Conference Agenda
Time Zone: (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) [Change Time Zone]
| 8:15 AM | ||
|---|---|---|
| E-Building Lobby (1st Floor) | Check-in Opens | |
| 9:00 AM | ||
| Mainstage Theater (2nd Floor) | Welcome and Keynote Address | Join Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Denise Maybank for an inspiring opening plenary that sets the stage for a day of exchanging ideas, sparking new collaborations, and imagining how we can build thriving communities where students, campuses, and all of us can flourish in an AI-influenced future. The session will feature greetings from President Kenneth Adams and Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero. Keynote - Renew, Reconnect, and Reimagine: Leading Student Affairs Through the Age of AI The keynote begins with the realities facing today’s student affairs workforce, including increasingly complex student needs, staffing challenges, budget pressures, and concerns about retention and burnout. AI is introduced through the lens of capacity recovery - using technology responsibly to reduce administrative burden and return more time, attention, and energy to students, teams, and mission-centered work. Dr. Michael Butcher brings an uncommon combination of direct student affairs leadership, technology expertise, and national experience helping higher education professionals understand and apply artificial intelligence. In addition to founding The Center for Artificial Intelligence, he has more than 20 years of higher education experience. Separately, he serves as an Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, with responsibility for many functions directly affected by emerging AI applications, including student support, housing, conduct, Title IX, counseling, accessibility services, health services, and student engagement. He has delivered AI professional development within the CUNY system, including work with Lehman College. His recent national work includes a six-hour AI preconference for student affairs professionals at the 2026 NASPA Annual Conference, presentations for NASPA and EDUCAUSE, and AI training for Texas A&M University. |
Concurrent Workshops Block 1
| 10:15 AM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Theater (1st Floor) | High-Impact AI: Practical Strategies for Student Affairs (Interactive AI Intensive) | This is a special extended session from 10:15 - 11:45 AM. This intensive is designed as a working session rather than a second lecture. Drawing on the interactive structure used in Dr. Butcher's student affairs AI workshops, participants will alternate between concise instruction, live demonstrations, guided prompt practice, table-level application exercises, real Student Affairs scenarios, and questions throughout. Participants can work from their own functional area and leave with practical next steps rather than a list of tools to explore later. | Michael Butcher, The Center for Artificial Intelligence |
| 10:15 AM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| E-266 (2nd Floor) | Beyond the Resume: How Internships and Student Activity Solve Identity Confusion and Lead to Stronger Career Outcomes | University students with disabilities often face career paralysis; however, Erikson’s term identity synthesis provides a lens to help practitioners understand, and work through it. Identity Synthesis, which is integrating past experiences, current abilities, and future goals into a unified self, provides the perfect framework to solve this. Internships offer vital off-campus professional exploration, on-campus student activities serve as equally powerful identity validation. Leading a student club, joining a committee, or organizing campus events allows students to test leadership styles, discover core values, and build confidence safely. By framing both experiential learning and campus involvement as a modern "psychosocial moratorium," this presentation shows university educators how all-inclusive engagement helps students combat the role confusion, synthesize their personal and professional identities, and graduate with a clear career path and purpose. | Truett Vaigneur, York College; Lisa Maycock, York College |
| E-150 (1st Floor) | Holding Space for Grief and Loss: Building Wellness and Grief-Informed Communities in Higher Education | Grief is a quiet but powerful force in academic settings, shaping how students learn, faculty teach, and staff provide support, whether stemming from personal loss, relationship changes, academic setbacks, or collective tragedies such as campus deaths and global crises. This session makes the case for grief-informed academic spaces that intentionally "hold space" for those experiencing loss. Participants will explore the emotional, academic, and relational dimensions of grief and learn to cultivate environments rooted in empathy, presence, psychological safety, and well-being. Through practical tools, case studies, reflective exercises, and guided dialogue, attendees will gain actionable strategies for building a campus culture of compassion and support. By the end, participants will understand how to foster compassionate academic environments that honor rest, nurture resilience, and treat grief as a natural part of the human experience, all within a healing-centered framework. | Sherrill-Ann Mason, Medgar Evers College; Makeba Pinder Hewston, Medgar Evers College |
