Breakout Sessions
Thursday
9 a.m.
9-9:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Christopher Reider and John Dean, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
In our Storytelling / education course and English 101 LC, students were required
to write a story from the perspective of an inanimate object. It was developed as
an opportunity to get a sense of our students' varied experiences and diverse backgrounds.
The project evolved by collaborating on a rubric with a creative writing faculty
colleague. We expected comedic sincerity, but we were pleasantly surprised to see
how the project was embraced so enthusiastically; students shared their traumas, revealed
their embraced identities, and critiqued society. What we discovered was a roadmap
for a project that we are excited to share with session participants. This project
can be adapted for any discipline. It can evoke innovation, encourage meaningful
research, expand empathy, and challenge your students to use their authentic voices.
Session participants will develop their own version of the project, perfect for anyone
team teaching or planning integrative assignments.
9-9:50 a.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Kathleen Klompien, Susan Lefevre, and Emily Spitler-Lawson, California
State University Channel Islands
What happens when a university president makes a mandate that impacts everyone who
teaches first year students? For some faculty this change played to their strengths
and areas of interest. For others, the change dismantled a much-loved home. And what
is the program director to do? Last year, at CSU Channel Islands, the president mandated
that all first-year students enroll in a first-year learning community. At the same
time, he and the provost determined that the existing first year seminar be eliminated.
This interactive session will explore how each of us responded to the LC mandate on
our campus. The perspectives included here are from: a long-term LC faculty member/faculty
co-lead, a faculty member who was able to propose a community of her choice, her partner
in the new community, and the faculty director of the program.
9-9:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/Panel
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Krysten Novencido, American University
University College is a first-year Living-Learning Community available for students
at American University. Boasting a nearly 20-year legacy as a singular Living-Learning
Community, this session takes an overall retrospective view on University College's
inception, year-to-year adaptation and today's practices. By delving into the program's
rich history, we aim to set the stage to explore about three factors:
Faculty Impression: What brings faculty to LLCs-and keeps them engaged?
Student Impression: What lasting impression does an LLC leave on students?
University Impression: What is the impact of LLCs on a university-wide level?
By addressing these varied audiences, we can celebrate and reflect on the program's
successes but also identify opportunities for improvement. This session's reflection
will provide contextual knowledge for those new or familiar with the creation of
a Living-Learning Community.
9-9:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Interactive / Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies
Presenters: Robert Soza, David Finley, Dawn McKinley, Kate Midday, and James Allen,
Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Harper College, McHenry County College, College
of DuPage
This panel proposal stems from a series of discussions about the state of transition
and/or decline that we have observed in our Learning Community programs. At the community
college, unlike our colleagues at residential colleges and universities, students
are highly transitory, are often hyper-focused on career goals, or completely scatter-brained
about their academic pathways. Also, our advising teams are often over-extended and
under-resourced. We cannot readily capture a cohort of students and steer them into
LCs.
Maybe most alarming, we are observing a decline in interest in the once very popular
LCs that centered Humanities and Social Science courses coupled with General Education/Transfer
requirements. This decline exists alongside irregular enrollment patterns in LCs
with a STEM focus.
Needless to say, we spend a lot of time pouring over data, hand ringing, and wondering
aloud if LCs have run their course? Are these pedagogical models for a student experience
that is no longer a norm at the community college? Has the economics of higher education
and the accompanying change in student focus and behavior eclipsed the well-documented
benefits of LCs?
While we are ""true believers"" in the LC model and its educational benefits, we are
also sometimes at a loss on how to ensure not just the mere survival of these programs,
but their thriving (as both intellectual experiences for students and sustainable
economic models for our institutions). It is our hope that this panel will serve
as a gathering of those with the same questions and experiences, and this gathering
will produce a critically generative discussions that begins to articulate a vital
foundation for the future of LCs at the community college.
9-9:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Jody Jessup-Anger and Karen Inkelas, Marquette University, Univeristy
of Virginia
During this session, authors of the book, Living-Learning Communities in Practice:
A Guide for Creating, Maintaining, and Sustaining Effective Programs in Higher Education
will present a practitioner-guided revision their 2018 Best Practices Model - advancing
the original research-based model based on practitioner feedback of the model in practice.
In addition, drawing on interviews with LLC practitioners throughout the country,
the presenters will engage participants in a discussion about examples of the model
in practice, share typologies developed for each element of the model, and a discuss
the use of logic models for assessment.
10 a.m.
10-10:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Nathan Phelps, Kari Fernholz, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs) program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
has developed a process that elevates the voices of students and advisors with the
goal of using this feedback to drive continuous improvement in the program. This session
will provide examples of strategies and survey instruments developed to solicit feedback
and how these have resulted in specific changes in the types of FIGs offered, the
courses they include, how they are marketed, and how the advising and enrollment processes
work. Program administrators will facilitate discussion among session participants
about how these processes-and others-- might be usefully applied in other institutional
contexts. Participants will be encouraged to share their own ideas and challenges
related to data-driven improvement efforts on their campuses.
