October 21-23, 2026, at the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, CA.
We look forward to welcoming members of Colleges of Liberal Arts Sponsored Programs back to Southern California on October 21-23, 2026 for the CLASP Annual Conference! CLASP is a community of practice for sponsored programs and grant professionals at liberal arts colleges and other primarily undergraduate institutions.
The program is being hosted this year by three of the seven Claremont Colleges: Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Pomona. The Conference Hosts are:
Dean Gerstein, Pomona College
Beth Jager, Claremont McKenna College
Nicole Wallens, Harvey Mudd College
Conference Overview
Location, Travel and Lodging
Claremont
The Claremont Colleges are located together in the historic inland “City of Trees and PhDs” in the Pomona Valley, on famous Route 66. Claremont sits at the feet of the majestic San Gabriel mountains, 33 freeway miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. Claremont is a quintessential college town, with more than 150 shops and 70 restaurants in a 15-block “Village” area adjacent to campus, along with municipal parks; the Bernard Field Station, an 85-acre preservation habitat and ecological study area owned by the Colleges; and the California Botanic Garden, which is the largest garden dedicated entirely to the study and cultivation of nearly 22,000 California native plants.
Then there is the rest of Southern California, aka “L.A.”: the beaches, canals, hills, mountains, deserts, palms, missions, ranchos, Hollywood, Disneyland, Rodeo Drive, Chinatown, “the Valley”, OC, the Getty, the Rose Bowl…
On each day of the conference we will meet at one of the seven contiguous Claremont Colleges: Claremont McKenna on Wednesday, Pomona on Thursday, Harvey Mudd on Friday. Please view the Campus Map.
We will be posting a form as the conference date approaches to collect travel information that might facilitate ride shares from airports. We are arranging transportation between the reserved hotel and conference venues. In the meantime, we are providing further information below about travel to Claremont and the campus conference locations.
Travel
Air
Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the most convenient air link to Claremont, 10 miles and 15 to 25 minutes away, depending on the time of day. ONT has non-stop connections to/from most of the major airline hubs in the Pacific, Mountain, and Southwestern states as well as to/from Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Baltimore/Washington, and New York (JFK)). The cost of an Uber or Lyft between ONT and Claremont is around $40.
Extensive air connections are also available to/from Los Angeles International (LAX) and to a much lesser extent three other regional airports: Burbank/Hollywood, John Wayne/Orange County, and Long Beach. LAX and the others are 35 to 50 miles from Claremont and, depending on the time of day/density of traffic, can take 2 hours or more in transit time, so we recommend ONT if feasible.
Driving/Parking
Claremont is readily accessible from the west and east via Interstates 10 and 210. The hotel (see below) is about one mile from the conference sites and the Claremont Village, next to a Trader Joe’s and numerous restaurants and shops.
There is unmetered street parking near each of the meeting sites that requires no permits, but finding a space sometimes requires hunting.
Claremont McKenna College (Wednesday)
Limited visitor parking is available near Claremont McKenna’s Robert Day Sciences Center (Claremont Boulevard & Ninth Street), the site of Wednesday’s conference sessions. We will provide more parking details as nearby construction activity clears and information becomes available.
There is a small visitors lot next to the Thursday conference site, Pomona’s Smith Campus Center, on Sixth Street east of College Ave, but the main resource is public street parking along College Avenue and the street grid to the west. Pomona also has a large, free public parking garage on the south edge of campus at First and Columbia.
Street parking for Harvey Mudd College is available on Foothill Boulevard on the north side of campus and Platt Boulevard on the south side.
Lodging
We have reserved a room block at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Claremont between Tuesday, October 20 and Saturday, October 24. The negotiated conference rate is $174/night plus taxes and fees.
The link to reserve your room at the Doubletree is https://group.doubletree.com/mincgx
and select Group Code: CLA
The final deadline for Doubletree room block reservations is Sept. 30, 2026, but we recommend booking as soon as possible.
