Vocation & Experiential Learning: The Call to Mentorship
Presbyterian College is proud to host the 2026 NetVUE Regional Gathering, convening faculty, staff, and administrators from across the region to explore a pressing question in undergraduate education today: How does mentorship in experiential learning opportunities foster genuine vocational formation in students?
As higher education continues to grapple with questions of purpose, meaning, and student flourishing, this gathering affirms that the answer lies not in programs alone, but in relationships. When we invite students into meaningful mentoring relationships, whether in research labs, service experiences, congregational settings, career exploration, or other high-impact contexts, we create opportunities where vocational discernment and discovery become possible.
Event Details
September 24-26, 2026
Presbyterian College
Clinton, South Carolina
Registration Deadline:
Friday, August 21, 2026
Goals & Aims
This Regional Gathering is designed to accomplish the following:
- Examine how intentional mentoring within experiential learning contexts can help shape a student’s sense of purpose and calling.
- Share concrete practices that participants can bring back to their own institutions to deepen mentorship culture and vocational programming.
- Explore the relationship between human connection and learning, particularly as higher education increasingly relies on immersive, hands-on models of undergraduate education.
- Foster cross-institutional dialogue among faculty, staff, and administrators who are committed to integrating vocational exploration into campus life.
- Strengthen the regional NetVUE network for sustained collegial relationships across institutions working on vocation and calling in undergraduate education.
Pre-Conference Workshop:
Launching & Leading
the Big Read on Campus
Interested in learning more about NetVUE’s Big Read for this year, Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis by Norman Wirzba? Come early to the Regional Gathering for a workshop that assists campus facilitators in engaging colleagues in thoughtful discussion and purposeful action through the Big Read Program. In this hands-on workshop, we will talk about effective discussion questions, campus activities, and building community through a shared reading experience. Open to everyone—those who are curious about the Big Read, those who have participated before, and those who are signed up to lead the experience on their campus this year. Participants will leave with models and resources to help them get started. Register here for this free workshop.
The workshop is led by Erin VanLaningham, NetVUE director of project development.
Details
September 24, 2026
1:00-4:00pm
Hampton Inn and Suites, 201 E Corporate Center Dr, Clinton, SC 29325 (conference hotel)
Who Should Attend
This gathering is open to faculty, staff, and administrators from NetVUE member and non-member institutions who find vocational formation, mentorship, and experiential learning in higher education important. Whether you lead a chaplaincy, direct a research center, coordinate career development, oversee service-learning, or teach in a classroom, you will find a meaningful place in this conversation.
Featured Speakers
Andy Chan
Vice President for Personal and Career Development
Wake Forest University
Andy Chan is one of the most influential voices in American higher education on the intersection of vocation, career, and whole-person development. He is widely credited with transforming career services at Wake Forest into a nationally recognized model that goes beyond job placement.
At this gathering, Chan will explore how intentional mentoring relationships help students develop vocational clarity, resilience, and a sense of purpose that sustains them across a lifetime, not just into a first job. His talk will challenge participants to reimagine what it means to prepare students for the future and will offer a framework for how mentors in any institutional context can guide students toward lives that matter.
Dr. Austin Shull
Associate Professor of Biology & Director, Center for Inquiry, Research, and Scholarship (CIRAS)
Presbyterian College
Dr. Austin Shull is a cancer biologist and educator who actively mentors undergraduate students through scientific research. His work with CIRAS at Presbyterian College has become a model for how undergraduate research can serve as a space for both scientific training and personal formation.
Dr. Shull’s presentation will draw a compelling parallel between the iterative nature of scientific investigation and the process of discerning one’s vocation. He will argue that the habits of mind developed in the lab, asking hard questions, testing hypotheses, embracing failure, revising and trying again, are precisely the habits that help students navigate uncertainty and discover meaning. His talk will offer practical insight for any educator who mentors students through ambiguity toward discovery.
The Rev. Dr. Buz Wilcoxon
Marianne and E.G. Lassiter Chaplain & Dean of Spiritual Life
Presbyterian College
Rev. Dr. Buz Wilcoxon leads Presbyterian College’s Ecology of Calling Initiative, a comprehensive institutional effort to integrate vocational formation into the full fabric of campus life. The initiative is supported by a $1.25 million grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative.
Wilcoxon’s presentation will explore what he calls “the ecology of calling” where vocational formation does not happen in isolation, but within an interconnected ecosystem where church and academy, mentors and students, personal gifts and communal needs all interact. He will share how experiential mentoring in congregational settings gives students space to test their gifts, serve others, and come to understand themselves as citizens and leaders called to something beyond themselves. His work offers a practical and theological model for institutions seeking to cultivate these vital intersections.