10-10:50 a.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Stephanie Whalen, Janet Woods, Jennifer Lau-Bond, Harper College
During the rapid online transition brought about by the pandemic, students and faculty
struggled to stay connected in fully online, asynchronous experiences. Campuses are
now open, but we still continue to offer more online, asynch courses than before to
accommodate busy schedules and balance multiple needs. Hy-Flex learning communities
offer students a way to return to the classroom community in a format that still allows
them to attend via live stream or catch up on missed courses asynchronously if needed
with the support of a cohort of students, two faculty to provide academic coaching,
embedded college support services, and an integrated learning experience. Join us
for an overview of a First Year Seminar and English 101 Learning Community in which
the faculty ask students to take ownership for their choices to help increase their
awareness of the many ways they can engage and form connections.
10-10:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Pam Geddes, Veronica Rodriguez, Northeastern Illinois University
Living Learning communities (LLCs) have been touted as a high-impact practice and
there are plenty of data that support such claim. However, the majority of LLCs that
have contributed to the data are from traditional institutions that cater to a primarily
white student body. In this proposed session, we will present information on a relatively
new LLC program at an urban Hispanic-Serving Institution where the majority of our
student body comes from underrepresented and marginalized populations (37% Latinx,
11% African American, 9% Asian), are first-generation college attendees, and are Pell
Grant recipients. We will highlight how our LLC program explicitly embeds strategies
to remove equity barriers that affect our student population and the opportunities
and challenges that come with this work.
10-10:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies
Presenters: Timothy Henningsen, Sam Mitrani, College of DuPage
The history and growth of Chicago is reflected in the communities and neighborhoods
that make up the city, and the rich literature made throughout Chicago's tenure also
captures this dynamism. This session will provide an overview of an Honors Learning
Communities Seminar taught at the College of DuPage by Professor of History V. Sam
Mitrani, and Professor of English Timothy Henningsen. Two courses, taught in a singular
modality, highlight the city's proud, though troubled, history. Called "The Literary
History of Chicago," the course asks students to read a wide array of novels written
in Chicago, about Chicago, by Chicago writers. Professors Mitrani and Henningsen will
describe their course, their multidisciplinary approach, and the benefits to a community
of students who are taught to discern history through reading fiction.
10-10:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Living Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Shayla Schumacher, Louisiana State University
LSU Residential Life staff wear many hats. One of those hats is student/academic success.
In the session, we will discuss how we have incorporated academic success procedures
into the Residence Coordinator role. This includes the training sessions we provide
for our professional staff and resident assistants both during summer training and
throughout the academic year. There are also training sessions on academic programming,
working with partners across campus, and working with our two Faculty in Residence.
11 a.m.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: David Finley, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
This session will continue to examine annual student success and student retention
data from the last 14 years of Chandler-Gilbert Community College's long-standing
25+ year Learning Communities Program. The focus will include all CGCC LCs with a
primary focus on linked LCs, which usually combines two courses: an ENG 101 First-Year
Composition course with a second course from either the humanities, social sciences,
mathematics, or sciences. This presentation will show the consistency of LC student
success and retention compared to the same non-LC courses from 2010-2023, including
our largest cohort of ENG 101 LCs, as well as the consistency across three different
set of teaching partners for two separate LCs pairing GBS 151 Intro. to General Business
and PSY 101 Intro. to Psychology with English.
The session will also show the increased student success and retention for those ENG
101 LC students in the subsequent ENG 102 course compared to students who completed
their prerequisite in a non-LC ENG 101 course over the same 14-year period.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communities, Residential
Colleges
Presenters: Aracelis Marie Sanchez-Guerrero, Dominican University
This session addresses the unique challenges faced by Black and Brown students in
higher education and how innovative designs can create access, close equity gaps,
and uplift students authentic selves. This session will highlight Dominican University’s
Chicago Campus project, which exemplifies the power of a living, learning community
integrated within the students' actual community. Learning communities, as defined
by the National Learning Communities Association (NLCA), intentionally integrate curriculum
and co-curriculum, emphasizing community-building among faculty, staff, and students.
The Chicago Campus model includes innovative designs such as utilizing the city of
Chicago as a campus, living and learning in the communities students came from, leveraging
strategic corporate and community partnerships for support, and providing wrap-around
support services addressing social determinants of health. Participants will engage
in activities and access resources to consider the needs of Black and Brown students
through a trauma informed lens, and be challenged to think through the ways they can
build holistic equity-focused systems in their own work.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies
Presenters: Kenneth Harris and Ranida Harris, Indiana University Southeast
This session will provide experiences and outcomes, both positive (the large majority)
and negative, of a recent learning community between a 100-level Introduction to Business
class and a 200-level Computers in Business class. This learning community took place
at Indiana University Southeast (IUS) and started with 39 students (huge by IUS standards)
who took the two classes back-to-back. There were challenges experiences with one
class being more discussion based and the other being more technical as well as some
issues with one being a 100-level class and the other being a 200-level class. Overall,
the experience was highly positive for the instructors, students as evidenced by both
formal feedback and attitudinal outcomes that were assessed, and the university -
as students in the learning community had a high persistence and re-enrollment rate.
