Posted: May 5, 2026
The University of Florida became the epicenter of graduate education in the state April 22-24, 2026 as its Graduate School hosted CFGS 2026: The Conference of Florida Graduate Schools.
Hosted by a different Florida university from year to year, the 2026 iteration of this annual event drew nearly 100 graduate administrators, staffers, and students from 13 public and private higher education institutions across the state to UF’s Gainesville campus to focus on the theme “Future Focused Leadership.”
Left: UF Graduate School Dean Nicole Stedman opens CFGS 2026 with words of welcome. Right: Dr. Shinlay Rivera (UF Counseling and Wellness Center) and Mr. Chris Walker (UF GradCARE Assistant Director) speak on strategies for helping graduate students in distress.
The H-Factor
Setting the tone for the conference was keynote speaker Dr. Matthew Sowcik — internationally recognized leadership expert, bestselling author of The H-Factor: The Intersection Between Humility and Great Leadership, and a UF Department of Agricultural Education and Communication associate professor. His address focused on humility as the overlooked key to leadership that builds trust and drives momentum toward impactful outcomes for a more favorable future.
Leadership expert and bestselling author Dr. Matthew Sowcik (UF Department of Agricultural Education and Communication) talks about the intersection of humility and leadership.
Workshops Galore
Administrators, staffers, and students met in morning and afternoon workshops geared to their specific graduate education concerns and challenges.
Administrator workshops focused on exploring new, nimbler tactics to address tectonic shifts in the rapidly changing landscape of higher education. Topics included strategic planning with shorter-term visioning, reducing workforce burnout for a more humane workplace, and roundtable discussion on recruitment, enrollment, programming, and funding.
Staffer workshops delved into cultivating caring environments to ease student distress, meeting students where they are through scalable, empowering outreach that bolsters their success, and “lightning round” presentations on best practices for launching, enhancing, and sustaining impactful programs, drawing on lived experience from across CFGS institutions.
Student workshops included a panel discussion on turning research into opportunity through entrepreneurial thinking and collaborative networking, a session on cultivating humility to drive visibility and agency as emerging scholars, and guided reflection on how to develop practical, adaptable mentoring tools to advance academic and professional growth.
Left: Conference attendees exchange perspectives on the sidelines. Right: Students showcased their graduate research in poster presentation sessions.
Student Engagement
Student attendees at the conference also showcased their academic chops through two research poster presentation sessions and a statewide Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, in which contenders had a mere three minutes to share their research in an engaging manner to a nonspecialist audience. All three venues highlighted the phenomenal breadth and depth of graduate scholarship taking place all across Florida.
Food and Fun
The conference made time for food and fun as well. Along with breakfasts and lunch, there were opening receptions for professionals at Malachowsky Hall and for students at the Reitz Union Game Room. The crowning social event of the conference was the catered CFGS Dinner on Campus held in The Gator Room, UF’s high-end hospitality spot in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of Florida Gators football.
Many Hands, Light Work
Many stakeholders made the conference possible. Corporate sponsors included Academic Analytics, Duolingo English Test, ETS (Educational Testing Service), the Gardner Institute, Graduate Career Services (Beyond Graduate School and Beyond the Professoriate) and Liaison. Among its campus partners were the UF Office of the Provost, UF New Student & Family Programs, and the UF Graduate Student Council. And the muscle that pulled it all together was Team Grad School — some 30 UF Graduate School employees who covered everything from initial marketing to final clean-up for this statewide event.
Future Focused
From start to finish, the conference bore witness that graduate education in the state of Florida is alive and kicking — energized, resilient, and forward-thinking, with an eye on leading the way into the future.
To view the conference website, click this link: CFGS 2026: Future Focused Leadership.
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