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Why You Should Attend The Online Hope Science Higher Ed Summit

The Hope Science Higher Ed Summit brings together scholars and practitioners to provide College and University administrators, faculty and professional staff an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Science of Hope, and how it can be applied as an innovative and human-centered approach to higher education. Participants will learn tangible and highly effective ways to apply this important research-based framework to their lives, work and community. This gathering creates a space for meaningful dialogue, collaboration, and the sharing of practices that inspire connection and resilience across learning environments.

About the Science of Hope

The Science of Hope offers a research-based framework for strengthening success and well-being. In this approach, hope is defined as the ability to set meaningful goals, identify workable pathways to reach them, and maintain the motivation to move forward. Decades of evidence show that hopeful people persist longer, adapt more effectively to challenges, and experience better personal outcomes. Because hope can be measured and intentionally developed, it provides colleges and universities with a practical and highly effective framework for supporting learners, creating environments where students feel capable, connected, and empowered. Higher education communities can also successfully cultivate a Hope Science framework into every aspect of their campus - from individual advising to institutional culture.

Registration

Student Early Bird
(until 3/8/2026)		 Attendee
$450 $495 $550

Refund Policy: All registration fees are non-refundable. Since the Summit provides on-demand access to multiple sessions, registrants will retain access to the content after event is completed for one year. 

 
Register Now

Program Schedule Overview

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Day One: April 8th

(10:45am - 12:00pm)

Opening Keynote: Intro to Hope with Chan Hellman

(12:30pm - 2:30pm)

Breakout Sessions

  • Track 1: Student, Student Affairs, and Staff Support
  • Track 2: Professional Staff and Administrators
  • Track 3: Faculty in the Classroom

(3:00pm - 5:00pm)

Breakout Sessions

  • Track 1: Student, Student Affairs, and Staff Support
  • Track 2: Professional Staff and Administrators
  • Track 3: Faculty in the Classroom

Day Two: April 9th

(11:00am - 12:00pm)

Coffee Chat

(12:30pm - 2:30pm)

Breakout Sessions

  • Track 1: Student, Student Affairs, and Staff Support
  • Track 2: Professional Staff and Administrators
  • Track 3: Faculty in the Classroom

(3:00pm - 4:15pm)

Closing Keynote: “The Why” of Hope Panel

Our Mission

Hope Higher Ed Summit provides a research-based approach for higher education communities to be a catalyst for human and community flourishing.

Hope Co-Conveners

With more than 15 years of research into the science of hope and more than 20 years as a university professor, Chan Hellman, Ph.D., focuses on sharing the science and power of hope in our ability to overcome trauma and thrive in life. He has worked with numerous human service organizations, corporations, state agencies, school districts and national coalitions to create hope-centered strategic plans.

Dr. Hellman is widely recognized as one of the leading hope scholars in the world. Based upon his evidence-backed research in the science of hope, his Hope Centered curriculum is a registered copyright under the trademark Hope Centered and Trauma Informed®.

In 2021 he presented a TEDx talk and provided a hope workshop in Jane Goodall’s Activating Hope Summit with an estimated 1 million+ participants. Elected officials in Europe and the United Kingdom have begun efforts to implement Dr. Hellman’s strategies and trainings to become cities of hope.

Previous clients include municipalities, school districts, non-profit organizations, privately-held corporations, publicly-traded companies, and governmental agencies.

To date, almost 10,000 individuals have completed Dr. Hellman’s Hope Centered training in the United States and abroad, including participants in Turkey, Germany, Italy, Belgium, England, and Northern Ireland.

He co-founded Hope Rising Oklahoma with Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt and the Sarah Stitt Hope Foundation and he is the co-author of “Hope Rising: How The Science of Hope Can Change Your Life” a best-selling book published by Morgan James. He holds a doctor of philosophy degree and he’s published more than 150 scholarly publications.

Chan Hellman, PhD

Founding Director of the Hope Research Center & Professor

Ph.D., Oklahoma State University
M.A., University of Central Oklahoma
B.A., Northwestern Oklahoma State University

Dr. Pharris joined the University of Oklahoma in 2017. She is an Associate Professor, Director of the Child Welfare Impact Institute, and a Senior Researcher at the Hope Research Center.

Dr. Pharris’s current research is in child welfare and human service organizations and the application of Hope Centered and Trauma-Informed framework. Hope is a psychological strength, a buffer to stress, adversity, and burnout, and a hopeful mindset that improves organizational and individual outcomes. She is interested in the impact of intervention services, which improve program outcomes and client well-being. Hope is a psychological strength, a buffer to stress, adversity, and burnout, and a hopeful mindset that improve various of individual and organizational outcomes. She is interested in the impact of utilizing the framework as a model for services aimed at improving program outcomes and client well-being.

Dr. Pharris is particularly interested in programs and services in child welfare, including programs created to serve older youth in foster care and those who turn 18 while still in foster care. She also uses research to improve support for the child welfare workforce. Dr. Pharris is also the principal investigator and evaluator of several projects, including the Child Welfare Professional Enhancement Program, the adaption of simulation-based training in child welfare, and implementing hope as a framework for human service practices grants.

Angela Pharris, PhD, MSW

Associate Professor, Director of the Child Welfare Impact Institute
Senior Researcher at the Hope Research Center

Ph.D., Tennessee State University
MSW - Spalding University
BS - Middle Tennessee University

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Contact Us

Have questions or need more information? Reach out to us at swchrs@ou.edu.