ISAC Student PortalISAC Communiqué
Volume 34, Number 10C
April 2025
| Messages sent to: | Multiple Subscription Groups |
| ISAC Communiqué |
Welcome to the April 2025 ISAC Communiqué, which is a compilation of e-Messages sent through ISAC's e-Messaging service throughout April.
The articles in this electronic Communiqué have been organized according to the Counselor subscription groups to which the messages were distributed.
Questions?
Questions regarding information in this electronic Communiqué can be directed to School Services at 866.247.2172 or at [email protected]. On occasion, you may be directed to a specific contact person or area; when this occurs, we will provide the appropriate information in the individual article or message.
Don't Forget: Submit Your CCE Conference Proposal
Sent to Principals/Superintendents/Administrators, High School Counselors/Teachers, College Admissions Counselors, Community Organizations, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange High School Participants, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange College Participants, and Public Libraries on April 29, 2025.
How do we build community?
July 17, 2025 – Tinley Park Convention Center
Please play an active role in helping make the 2025 College Changes Everything® (CCE) conference a valuable peer-to-peer learning experience by submitting an interest session proposal to share your insights, experiences, and creative solutions.
One of the significant strengths of the conference comes from sessions developed and led by dedicated educators and professionals like you who highlight programs, resources, and partnerships impacting student success. Each year the conference draws a broad group of professionals and stakeholders, and we welcome proposals that cover a wide range of topics related to college access and completion and career readiness. Such topics might include and are not limited to: college and career readiness; student retention, persistence, and completion; programs and services for underrepresented students; educational equity; student wellness and emotional support; career and technical education; partnerships; career development experiences; education, business, and the economy; college costs, financial aid, and affordability; and community stakeholder engagement. In support of the conference theme, session proposals also should explain how the information shared contributes to helping meet the needs of our students during this time of change, building community, and demonstrating best practices and lessons learned. Attendees look for sessions that provide in-depth information, practical ideas, and best practices and specific strategies. You're invited to complete the online session proposal form (more information about interest session submission is available on the conference web page).
Deadline – Priority consideration will be given to complete session proposals submitted by May 6, 2025.
Please share this email with colleagues in your organizations and others in your network so they can join us on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at the Tinley Park Convention Center, Tinley Park, Illinois. Registration for the conference will open later this spring.
2025 College Changes Everything Conference Planning Committee
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Illinois Board of Higher Education
- Illinois Community College Board
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Illinois Department of Employment Security
- Illinois State Board of Education
- Illinois College Access Network
- Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities
- Advance Illinois
- Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University
- ACT Now
- Women Employed
- iCan Dream Center
by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.
Helping Illinois reach its Goal 2025: to increase the proportion
of adults in Illinois with high-quality college degrees and
postsecondary credentials to 60% by the year 2025.
There's Still Time to Share Your Thoughts!
Sent to Principals/Superintendents/Administrators, High School Counselors/Teachers, College Admissions Counselors, Community Organizations, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange High School Participants, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange College Participants, and Public Libraries on April 24, 2025.
ISAC is gathering feedback on past events to enhance future programming and more effectively support professionals throughout Illinois.
Even if you haven’t attended an event recently, we want to hear from you—your input helps us understand your needs and address barriers to participation.
Please complete the survey by Friday, May 2nd.
Thank you for your time and valuable feedback!
For questions, contact [email protected].
ISAC Training and Development Staff
Help Shape Future ISAC Events – We Value Your Feedback!
Sent to Principals/Superintendents/Administrators, High School Counselors/Teachers, College Admissions Counselors, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange High School Participants, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange College Participants, Community Organizations, and Public Libraries on April 17, 2025.
ISAC has hosted a variety of conferences and symposiums in recent years to provide higher education-related tools, resources, and information to professionals and organizations across Illinois—and now, we’re gathering feedback to learn how these events have supported you and your colleagues, and how we can improve our future offerings.