The Doubletree Hotel Claremont is within walking distance of the Colleges and Claremont Village (about a mile, give or take a third) and offers free guest parking. We will coordinate morning and evening shuttle service between the hotel and conference locations. There is also a hotel in the Village, Case 425 + Lounge, at about double the cost.
Provisional Agenda – 2026 CLASP Conference
Program Committee:
Broede Armstrong, College of Wooster
Quinn Arnold, Carleton College
Krista Campbell, Hamilton College
Cara Martin-Tetreault, Bowdoin College
Day 0 – Tuesday, October 20
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Afternoon/Evening | Travel, dinner on your own or with a self-organized group |
Day 1 – Wednesday, October 21
Claremont McKenna College, Robert Day Science Center
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:15 – 10:15 a.m. | CLASP Steering Committee (CSC) Meeting |
| 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Registration and check-in |
| 9:45 – 10:30 a.m. | Shuttles from Claremont Doubletree Hotel to Day Center (~1.5 miles) |
| 10:45 – 11 a.m. | Welcome and Introductions |
| 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Session 1: A Conversation with Shannon McHugh, The Huntington Library |
| 12 – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch Break |
| 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. | Session 2: PUIs and Peer Review, Reflections from On-campus and Virtual Pilots, with Brenda Thomas, Williams College |
| 2:30 – 2:45 p.m. | Break |
| 2:45 – 4 p.m. | Session 3: Using Data to Tell Your Grants Story, with Maggie Shergill, Hope College |
| 4:15 – 5 p.m. | Tour of Robert Day Science Center |
| 5 – 6 p.m. | Networking Reception |
| 5:45 – 6:30 p.m. | Shuttles from Day Center to Claremont Doubletree Hotel Dinner on your own in Claremont with Suggestions from Host Committee |
Day 2 – Thursday, October 22
Pomona College, Smith Campus Center
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 7:15 - 7:45 a.m. | Shuttles from Doubletree Hotel to Smith Center (~1 mile) |
| 7:45 – 8:45 a.m. | Breakfast Roundtables |
| 8:45 – 9 a.m. | Welcome and Housekeeping |
| 9 – 10:15 a.m. | Session 1: Council of Independent Colleges: NetVUE and Other Grant Opportunities |
| 10:15 – 10:30 a.m. | Break |
| 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Session 2: A Conversation with Tetsuya Koide, Japanese Studies and Global Partnerships, and Lisa Wong, Associate Program Officer of the Japan Foundation |
| 12 – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch/Break |
| 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. | Session 3: Compliance Issues, a panel led by Charlotte Whited, Carleton College (others TBA) |
| 2:45 – 3 p.m. | Break |
| 3 – 4:30 p.m. | Session 4: Social Science Funding Now, a panel conversation including Daniel Goroff, President, Social Science Research Council (others TBA) |
| 4:30 – 5 p.m. | Shuttles from Smith Center to Doubletree Hotel |
| 5 – 6 p.m. | Networking Reception at Elvira’s Grill (walk from Doubletree) |
| 6 p.m. | Group Dinner at Elvira’s Grill |
Day 3 – Friday, October 23
Harvey Mudd College, Platt Campus Center & McGregor Computer Science Center
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 7:15 – 7:45 a.m. | Shuttles from Claremont Doubletree Hotel to Platt Center (~0.75 miles) |
| 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | Breakfast Roundtables |
| 8:30 - 8:45 a.m. | Welcome and Housekeeping |
| 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. | Session 1: Industry Partnerships--the Harvey Mudd College Clinic Program |
| 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. | Session 2: Collaboratory Content Curators |
| 10:30–10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10:45 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Makerspace Tour and Activity (McGregor Center) |
| 12 – 1:15 p.m. | Conference wrap-up, evaluation Grab-and-go lunch |
Registration and Cost
Cost per person: $275.
Questions? Contact Nicole Wallens at nwallens@g.hmc.edu (909) 607-0243