Workshop Block 3
1:45 PM
AI-Powered Student Guidance During Exercises
E-266 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Douglas Moody, City Tech
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.Beyond the Tools: Developing Students’ Technological Fluency for College, Career, and an AI-Enabled World
E-150 (1st Floor)
Presenter(s): Joseph Foy, CUNY School of Professional Studies; Calvester Legister, John Jay College
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.Bridging Success in Precarious Time: Immigrant Student Success Center
E-135 (1st Floor)
Presenter(s): Cynthia Carvajal, CUNY Student Affairs; Jesus Perez, CUNY; Jessica Portilla, Guttman Community College; Marlene Fernandez Herrera, Baruch College
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.Creating Safe and Brave Spaces: Empowering Students with Disabilities Through Career Readiness and Soft Skills Development
E-265 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Suzanne Jones, CUNY; Yvone Riley, The Real Estate Board of New York
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.From Mid-Level to Director: Navigating Strategy, Supervision, and Culture in CUNY
E-264 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Dannery Minaya, Hunter College; Kayla M. Bassknight, John Jay College
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.Student Death Protocol: What to Do When the Worst Happens
E-262 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Rachel Brown, John Jay College
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.Beyond Programs: Building Safe Communities Through Intentional Health & Wellness
E-260 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Ashmini Hiralall, Lehman College
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.From Scaffolding to Independence: Designing AI-Supported Pathways for Student Success
E-258 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Faiza Peets, College of Staten Island
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.The Gospel of The Black Episode Or How Beyonce may be a prophet
E-229 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Hayden Greene, Borough of Manhattan Community College
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.From the Classroom to AI: Supporting CUNY Students in a Changing Learning Environment
E-227 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Filloreta Gashi-Morina, CUNY
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.Home Away from Home: Building a Welcoming and Supportive Campus for Immigrant Students.
E-225 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Angelo Cabrera, City College; Eddie De Leon, CUNY
Explore best practices that help immigrant students feel welcome, access culturally responsive support, persist, graduate, and prepare for employment.Developing Leaders, Engaging Communities, and Strengthening Student Success: Leadership Development Across CUNY
E-111 (1st Floor)
Presenter(s):
Ahmed Osman, CUNY Student Affairs; Suzette Ramsundar, Lehman College; Robert King Kee, College of Staten Island; Jason Libfeld, Hostos Community College
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.
From Safe Spaces to Spaces of Belonging
E-242 (2nd Floor)
Presenter(s): Latoya Blount, Medgar Evers College
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.