| E-135 (1st Floor) | The Peer Effect: Building a Peer-Led Culture of Health & Well-Being | This session explores how peer mentors can serve as a catalyst for connection, belonging, and a culture of wellness on campus. Drawing from the devlopment of a peer mentor program within a College Health and Wellness Office, participants will explore strategies for empowering students to engage their peers, promote holistic well-being, and create meaningful opportunities for connection. | Kori Deibert, Baruch College |
| E-265 (2nd Floor) | The Macaulay Signature Internship Ecosystem: Building a Grant-Funded & Cost-Sharing Model for Equitable Career Readiness | Unpaid and low-resource internships present a persistent equity gap in higher education. To address this challenge, Macaulay Honors College established the Signature Internship Ecosystem, a high-impact model curated across high-demand industry sectors (Pre-Med, Pre-Law, Business/Finance, Tech, Public Service, and Urban Design). By leveraging 100% grant funding that transitions into 50/50 corporate and organizational cost-sharing partnerships (e.g., Hospital for Special Surgery, Cornell Tech), this model removes financial barriers while embedding NACE Competency frameworks. This educational session presents a comprehensive case study of Macaulay’s ecosystem model. Presenters will share an overview of program development, centralized administration across multiple campuses, dual-stakeholder stewardship, and outcome tracking that demonstrates clear pathways to graduate/professional school and career readiness. | Gianina Chrisman, Macaulay Honors College; Rebecca Zimmerman, Macaulay Honors College |
| E-264 (2nd Floor) | Student Conduct in the Age of a Turbulent Higher Education Landscape | The University Director of Student Conduct will lead a panel discussion with several of CUNY’s most senior and experienced conduct officers. Conduct officers are responsible for many critical functions on a college campus. Many of them are one-person offices that a staff or faculty member may rarely encounter, but when a student throws a chair in a classroom, threatens violence against a classmate, or shouts at a receptionist, the conduct officer is there to decide what happens next. The panelists will share information and tips about de-escalation, due process, judicial hearings, and how today’s college communities face unique challenges around behavior and conflict resolution. | Yvette Santana-Prado, CUNY Student Affairs; Kevin Adams, Medgar Evers College; Emanuel Avila Queens College; Rachel Brown, John Jay College; Damali Dublin, Kingsborough Community College; Carolee Ramsay, CUNY School of Professional Studies |
| E-262 (2nd Floor) | Cannabis, Psychosis, and Campus Mental Health: Recognizing Risk in the Era of Legalization | This session examines the relationship between cannabis legalization in New York City and trends in cannabis-related mental health concerns, with particular attention to psychosis and racial and socioeconomic disparities. Drawing on longitudinal public health data from the pre- and post-legalization periods, the presentation explores changes in cannabis-related emergency department utilization, patterns of psychosis, and populations experiencing disproportionate risk. Particular attention is given to Black, Latino, low-income, and younger New Yorkers, as well as the potential influence of increased cannabis accessibility and high-potency products. Findings are considered within the broader context of social determinants of health, health equity, and evolving cannabis policy. The session will discuss implications for social workers, behavioral health professionals, educators, and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of prevention, early identification of cannabis-related psychiatric symptoms, culturally responsive education, harm reduction, and equitable access to mental health services as the legal cannabis market continues to evolve. | Lisa Halstead, Queensborough Community College |
| E-260 (2nd Floor) | Building a Talent Pipeline: Lessons from the CUNY Disability Services Apprenticeship Program | The CUNY Disability Services Apprenticeship Program (DSAP) is an innovative model that arose from the 2023 Voluntary Compliance Agreement and an effort to recruit more qualified learning assistants to provide support to CUNY students with disabilities. Through the apprenticeship program, employment opportunities are provided to CUNY students and alumni, exposing interested students to a career path with growth potential. It provides students with an important entry-level role with built-in support while creating a talent pool of qualified, experienced individuals to fill vacant roles in Disability Services offices across the university. This presentation will outline the program's structure, share outcomes from its first two cohorts, and open discussion on opportunities for future growth. | Raymond Perez, CUNY, Karen Rosenthal, CUNY |
| E-258 (2nd Floor) | What's Connection Got To Do With It? | At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, The Women's Center & LGBTQ+ Hub (WC/Hub) offered support circles for students to express, connect, and build community around common themes. Since 2023, WC/Hub has offered weekly Mindfulness Meditation sessions for students to cultivate present awareness and receive support with starting or maintaining a practice. As a pilot in collaboration with The Wellness Center in fall 2026, we are offering "Got Something On Your Mind?"—a weekly support pop-up where students share what's on heart and mind and receive on-the-spot support and guidance. Making connections and relationship building are at the heart of these initiatives. In this experiential session, participants will engage in a mindfulness meditation session or support circle, and learn about the neuroscience behind these practices. There will also be time to review outcomes from the mindfulness meditation initiative at LaGuardia. | Deema Bayrakdar, LaGuardia Community College |