Dr. Terese Lund
Associate Vice Provost for Purposeful Pathways & Associate Professor of Psychology
Wingate University
Dr. Terese Lund is a developmental psychologist whose research and institutional leadership have placed her at the leading edge of purpose formation in higher education. As Associate Vice Provost for Purposeful Pathways at Wingate University, she leads campus-wide efforts to help students connect their classroom learning, experiential opportunities, and deeper sense of calling into a coherent vision for their lives. Dr. Lund is a Principal Investigator in the Purpose Lab, a joint research initiative with Boston College. Her research has consistently found that students who have at least one meaningful mentoring relationship report significantly higher levels of purpose.
She was also a lead architect of Wingate’s CIC-NetVUE Vocation Across the Academy grant in 2022, which brought purpose-discernment and vocation-discovery programming to campus and created a shared language for vocational exploration across faculty, staff, and students. At this gathering, Dr. Lund will bring both scholarly rigor and practical experience to the question of how institutions can scale mentorship and purpose formation beyond individual relationships into structural, campus-wide practices.
Registration
Lodging for Thursday and Friday night is included in the full registration rate. To secure your room, you must book directly with the hotel using the instructions below.
NetVUE Member
- Day Rate (no lodging): $50
- Full Rate (two-night lodging included): $100
Non-Member
- Day Rate (no lodging): $100
- Full Rate (two-night lodging included): $400
Deadline to Register is
August 21, 2026
Deadline to Reserve Your Room is September 3, 2026
The Schedule
We’re excited to welcome you to Presbyterian College. Every session has been thoughtfully designed to inspire conversation, encourage collaboration, and equip you with practical takeaways. Explore the schedule below to see what’s in store.
5:00 – 6:45pm
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Welcome Reception Picnic
Location: Vance Lawn (rain plan: President’s House or Harper Gallery)
Dinner and drinks will be served.
7:00 – 8:00pm
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“Beyond the First Job: Mentoring the Whole Person Toward a Career”
– Speaker Andy Chan
Location: Edmunds Hall
8:30pm
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Transportation: Coach Service
Location: From Presbyterian College to Hotel (Hampton Inn I-26)
Complimentary coach service for registered participants, arriving at 8:30 pm.
8:30 – 9:00am
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Transportation: Coach Service
Location: From Hotel to Neville Hall, Presbyterian College (S Adair Street, Clinton, South Carolina)
Complimentary coach service for registered participants, arriving to PC at 9:00 am.
(Complimentary hot breakfast buffet available at hotel before departure)
8:30 – 9:30am
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Check-in
Location: Central lobby, Neville Hall
9:30 – 10:00am
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Welcome
– Anita Gustafson, Presbyterian College President
– Austin Shull, Director of PC’s Center for Inquiry, Research & Scholarship
Location: Kuhne Auditorium, Neville Hall
10:00 – 11:00am
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“Building A Culture of Purpose”
– Speaker Terese Lund
Location: Kuhne Auditorium, Neville Hall
11:00 – 11:15am
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Break
11:15am – 12:15pm
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Breakout Discussions
Location: Neville Classrooms
12:30 – 2:30pm
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Lunch & Free Time
Location: Cornelson Lobby, Neville Hall
Catering provided by Presbyterian College’s AVI Catering.
Free Time Options will include:
- Explore campus, visit Harper Art Gallery, walk the grounds, or relax before the afternoon session
- Poster Fair Session of PC experiential learning programs in Thomason Library (led by student presenters)
2:30 – 4:15pm
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Panel Discussions: The Opportunities for Vocational Mentorship
through Experiential Learning
– Led by Austin Shull & Buz Wilcoxon
- 2:30 – 3:15pm | Topic 1: Mentoring Service in The College, The Church, & The Community
- (Wilcoxon with representatives from PC’s Ecology of Calling Program)
- 3:15 – 3:30pm | Break
- 3:30 – 4:15pm | Topic 2: Mentoring in Inquiry, Research, & Scholarship
- (Shull with representatives from PC’s CIRAS Program)
Location: Kuhne Auditorium, Neville Hall
4:00 – 6:30pm
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Evening Reception / Dinner
Location: Lumberyard Draft & Wine Bar, 115 Gary St, Clinton, SC 29325
6:30pm – TBD
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After Dinner Music / Entertainment
Location: Lumberyard Draft & Wine Bar, 115 Gary St, Clinton, SC 29325
6:30pm – TBD
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Transportation: Coach Service
Location: From Presbyterian College to Hotel
Complimentary coach service for registered participants at scheduled intervals.
(Transportation schedule will be determined by participant demand)
8:45am
|
Transportation: Coach Service
Location: From Hotel to Neville Hall, Presbyterian College
Complimentary coach service for registered participants, arriving to PC at 9:15 am.