Even if you haven’t attended an ISAC event recently, we still want your input! Your feedback can help us better understand what barriers may be preventing participation and how we can make future events more accessible and relevant to you.
Please take a few minutes to complete the ISAC Event Feedback Survey by Friday, May 2nd.
Your responses will help us shape future professional development opportunities that reflect your needs and experiences.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts—we truly value your input!
For questions, contact [email protected].
ISAC Training and Development Staff
2025 CCE Conference: Save the Date & Call for Proposals
Sent to Sent to Principals/Superintendents/Administrators, High School Counselors/Teachers, College Admissions Counselors, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange High School Participants, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange College Participants, Community Organizations, and Public Libraries on April 15, 2025.
2025 CCE: How do we build community?
In uncertain and changing times, hope becomes a vital anchor that enables people to navigate challenges with resilience and purpose and with a sense of belonging and community. Please join us at the 2025 College Changes Everything® (CCE) conference and be part of the conversations as we engage with the question: How do we build community?
This year we invite you to gather not only to explore new ideas and strategies but also to actively build community that sparks inspiration and action. By engaging in meaningful dialogue and sharing best practices informed by experience, participants actively contribute to building a network of mutual support and understanding. Together, we can embody the powerful notion that hope is not just a feeling, but a shared commitment to shaping a brighter future for our students because we know education matters.
As we've come together at CCE conferences over the years (this year will be the 15th conference), we've learned how students are not isolated individuals: they are interconnected, actively participating in a rich tapestry of communities that include their peers, families, academic institutions, and the broader society. As we examine this year's conference question in greater depth, we can also look at these questions:
- How can our community better understand and meet the needs of our students? Answers to this question can help us build a shared understanding as to why they don't have what they need.
- How can we strengthen and expand our community? As we explored last year, community can have different meanings. One way to answer this question might be leveraging and making connections between different communities in order to strengthen each of them through those connections and explore ways to provide mutual aid.
- How can our community work together to marshal resources for our most vulnerable students? We can explore new ways for participatory problem solving through collective action, rather than waiting for others to do it for us and our students.
Call for Proposals: Due May 6, 2025
Please consider helping to make this conference a valuable professional development and collaborative experience by submitting a conference interest session proposal. Click here to access the session proposal form. Presenting at the CCE conference is a terrific way to support and engage in active learning with colleagues, share your knowledge and stories with a diverse audience, enrich your own professional growth, and help build community.
As the conference draws a broad group of professionals and stakeholders, we welcome proposals that cover a wide range of topics related to college access and completion and career readiness. Such topics might include and are not limited to: college and career readiness; student retention, persistence, and completion; programs and services for underrepresented students; educational equity; student wellness and emotional support; career and technical education; partnerships; career development experiences; education, business, and the economy; college costs, financial aid, and affordability; and community stakeholder engagement.
In support of the conference theme, session proposals also should explain how the information shared contributes to helping meet the needs of our students during this time of change, building community, and demonstrating best practices and lessons learned. Priority consideration will be given to session proposal forms completed and submitted by Tuesday, May 6, 2025. For more details on submitting a proposal, please visit the conference website.
Please share this e-mail with colleagues in your organizations and others in your network so they can join us on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at the Tinley Park Convention Center, Tinley Park, Illinois.
2025 College Changes Everything Conference Planning Committee
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Illinois Board of Higher Education
- Illinois Community College Board
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Illinois Department of Employment Security
- Illinois State Board of Education
- Illinois College Access Network
- Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities
- Advance Illinois
- Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University
- ACT Now
- Women Employed
- iCan Dream Center
by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.
Helping Illinois reach its Goal 2025: to increase the proportion
of adults in Illinois with high-quality college degrees and
postsecondary credentials to 60% by the year 2025.
Do You Send Paper Transcripts? Make the Switch to Electronic, It's Easy!
Sent to Principals/Superintendents/Administrators, High School Counselors/Teachers, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange High School Participants, and Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange College Participants on April 3, 2025.