| E-229 (2nd Floor) | Going Beyond the Survival Mode: How to Direct Students to Belonging and Wellness | This educational session focuses on helping students move from just coping with stress and anxiety to navigating wellness and a sense of belonging. This session will explore how stress, anxiety, and isolation as well as other challenges can impact a student's academic performance, relationships, and overall functioning. Participants will learn about trauma-informed care, being culturally responsive, and effective practices to meet student needs and recognize obstacles to student success. Strategies for effective communication, encouraging help-seeking, and connecting students to campus rand community resources will be presented. This presentation will highlight the importance of being proactive and taking measures to promote wellness, connections, community, and retain student academic success. | Naziat Hassan, Queensborough Community College |
| E-227 (2nd Floor) | From Advising to Empowerment: Practical Success Coaching Across Student Support Services | This interactive workshop explores success coaching as a complementary approach that strengthens existing student support services, including Academic Advising, ASAP, SEEK, and other frontline programs. Rather than replacing specialized services or creating additional workload, success coaching provides professionals with practical tools and strategies that can be incorporated into existing interactions with students and colleagues. The session examines how coaching can support student engagement, goal-setting, academic progress, persistence, retention, and graduation while also strengthening communication, collaboration, and a student-centered institutional culture. Drawing on practitioner experiences across multiple student support areas and research on academic coaching, the workshop connects coaching principles to the realities of supporting diverse and historically underserved student populations. Participants will consider how a shared coaching framework can be adapted across professional roles, programs, and institutional contexts while preserving the distinct expertise and responsibilities of existing student support services. | Jessica Rivera, Medgar Evers College; Jeffrey Sigler, Medgar Evers College; Karen D. Thompson, Medgar Evers College; Nadege Waithe, Medgar Evers College |
| E-225 (2nd Floor) | Beyond Welcome: Reimagining New Student Orientation as a Pathway to Student Engagement and Success. | New student orientation is often the first point of connection between students and their institution. When strategically designed, orientation can move beyond information-sharing to establish belonging, build relationships, introduce resources, clarify expectations, and connect students to campus communities. This panel brings together three Student Affairs professionals leading distinct CUNY orientation models: Angela Francis (CUNY School of Professional Studies), Alyssa Hollywood (John Jay College of Criminal Justice), and Shahreen Laskar (Borough of Manhattan Community College). Panelists will explore how orientation can respond to diverse student populations and institutional contexts while supporting connections before and during the transition to college. Drawing on student involvement, integration, and transition theories, the panel will examine welcoming practices, resource communication, family engagement, relationship-building, pre-orientation outreach, and first-semester engagement. Through discussion and audience participation, panelists will share promising practices, challenges, assessment strategies, and lessons learned for strengthening orientation as an entry point to belonging and student success. | Ahmed Osman, CUNY Student Affairs; Angela Francis, CUNY School of Professional Studies; Alyssa Hollywood, John Jay College; Shahreen Laskar, Borough of Manhattan Community College |
| E-111 (1st Floor) | Everything You Know About Burnout Is (Almost) Wrong: What the Science Actually Says | Burnout has become one of the most discussed challenges in higher education, yet many of the beliefs surrounding it are incomplete, outdated, or unsupported by current research. This interactive session invites participants to examine common assumptions about burnout, resilience, work-life balance, mindfulness, and employee well-being through the lens of peer-reviewed research from psychology, occupational health, organizational science, and higher education. Using live polling, case studies, and discussion, participants will compare widely accepted wellness advice with the evidence, distinguishing well-supported interventions from those that are popular but lack strong empirical support. Rather than promoting one-size-fits-all solutions, this session translates complex research into practical, evidence-based strategies that individuals and organizations can use to foster healthier workplaces. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the science behind burnout and resilience, greater confidence in evaluating workplace wellness claims, and practical approaches for supporting well-being while navigating the realities of today's higher education environment. | Ryan Camire, CUNY Student Affairs |
| E-242 (2nd Floor) | Exploring Neurodivergence, Identity, and Mental Health: Inclusive Strategies for Student Affairs Professionals | Neurodivergent students bring diverse identities, strengths, and lived experiences to college campuses, yet many encounter systemic barriers that affect belonging, academic success, and mental health. This session explores the intersection of neurodivergence with race, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and other dimensions of identity, while examining how stigma, masking, sensory demands, and inflexible institutional practices can contribute to increased stress and mental health concerns. Drawing on LaGuardia Community College’s Neurodiversity Program and Wellness Center, participants will learn practical, strengths-based strategies for creating more inclusive and accessible campus environments. Topics include communication, sensory and environmental supports, self-advocacy, executive functioning, emotional regulation, and responding to dysregulation or meltdowns. Through interactive discussion and a case study, participants will examine how student affairs professionals can shift from “fixing” students to partnering with them, honoring autonomy, cultivating belonging, and designing systems that support neurodivergent students in thriving. | Regina Varin-Mignano, LaGuardia Community College; Jean Buckley Lockhart; Mariska Kop |
Concurrent Workshops Block 2
| 11:15 AM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| E-150 (1st Floor) | Connection, Community, and Retention: Residence Life Strategies for All Students | Residence halls provide a concentrated environment where students build relationships, establish routines, and strengthen their connection to the institution. While these experiences support persistence, the core practices driving them are not limited to on-campus residents. Aligned with the conference theme, Renew, Reconnect, Reimagine: Cultivating Communities that Thrive for the Future, this panel brings together residence life professionals from Baruch, Hunter, CSI, and CHAP to highlight their distinct residential models. Panelists will examine practical strategies for building inclusive communities, sustaining engagement beyond opening events, supporting student well-being, and identifying disengaged students. Crucially, the session explores how residence life functions as an intentional component of CUNY's broader student-success ecosystem. Participants will consider how proven residential strategies for cultivating belonging can be adapted for CUNY’s predominantly commuter population, leaving with actionable tools to strengthen retention across both residential and commuter settings. | Joanna Siwiec, Hunter College; Tara Leighton, Baruch College' Spozmi Nouri, College of Staten Island; Makenzie Dance, FoundStudy |
| E-135 (1st Floor) | Cultivating Caring Campus Communities for Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Non-Binary Student Success | At CUNY we aim to support our LGBTQI+ and allied students, staff, and faculty as best as we can, but what does this currently look like? How can preferred names be updated in CUNY unofficial records? What is a "Diploma Name"? Do I have to provide documentation to use the restroom that is consistent with my gender identity? What supportive and reporting resources are available if myself or another campus member are facing anti-trans harassment and discrimination? At this session, participants learn what policies are at CUNY to protect and affirm LGBTQI+ folks on campus, current tools and resources available to students, particularly transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary students. Participants will learn how to find LGBTQI+ support on campus and throughout CUNY, and how to communicate all of this information effectively in their offices and larger campus. | Christina Chala, CUNY Student Affairs; Jake Nill, City College |
| E-265 (2nd Floor) | More Than a Health Office: From Compliance to Student Success Through Digital Innovation, Wellness, and Student-Centered Care | Health & Wellness Services can be more than a place students visit when they are sick or need to meet a requirement. This session will share how BMCC is transforming its approach through digital immunization records, streamlined compliance processes, preventive health initiatives, campus and community partnerships, and data-informed planning. Participants will explore practical ways health services can reduce barriers, improve access, support registration readiness, and strengthen student engagement and success. The session will also highlight lessons learned from moving toward a more student-centered and efficient service model, with strategies that colleagues can adapt to their own campuses. | Darin Soliman, Borough of Manhattan Community College |
| E-264 (2nd Floor) | Cultivating Community CUNY & Beyond: Becoming a Transformative Collaborator | In today’s educational environment, the exchange of ideas, empowerment through engagement, and development via partnership are foundational. Yet, it is easy for student affairs professionals to become insular, focusing on immediate responsibilities rather than seeking transformative collaboration. This session, "Cultivating Community CUNY & Beyond: Becoming a Transformative Collaborator," is designed to challenge that tendency and inspire participants to intentionally co-create inclusive and empowering spaces for students, colleagues, and themselves, both within CUNY and the broader community. By assessing who constitutes our community, how we might partner, and in what ways we can co-author programming, we foster environments that promote belonging, leadership development, and community success. | Lewanda Miller, CUNY Student Affairs |
| E-262 (2nd Floor) | Supporting Students in Distress: Lessons from the Trauma-Informed Baruch Initiative | Student affairs professionals are increasingly encountering students experiencing trauma and other mental health concerns yet may feel unprepared to respond. Furthermore, academic success and college completion rest on a foundation of good mental health. Therefore, it is imperative to create campus institutional cultures that prioritize mental health as a critical part of student development and equip staff and faculty to respond effectively to student mental health concerns. The Trauma-Informed Baruch Initiative (TIBI) was created to explore and address the impact of student mental health and trauma on college success and completion by taking a multilevel approach that addresses student mental health needs and creates institutional/cultural change that prioritizes student mental health. This interactive session will describe the process of developing the TIBI, present key components and insights from the program, and include facilitated discussion on how to create similar initiatives in other academic institutions. | Jael Amador, Baruch College; Kathryn Ford, Baruch College; Teresa Hurst, Baruch College |
| E-260 (2nd Floor) | Using Assessment to Guide Equitable Counseling Services | The Counseling Center at Queensborough Community College has historically used surveys to collect data on students’ demographics and presenting issues. As of 2021, the Counseling Center leadership decided to carry out more systematic data collection that could be used to inform services. Considering the college’s diverse population, demographic data collection was expanded to be more inclusive of students’ identities, and questions were included to explore the extent to which students felt comfortable discussing their cultural identities and experiences of discrimination with their counselor. In this session the presenters will share the findings of the survey, interventions based on the findings as well as the challenges of data collection. These include continuous data collection so that assessment of services became more integrated in the culture of the department, relevant staff professional development, and changes in the way in which students were asked to complete the survey. | Chanpreet Singh, Queensborough Community College; Wilma Fletcher-Anthony, Queensborough Community College |
| E-258 (2nd Floor) | Meeting Students Where They Are | York College CUNY's Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) transformed its outreach strategy by embracing AI and social media to better reach students with disabilities. Recognizing that traditional communication methods — emails, phone banking, in-person office visits — were failing to connect with a generation living on mobile platforms, the CSD developed the BabyCast Project: an AI-powered, culturally competent content series delivering disability services information through engaging, relatable social media formats. The results were striking. A standard accommodation tutorial received a fraction of the views of its BabyCast counterpart, which generated nearly four times the engagement, alongside dozens of likes and shares spreading the message organically across campus. Enrollment in disability services soared, climbing well above target for multiple consecutive years and continuing to grow. The core lesson: students aren't disengaged — they're overwhelmed. Meeting them where they already are, in formats they trust, transforms accessibility into connection. | Isaac Augustin, York College; Ivy Sanchez, York College |
| E-229 (2nd Floor) | Building Resilience: Safety and Empathy in the Classroom | When students are struggling, educators have a unique opportunity—not just to respond, but to teach. This workshop introduces trauma-informed crisis intervention strategies that emphasize modeling emotional regulation, safety, and empathy in real-time classroom interactions. Drawing on The Crisis Prevention Institute’s Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), participants will learn to understand behavior as a form of communication and practice practical verbal and nonverbal de-escalation techniques. Special focus will be placed on how educators’ presence, tone, body language, and boundaries can create a calm, supportive environment even during disruption. | Desiree (Dez) Rodriguez, LaGuardia Community College; Andrea Bellissimo, LaGuardia Community College; Jean (Jeannie) Buckley, LaGuardia Community College |