(Complimentary hot breakfast buffet and checkout at hotel before departure)
9:15 – 9:30am
|
Check-in
Location: Central lobby, Neville Hall
9:30 – 10:30am
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“Where Are We Now? Mapping Mentorship in Experiential Learning”
– Led by Buz Wilcoxon & Austin Shull
Location: Kuhne Auditorium, Neville Hall
A guided reflection where participants will work in small cross-institutional groups to consider:
- Where is intentional mentorship already working well in experiential learning on your campus, and what makes it effective?
- Where is it absent or underdeveloped, and why?
- Are mentoring relationships oriented toward whole-person vocational formation or primarily toward task completion?
- What barriers limit mentorship in these spaces?
The session closes with each participant identifying one gap to address in Workshop II.
10:30 – 11:00am
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Break
11:00am – 12:00pm
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Workshop II: “Building Vocational Mentorship
in Experiential Learning”
– Led by Buz Wilcoxon & Austin Shull
Location: Kuhne Auditorium, Neville Hall
A hands-on design session where participants develop a mentoring practice to bring back to their institution. Working from the gaps identified in Workshop I, participants will:
- Draft a practice: Who mentors, in what context, how often, and what reflection is built in?
- Stress-test the design with table partners on feasibility and sustainability
- Refine it into something they are willing to pilot in the coming academic year
12:00 – 12:30pm
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Closing Remarks
Location: Kuhne Auditorium, Neville Hall
12:30pm
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To-Go boxed lunches available
The Venue
Presbyterian College Campus
Sessions will be held in Neville Hall and Edmunds Hall, two of Presbyterian College’s most recognized historic buildings. Neville Hall, renovated in 2017, houses Kuhne Auditorium — the primary plenary space — which features theater-style seating, full audio-visual presentation capabilities, and accessibility features. Smaller breakout discussions and facilitated conversations will take place in Neville Hall classrooms, which offer flexible configurations for panel discussions and small group work.
Presbyterian College’s compact, walkable campus offers campus-wide wireless internet access and ample parking throughout, creating an inviting atmosphere for connection and conversation between sessions.
Hotel: Hampton Inn & Suites Clinton – I-26
Overnight accommodations are available at the Hampton Inn & Suites Clinton – I-26, located just off I-26 and three miles from campus. Lodging for Thursday and Friday nights is included in the full registration rate — but you must book your room separately using the instructions below.
Hotel amenities include:
- Complimentary hot breakfast buffet
- Free WiFi and free parking
- Indoor pool and fitness center
- 24-hour market and business center
- Guest rooms with microwave, mini fridge, coffee maker, and work desk
Complimentary Transportation:
Complimentary coach transportation between the hotel and campus is provided on Thursday evening, Friday morning and evening, and Saturday morning for all registered guests.
Hotel Booking Instructions
While lodging costs are covered by your full registration, rooms are not automatically reserved upon sign-up. To secure your room, you must book directly with the hotel using the group code below. Deadline to reserve your room is September 3, 2026
To Book Online
The nights of September 24-25 are covered by your registration fee. Additional nights at the group rate may be added at your own expense.
- Use the button below to access our group reservation page — the group code will be applied automatically.
- If needed, adjust your arrival and departure dates, then click “Update Search.”
- Select your preferred room type and click “Select and Book” to complete your reservation.
To Book By Phone
Call Hampton Inn & Suites at 864-938-1040 and ask to reserve a room using the group block Higher Education Conference and group code CHH90E for September 23-24, 2026.
Airport & Travel Information
Closest Airports
Approximately 45 minutes away via I-385 and I-26
Roughly an hour’s drive west on I-26
Travelers connecting through a larger hub can also fly into CLT, about two hours away via I-85 S and I-26
Airport to PC
From any of these airports, the most direct route to the conference hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites Clinton – I-26 (201 East Corporate Center Drive, Clinton, SC 29325), is via I-26 to the Clinton exit (I-26 exit 54), with the hotel sitting just off the interstate, about three miles from campus.
Rental cars and rideshare (Uber / Lyft) are both available at all three airports. Keep in mind that ride availability at GSP and CAE reflect the pace of a regional airport, so pickups may take a little longer than that of a metropolitan hub. We suggest booking your ride ahead of time to help make sure travel to the hotel goes smoothly when you land.
Questions? Contact:
ABOUT NetVUE
The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) is a network of colleges and universities committed to deepening the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation. Administered by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), NetVUE supports institutions in cultivating meaningful conversations about calling, purpose, and vocation across all aspects of campus life. Regional Gatherings like this one are a cornerstone of that mission that brings together practitioners for focused, collaborative learning.
This event is made possible by the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), and administered by the Council of Independent Colleges with generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc.