Strengthening Student Success Conference
Breakout Session 3
Wednesday, October 7 | 3:10 pm – 4:25 pm
Reclaiming Joy in the Waiting: Reconnecting Students to Purpose Through Early Alert and Holistic Care
Strand: Creating Support Systems for Students and Employees
Room: Garden 1
Reclaiming Joy in the Waiting invites participants into a soul-centered exploration of how connection, care, and reflection can transform student success practices. Grounded in a holistic early alert model, “Pause. Reflect. Reset.,” this session reframes outreach from transactional to relational, centering students as whole people navigating real lives.
Participants will reconnect with their own purpose while examining how burnout, waiting, and disconnection show up in their work. Through reflective prompts, storytelling, and practical tools, attendees will learn how to refocus their practices and reimagine systems that affirm belonging and persistence. This session challenges educators to revolutionize student support by leading with joy, because when students feel seen, they respond, and when they reconnect to themselves, they persist.
Presenters: Rosalind Brown, Antelope Valley College
Beyond the Cohort: Designing Student Success Ecosystems That Multiply (Peers, Families, Alumni)
Strand: Advancing Equitable Institutions
Room: Garden 2
Puente’s statewide focus group findings show its influence extends far beyond a single cohort—through peer networks that draw in friends, family engagement that strengthens students’ support systems, and alumni who return as mentors, faculty, and campus leaders.
In this interactive session, we share Puente-informed principles that can be adapted across campuses to expand belonging, reduce navigation burden, and strengthen persistence and transfer momentum. Participants will complete a Ripple Mapping + Systems Conditions scan for one initiative on their campus. Participants will leave with a practical toolkit to amplify community-level impact while strengthening student success.
Presenters: Maria Figueroa, MiraCosta Community College; Cathy Martinez and Julia Vergara, Puente Project; Brenda Hernandez and Ravinder Singh, WestEd
Building AI Literacy: A Cross-Departmental Approach
Strand: Navigating Disruption in a Shifting System
Room: Garden 3
As AI and policy shifts reshape higher education, colleges must respond with innovative, equitable, and scalable solutions. This session presents a cross-functional model that builds AI literacy across multiple touchpoints: a noncredit certificate, guided learning activities, faculty and staff training, and open-access Canvas resources.
Grounded in equity and evidence-informed practice, this approach supports students, faculty, and institutions in navigating rapid change. Participants will explore practical, transferable strategies and leave with adaptable tools to implement at their own colleges. This session highlights how collaboration, open resources, and intentional design can sustain student-centered innovation despite limited resources and evolving challenges.
Presenters: Sara Breshear, Kristi Jacoby, and Chloe McGinley, College of the Canyons
- Reclaiming Joy Through Student Voice: Strengthening Student–Research Partnerships
Strand: Advancing Equitable Institutions
Room: Garden 4
Institutional research helps colleges understand student success, but research is most impactful when students are partners in the process. This session, led by leaders from the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) and The RP Group, along with college partners, explores how partnerships between student governments and institutional researchers can strengthen equity-focused decision-making.
Aligned with the conference theme, Reclaiming Joy: Reconnect. Refocus. Revolutionize., this session highlights how connecting students and researchers can create more humanizing and responsive institutions. Participants will gain practical strategies for engaging students in research conversations, increasing transparency around student data, and using research findings to support student-led advocacy and institutional change. Attendees will leave with tools to build meaningful partnerships that center student voice and advance student success on their campuses.
Presenters: Julie Adams, Student Senate for California Community Colleges; Darla Cooper, The RP Group
Improvisation: Play as a Tool for Equitable Learning
Strand: Humanizing Professional Learning & Leadership Development
Room: Harbor
In a moment marked by growing isolation and loneliness, our students need spaces of joy, trust, and shared participation. This interactive session investigates how the art of improvisation can foster connection and increase learning and retention. Grounded in our work with students and educators, we lead participants through adaptable improv activities that sharpen listening and responsiveness. Participants will leave with practical strategies for cultivating connected, inclusive, and equitable learning environments—thus reclaiming joy in the educational process!
Presenters: Jennifer Park and Wendy Smith, San Diego Mesa College
- Access, Belonging, and Leadership: Mentoring Student Peer Educators Into Professional Spaces
Strand: Humanizing Professional Learning and Leadership
Room: Pacific
Students are often invited into professional spaces in higher education, including conferences, committees, and professional learning events, yet access, preparation, and support vary widely. As peer education practitioners, we ask: Who’s invited? Who’s empowered to participate? How do we prepare students as equitable partners? In this interactive session, faculty and peer educators explore strategies to invite and apprentice students into authentic participation. Presenters will share a Summer 2026 apprenticeship program developed through the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) and 3CSN that prepares peer educators for meaningful conference engagement.
Grounded in equity-minded practice and 3CSN principles of effective professional learning, participants will explore approaches for creating more authentic student partnerships. Through activities and discussion, attendees will identify strategies to expand access, deepen engagement, and build inclusive professional pathways at their institutions.
Presenters: Mary Sekayan, Cal Lutheran University; Megan Keebler, Chaffey College; Rodrigo Juarez and Crystal Kiekel, LA Pierce College
From Placement to Pathway: Intentional ESL Orientation and Academic Planning
Strand: Creating Support Systems for Students & Employees
Room: Salon 1
This session highlights a cross-campus effort at American River College (ARC) to redesign ESL onboarding as a high-touch, integrated experience. Through collaboration among ESL faculty, counseling, outreach, and student services, ARC developed a combined orientation and academic planning model tailored to multilingual learners. Students receive multilingual support, are introduced to key college processes, and leave with a Student Education Plan aligned with their goals and placement.
Presenters will share the development process, outreach strategies tied to ESL assessment, and practical tools used to support implementation. Participants will leave with strategies to create more accessible, coordinated onboarding experiences that strengthen understanding, connection, and early momentum for ESL students.
Presenters: Hannah Blodgett, Kaira Bradley, Jose Escalante, Allyson Joye, and Mayra Mireles-Tijero, American River College
- Creating a Student Support Network: Utilizing Campus and Classroom Partnerships for Student Success
Strand: Sustaining Partnerships and Networks for Student Success
Room: Salon 7/8
This interactive session showcases a proven model of faculty–student services collaboration that embeds support directly into the student experience—advancing equity, access, and belonging. Through real examples, student voices, and guided activities, participants will map their own support ecosystems, uncover hidden barriers, and identify opportunities to strengthen partnerships across their campus.
Attendees will leave with actionable strategies and a customized starting plan to streamline support, deepen cross-campus networks, and create more joyful, connected pathways for students to thrive—both inside and beyond the classroom.
Presenters: Andrew Gratto-Bachman, Matthew Long, and Matthew Martin, Santa Rosa Junior College; Brianna Perez, University of California Berkeley
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