Workshop Block 2
11:15 AM
Connection, Community, and Retention: Residence Life Strategies for All Students
E-150 (1st Floor)
Presenter(s):
Joanna Siwiec, Hunter College; Tara Leighton, Baruch College' Spozmi Nouri, College of Staten Island; Makenzie Dance, FoundStudy
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.
Cultivating Caring Campus Communities for Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Non-Binary Student Success
E-135 (1st Floor)
Presenter(s): Christina Chala, CUNY Student Affairs; Jake Nill, City College
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.More Than a Health Office: From Compliance to Student Success Through Digital Innovation, Wellness, and Student-Centered Care
E-265 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Darin Soliman, Borough of Manhattan Community College
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.Cultivating Community CUNY & Beyond: Becoming a Transformative Collaborator
E-264 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Lewanda Miller, CUNY Student Affairs
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.Supporting Students in Distress: Lessons from the Trauma-Informed Baruch Initiative
E-262 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Jael Amador, Baruch College; Kathryn Ford, Baruch College; Teresa Hurst, Baruch College
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.Using Assessment to Guide Equitable Counseling Services
E-260 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Chanpreet Singh, Queensborough Community College; Wilma Fletcher-Anthony, Queensborough Community College
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.Meeting Students Where They Are
E-258 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Isaac Augustin, York College; Ivy Sanchez, York College
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.Building Resilience: Safety and Empathy in the Classroom
E-229 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Desiree (Dez) Rodriguez, LaGuardia Community College; Andrea Bellissimo, LaGuardia Community College; Jean (Jeannie) Buckley, LaGuardia Community College
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.Before the Crisis: Building Campus Communities That Connect, Protect, and Respond
E-227 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Andrea Thomas,ARMOUR Families; Kamal Bhenwani, ARMOUR Families; Colin Gage, ARMOUR Families
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.The Art of Keeping Your Cool
E-225 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Ian Wentworth, Borough of Manhattan Community College
This presentation focuses on communication and learning techniques to deescalate conflict.Connection by Design:How Administrative Practice Creates Student Belonging
E-111 (1st Floor)
Presenter(s): Treniece Moore-Walters, Baruch College
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.Show Me the Money (& the Work-Life Balance): Retaining the Future of Student Affairs - Insights from 2,100+ Current and Practitioners
E-266 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Tyler McLoughlin, College of Staten Island
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.