| E-227 (2nd Floor) | Before the Crisis: Building Campus Communities That Connect, Protect, and Respond | Prevention is part of how we care for students. It grows through trusted relationships, honest conversations, and knowing what to do when someone needs help. Join ARMOUR Families for an interactive session that brings together impacted family perspectives, practical prevention, and innovation. Through a brief film excerpt and a campus-based discussion, participants will explore how student affairs professionals can address changing illicit drug threats, strengthen connections to support, and improve emergency readiness. The session will also examine how student-informed approaches and emerging tools can make prevention more accessible and relevant. Aligned with Renew, Reconnect, Reimagine, this session invites participants to rethink prevention as a shared campus responsibility. Attendees will leave with practical ideas and one concrete action to help build a community where students feel connected, supported, and prepared. | Andrea Thomas,ARMOUR Families; Kamal Bhenwani, ARMOUR Families; Colin Gage, ARMOUR Families |
| E-225 (2nd Floor) | The Art of Keeping Your Cool | This presentation focuses on communication and learning techniques to deescalate conflict. | Ian Wentworth, Borough of Manhattan Community College |
| E-111 (1st Floor) | Connection by Design:How Administrative Practice Creates Student Belonging | Student belonging is often associated with programs, events, and direct service. Yet many of the experiences that shape whether students feel seen, supported, and connected are created through everyday administrative and operational practices. This interactive workshop invites Student Affairs professionals to reframe behind-the-scenes work as a vital form of student engagement. Through guided reflection, small-group discussion, and practical application, participants will examine how communication, scheduling, policy guidance, event coordination, and other routine practices can either strengthen or weaken belonging. Participants will identify the hidden student impact within their own roles and develop one concrete change they can implement immediately. The session centers the contributions of administrative and operational professionals while remaining relevant to Student Affairs practitioners at every level who want to cultivate more intentional, responsive, and connected campus communities. | Treniece Moore-Walters, Baruch College |
| E-266 (2nd Floor) | Show Me the Money (& the Work-Life Balance): Retaining the Future of Student Affairs - Insights from 2,100+ Current and Practitioners | This session addresses the growing retention crisis in higher education by examining what drives student affairs practitioners to stay or leave the field. Drawing on survey data from over 2,100 current and former professionals, this presentation explores how compensation, work-life balance, and organizational support intersect with intrinsic motivation. Attendees will analyze empirical findings on the primary drivers of burnout, turnover, and job satisfaction across institutional contexts. The session highlights actionable, data-driven strategies for campus leaders foster environments where practitioners thrive. Participants will leave equipped to advocate for systemic organizational changes that protect human capital and secure the future of the profession. | Tyler McLoughlin, College of Staten Island |
| 12:15 PM | |
|---|---|
| Gymnasium (1st Floor) | Lunch |
Concurrent Workshops Block 3
| 1:45 PM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| E-266 (2nd Floor) | AI-Powered Student Guidance During Exercises | This session will enable participants to understand and effectively use the ScholarsGuide.ai website. ScholarsGuide.ai allows instructors to create exercise questions and provide supporting subject material for students. Students respond to these questions and receive immediate, AI-powered feedback and guidance on their responses. During the session, participants will gain hands-on experience by creating their own questions and then taking on the role of a student to answer those questions and experience the AI-generated feedback and guidance firsthand. Participants will also learn how ScholarsGuide.ai questions can be integrated into Brightspace using the **Quiz – Hints** feature. | Douglas Moody, City Tech |
| E-150 (1st Floor) | Beyond the Tools: Developing Students’ Technological Fluency for College, Career, and an AI-Enabled World | Today’s college students need more than proficiency with individual software applications. They need technological fluency: the ability to identify, learn, select, integrate, evaluate, and adapt technologies to accomplish meaningful goals. We introduce the ASCEND developmental model for technological competence: Awareness and Exposure, Scaffolded Use, Continued Practice, Embedded Integration, Independent Selection, and Dynamic Adaptation. We expand the technological ecosystem students encounter, including productivity, collaboration, data analysis, research, communication, and generative AI tools, and how technological competence can develop across curricular experiences. Through small-group and reflection activities, participants use ASCEND model to examine where students encounter technology, identify gaps in practice and opportunities for greater independence, and consider how existing student experiences can be redesigned to support progression through the ASCEND stages. Participants will leave with a practical developmental model they can adapt to their own programs and institutional contexts to help students build the technological skills increasingly expected in the workplace. | Joseph Foy, CUNY School of Professional Studies; Calvester Legister, John Jay College |