Don't forget to register and join ISAC for a webinar to hear about this great opportunity!
The ISAC Transcript Exchange is available at no cost at all
Illinois public and private high schools!
The ISAC Transcript Exchange, powered by Parchment, provides the opportunity for high school students to request their transcripts and other credentials be sent electronically to the college(s) of their choice, the Common App, and other organizations requesting transcripts (e.g., scholarship providers and third-party verifications).
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is highlighting the importance of every high school in Illinois developing and submitting a “school profile” as part of a new initiative from the state of Illinois aimed at helping Illinois students apply to colleges and universities. Research shows detailed information in a profile can help admission officers more fairly evaluate students’ accomplishments, thus promoting more equitable admission outcomes. You can learn more about this initiative and access the ISBE School Profile Toolkit on ISBE’S website.
ISAC can assist in having your school profiles submitted to colleges and universities directly through the ISAC Transcript Exchange.
The ISAC Transcript Exchange - Parchment Preview
Join us on Thursday, April 10, from 10-10:45 a.m. (CT) to learn about the ISAC Transcript Exchange, how to navigate the student and administrator dashboards, and gain efficiencies by switching from paper to electronic transcripts. Attendees will hear directly from a school professional on how the ISAC Transcript Exchange has made a difference at their school and for their students.
To register, visit the Professional Development Offerings page
For questions on ISAC's Transcript Exchange, contact [email protected].
Note: ISAC will not be offering Continuing Education or Professional Development hours for this webinar.
ISAC Transcript Exchange - Final Transcript Webinar
Sent to Principals/Superintendents/Administrators, High School Counselors/Teachers, Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange High School Participants, and Illinois Electronic Transcript Exchange College Participants on April 2, 2025.
It’s that time of year again – Final Transcript Season. As you are working to provide final transcripts for your students via the ISAC Transcript Exchange, powered by Parchment, plan to participate in one of the webinars being offered by Parchment. In these informative webinars, best practices will be reviewed to make the most of Final Transcript Season and your Transcript Exchange account as a whole. The webinar will explore how to:
- Effectively communicate with students on requesting final transcripts
- Guide students on placing a "hold for grades" request
- Upload a student roster
- Batch upload final transcripts
- Confirm your grades have been posted
- And so much more!
Please register for one of the events below. If you can't attend the live event but would still like to view the webinar, please register and Parchment will send you a link to the recording.
- Tuesday, April 8th at 12 p.m. (CT) – Click here to register
- Tuesday, April 15th at 12 p.m. (CT) – Click here to register
For questions on ISAC's Transcript Exchange, contact [email protected].
March 2025 ISAC Communiqué
Sent on April 1, 2025.
The March 2025 edition of the ISAC Communiqué is now available for your review, and may be accessed via the Partner e-Messages & Newsletters section of the e-Library for Partners at isac.org. This electronic version of ISAC's newsletter is a compilation of information provided to Counselor partners via ISAC's e-Messaging service over the past month.
Topics covered in the March 2025 ISAC Communiqué include:
- Reminder to Register for ISAC's Spring PaCE Framework Trainings
(sent March 31, 2025) - Do You Send Paper Transcripts? Make the Switch to Electronic, It's Easy!
(sent March 13, 2025) - 2025-26 MAP Start-up Formula Is Being Revised to Keep Awards at 2024-25 Levels
(sent March 12, 2025) - Register Now for ISAC's Spring PaCE Framework Training!
(sent March 12, 2025) - Reminder to Join ISAC for Free PaCE and Professional Development Webinars this Spring!
(sent March 4, 2025) - February 2025 ISAC Communiqué
(sent March 3, 2025)
Encourage Your Colleagues to Sign Up for e-Messaging
ISAC's e-Messaging service is our primary means of communicating information to Counselor partners.
Encourage your colleagues who have not done so to subscribe through the Counselors e-Messaging sign-up page at isac.org today, so that they won't miss future announcements or updates from ISAC.
