics and session format, with 96% of participants rating the facilitated discussion approach as “excellent” or “very good.” Further, all of the sessions were rated by the majority of participants as “very useful” or “useful.” Newer leaders reported the greatest benefits, though all participants emphasized gains in networking, confidence, and cross-center collaboration. Participants developed concrete follow-up plans, including creating ongoing communication channels and shared professional initiatives. Graduate leaders described the conference experience as “invaluable” and “transformative” and emphasized how it positively impacted them personally and professionally to have forged this new community of SLC/graduate student leaders. There was also widespread appreciation for how this meeting would have long-lasting, broader benefits for their ERC. Findings support the institutionalization of an annual convening to sustain collaboration, strengthen leadership capacity, and enhance the long-term impact of graduate student leadership via the SLC across the NSF ERCs.