| E-135 (1st Floor) | Bridging Success in Precarious Time: Immigrant Student Success Center | Addressing Immigrant Student Concerns in these times can feel like plugging a whole, only for another leak to sprout. With changing laws and shifting policies, access to foundational resources such as career guidance, major/academic considerations, in-state and state financial aid is imperative for our university system to meet our institutional and community goals. This panel will present Immigrant Student Success Centers as a campus solution to this ongoing and worsening problem. | Cynthia Carvajal, CUNY Student Affairs; Jesus Perez, CUNY; Jessica Portilla, Guttman Community College; Marlene Fernandez Herrera, Baruch College |
| E-265 (2nd Floor) | Creating Safe and Brave Spaces: Empowering Students with Disabilities Through Career Readiness and Soft Skills Development | The motivation for this conference presentation stems from a pressing need to address the systemic barriers and inequities faced by college students with disabilities as they transition from higher education to the workforce. This session explores the design, implementation, and impact of a career readiness and soft skills development program tailored for college students with disabilities. The program empowers students by providing tools, confidence, and support to navigate professional environments and pursue careers aligned with their strengths. Through pre-session preparation, partnership, interactive workshops, mentorship, and brave space discussions, it fosters an inclusive learning environment where students can thrive. | Suzanne Jones, CUNY; Yvone Riley, The Real Estate Board of New York |
| E-264 (2nd Floor) | From Mid-Level to Director: Navigating Strategy, Supervision, and Culture in CUNY | Stepping into a director role requires more than a new title – it demands a fundamental shift from programmatic execution to strategic leadership, supervision, and institutional influence. Drawing on the lived experiences of two new directors at Hunter College and John Jay College, this interactive workshop explores the practical realities of navigating leadership transitions within CUNY. Participants will examine strategies for shifting from “doers” to strategic leaders, navigating campus culture, managing up and across, building cohesive teams, and sustaining personal well-being. Through reflection, case studies, and peer dialogue, participants will explore the first 90 days of directorship and apply practical frameworks for navigating this transition. Attendees will leave with a customizable Director Transition Toolkit to support their own leadership journey or strengthen their capacity to mentor and support emerging directors. | Dannery Minaya, Hunter College; Kayla M. Bassknight, John Jay College |
| E-262 (2nd Floor) | Student Death Protocol: What to Do When the Worst Happens | This session is for new student affairs professionals and experienced professionals who recently acquired a role in the student death protocol. The death of a student can feel like the worst case scenario for a higher education professional. Administrators who are new to their role(s) will come away with concrete tools to move through this difficult but necessary protocol. The session will cover best practices and go over case studies to practice applying their skills. | Rachel Brown, John Jay College |
| E-260 (2nd Floor) | Beyond Programs: Building Safe Communities Through Intentional Health & Wellness | Health and wellness programming is often viewed as a supportive service within Student Affairs, but it can serve as a strategic catalyst for student engagement, connection, prevention and success. This interactive session invites Student Affairs professionals to explore how intentional health and wellness programming can move beyond traditional services to create a safe, more connected campus. Using LC SAFE as a case study, participants will examine how a multidisciplinary approach to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking leverages campus and community stakeholders to strengthen protective factors and foster meaningful connections. Guided discussion will explore the intentional elements of this initiative that support student engagement, collaboration, and prevention. | Ashmini Hiralall, Lehman College |
| E-258 (2nd Floor) | From Scaffolding to Independence: Designing AI-Supported Pathways for Student Success | As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in students' academic lives, colleges face a critical question: How can AI support student success without replacing the thinking, judgment, and independence higher education seeks to develop? This interactive workshop presents a developmental approach to AI-supported student success grounded in a simple principle: scaffold, do not substitute. Drawing on an evaluated quantitative-reasoning intervention in a CUNY gateway STEM course and two purpose-built AI applications, an AI Tutor and an AI Research Coach, the session examines how the role of AI can evolve with students' needs, from explaining and practicing foundational concepts to guiding complex research processes and challenging higher-order reasoning. Participants will apply a practical framework to student affairs scenarios, identifying appropriate AI roles, boundaries, human intervention points, and strategies for building rather than diminishing student agency. Participants will leave with a transferable model for designing responsible AI-supported student services across CUNY. | Faiza Peets, College of Staten Island |
