Home - Upper Peninsula Teaching & Learning Conference

We’re excited to announce that the Call for Proposals is now closed for the 2026 Upper Peninsula Teaching and Learning Conference (UPTLC)!  The selected presenters have been notified and a full schedule is available at our sched site.

This year’s conference will be hosted at Northern Michigan University on May 28–29, 2026. 

The UPTLC brings together educators from across the Upper Peninsula to share effective teaching practices, innovative ideas, and strategies that enhance student learning.

Conference Tracks

• Teaching with Technology - Explore innovative technologies that enhance teaching and learning. Topics in this track may include the use of generative AI, digital tools that improve engagement and learning, or technologies that transform instruction and support student success. Presenters will showcase creative applications of generative AI, simulation, virtual or augmented reality, and other technologies that foster collaboration and skill development.
• High-Impact Practices and Experiences - Examine how High-Impact Practices (HIPs) create meaningful learning experiences for students. Sessions in this track will highlight HIPs as defined by AAC&U, such as undergraduate research, service learning, internships, learning communities, ePortfolios, capstone projects, and writing-intensive courses. Presenters are encouraged to share their approaches, case studies, or research on the implementation and effectiveness of HIPs in their courses or programs.
• Supporting Accessibility and Belonging - Learn about strategies for creating equitable, accessible, and inclusive learning environments. Topics will include Universal Design for Learning (UDL), accessible course materials, culturally responsive teaching, and approaches that promote belonging and academic success. Presenters will share methods to reduce barriers, celebrate diversity, and strengthen student support.
• Innovations in Teaching and Learning - Discover creative and novel teaching practices that elevate student learning and performance. Sessions may feature new approaches to course design, assessment, gamification, mastery-based learning, or interdisciplinary instruction that boost engagement, skill development, or workplace readiness. Presenters are encouraged to share emerging ideas and classroom-tested strategies that push the boundaries of traditional teaching.

UPTLC History

For several years, Northern Michigan University's and Michigan Technological University's Centers for Teaching Learning team members would run into each other at regional and national teaching conferences. Sometimes we would have been able to bring along some a few faculty members, and we'd talk about how we wished we could bring more. However, as all of us who live and work in the U.P. know, even "regional" conferences are usually at least a five hour drive away, making both funding and logistics challenging. We decided that if we couldn't bring more of our faculty to the existing conferences, we'd instead create a conference closer to our faculty . . . and the UPTLC was born.

• 2017 - The first UPTLC at MTU 
• 2018 - NMU hosted
• 2019 - MTU
• 2020 - LSSU was welcomed into the fold and poised to take the reins, then you guessed it -- COVID
• 2021 - LSSU - hosted a Virtual Series over the academic year
• 2022 - NMU
• 2023 - LSSU - they wanted to show they can do this virtually and in person!
• 2024 - Bay College -- Adding more and more to the experience
• 2025 - MTU
• 2026 - The triumphant return to NMU
• 2027 - (in the planning stage at LSSU)

Moving forward, we're hoping both to grow the number of participants, and to have more presenters and attendees from other Upper Peninsula institutions. Our focus is UP universities and colleges, but we also welcome participation from institutions outside the UP.  After all, we usually have to travel hundreds of miles to get to regional conferences.