| E-229 (2nd Floor) | The Gospel of The Black Episode Or How Beyonce may be a prophet | The African tradition of storytelling is on full display in Beyonce’s song, The Black Parade. Hayden Greene breaks down the song and shows how it chronicles the Black experience in America. It gives a point of reference for many of the social constructs that influence business and industry today. Hayden also tackles how storytelling is a superior method of transferring information and how to use rhetoric in your presentations. | Hayden Greene, Borough of Manhattan Community College |
| E-227 (2nd Floor) | From the Classroom to AI: Supporting CUNY Students in a Changing Learning Environment | AI is changing the way students learn, find information, and complete their academic work. This interactive session will focus on how faculty and student affairs professionals can help students use AI responsibly without losing the critical thinking and independent decision-making that are essential to learning. Using practical examples and group discussion, participants will share challenges they are seeing on their campuses and discuss approaches that are working. The session will offer practical ideas for supporting students and strengthening the connection between faculty and student affairs as AI continues to shape the student experience. | Filloreta Gashi-Morina, CUNY |
| E-225 (2nd Floor) | Home Away from Home: Building a Welcoming and Supportive Campus for Immigrant Students. | Explore best practices that help immigrant students feel welcome, access culturally responsive support, persist, graduate, and prepare for employment. | Angelo Cabrera, City College; Eddie De Leon, CUNY |
| E-111 (1st Floor) | Developing Leaders, Engaging Communities, and Strengthening Student Success: Leadership Development Across CUNY | Leadership development is an essential component of the co-curricular student experience and contributes to student engagement, belonging, persistence, and civic participation. This interactive panel brings together four Student Affairs professionals leading distinctive initiatives across CUNY: the Ernesto Malave Leadership Academy at CUNY Central, the Hostos Student Leadership Academy, the CSI Leadership Academy, and Lehman College’s leadership-development initiatives through the Office of Campus Life. Panelists will explore how experiential learning, mentoring, service, advocacy, and civic engagement help students develop leadership competencies, build meaningful relationships, strengthen belonging, and connect their educational experiences to larger purposes. Drawing on Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement, Tinto’s Student Integration framework, and the Social Change Model of Leadership Development, the panel will examine connections between leadership development and student success. Through facilitated discussion and audience engagement, panelists will share promising practices, assessment strategies, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening leadership development across CUNY. | Ahmed Osman, CUNY Student Affairs; Suzette Ramsundar, Lehman College; Robert King Kee, College of Staten Island; Jason Libfeld, Hostos Community College |
| E-242 (2nd Floor) | From Safe Spaces to Spaces of Belonging | What does it take to create a campus environment where every student feels seen, valued, respected, and safe to be themselves? This interactive session equips new and mid-level higher education professionals with practical tools for infusing cultural intelligence (CQ) into everyday student engagement. Through relatable scenarios, reflection, and conversation, participants will explore how culture, identity, assumptions, and communication styles shape student experiences of safety and belonging. Participants will learn how to recognize cultural cues, navigate differences, challenge assumptions, and respond to moments of misunderstanding with curiosity and confidence. Most importantly, the session moves beyond the idea of simply creating “safe spaces” toward intentionally building spaces where students feel a genuine sense of belonging. Participants will leave with actionable strategies they can use immediately to strengthen relationships, foster trust, and create more inclusive environments where all college students can connect, contribute, and thrive. | Latoya Blount, Medgar Evers College |
| 2:45 PM | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mainstage Theater (2nd Floor) | Fireside Chat / Closing Panel | A closing conversation with University leaders reflecting on their career journeys, leadership lessons, and the challenges and opportunities ahead for higher education and student affairs. Moderator: Vice President for Student Affairs and Strategic Initiatives Jermaine Wright, Lehman College Panelists:
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| 3:45 PM | ||
| Mainstage Theater (2nd Floor) | Closing Remarks | Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Denise Maybank |
| 4:00 PM | ||
| Mainstage Lobby (2nd Floor) | Social Hour | Wrap up the day by reconnecting with colleagues, celebrating new and renewed connections, and enjoying a prize raffle. It’s a relaxed opportunity to reflect on the day, continue conversations, and end the conference on a celebratory note. |