Ideas for enhancement and expanding to other disciplines and institutions will be
discussed.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Garrett Tur, DeAnna Katey, Melissa Foreman, Pam Geddes, Ball State University
Through a panel with representatives from four universities in different geographic
areas with distinct student bodies, we will provide our perspectives on how we build
and cultivate a sense of belonging in the Living Learning Communities programs at
our respective institutions. Although several similarities exist among our approaches,
many differences make each institution unique. Looking closer at the strategies and
methods we use to build that sense of belonging will allow us to share what works
well and the challenges we face when implementing this work. In attending this session,
attendees will gain a high-level understanding of how the institutional contexts of
our practices led to the sense of belonging strategies we utilize-scaling practices
through conversations and dialogue with different institutional contexts and partners.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Living Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Bryan Austin, Michael Witt, Purdue University
Over the course of 10 years, Residential Academic Initiatives at Purdue University
has invited 57 prominent alumni to return to live on campus and engage in meaningful
interactions with students as a part of its Executive in Residence program. In this
session, the director of the program and a faculty member will share their experiences
in launching and growing the program, identifying and recruiting alumni to participate,
structuring their visits to maximize their impact on students, and collaborating with
learning community faculty to integrate the alumni into teaching that results in purposeful
and immersive learning opportunities for students. Specific examples will be shared
with lessons that were learned and best practices that were developed.
1:45 p.m.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Chris Schnick, Dr. Paul Pretequin, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Combining first-year composition and United States history, we created a learning
community that pursued U.S. social justice. We began with identity exploration through
art enabling students to express cultural experiences. After researching local poverty,
students participated in a service learning project to explore and reflect on their
community. We built on empathizing with others, through several role-playing activities.
Then small groups of students chose a social concern, developed and implemented some
action to address a part of the issue, and shared their learning with their peers.
As we recount students' stories of their progression through in and out-of-class activities
and engage you in a brief simulation, we will work with you to sketch the bare bones
of how you might intentionally scaffold experiential learning and role playing activities
to help students increase their understanding of themselves, their communities, and
how actions can step towards solutions.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Carlos Huerta, Rita Sperry, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) launched the First-Year Learning Communities
Program (FYLCP) in fall 1994 to welcome the inaugural class of first-year students.
The program was an initiative to enroll all full-time first-year students in learning
communities (LCs). The FYLCP evolved into a nationally recognized program with leadership
and faculty emerging as LC national leaders. Members of FYLCP leadership were active
with the NLCC and instrumental in the formation of the National Learning Communities
Association. The FYLCP appeared to be fully institutionalized on campus and in the
national LC landscape. However, in February 2024, the TAMU-CC president sent a campus-wide
memo announcing that the linked classes of the FYLCP were ending in fall 2024 and
a new college-based program would replace it. This presentation will tell the story
of the rise and fall of the FYLCP and offer insight into warning signs of administrative
betrayal.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Scott Beal, Rachel Oti, Lindsay Fedewa, University of Michigan -- Ann
Arbor
How do we create meaningful traditions of engagement for students beyond the classroom
that stay relevant to their current interests? Two University of Michigan Learning
Communities -- Living ArtsEngine and Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts -- explain
how they center both student voices and the greater values of their communities through
their respective models of creative, interdisciplinary extracurricular programming.
Participate in an imaginative activity that is exemplary of what these programs often
look like, and leave with ideas of how to adapt our models to the needs of your own
learning communities.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Studies, Coordinated Studies
Presenters: Shawn Browers, Jeffrey Thomas, Queens University of Charlotte
Learning communities are a high impact practice with positive impacts on student learning.
However, administratively, launching new LCs can present challenges in getting faculty
buy-in. This session will guide participants through creative, narrative writing exercises
to encourage participants to reflect on the joys, personal benefits, and professional
growth that are often by-products of teaching in LCs. Guided prompts will also facilitate
group discussions to share common themes and insights. By the end of this session,
participants will have concrete examples of the perceived benefits of teaching in
learning communities for faculty. For administrators, this session will provide new
ways to consider personal benefits to the faculty as means of incentive and recruitment.
For faculty, we hope this session will offer a way to think about teaching in LCs
to explore new passions, find new collaborators, or deepen existing areas of interest.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Living Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Shayla Schumacher, Louisiana State University
Student assessment. We all do it, but what matters is how we use it. In this session,
we will discuss how LSU Res Ed utilizes student surveys and other assessment pieces
to inform and implement academic initiatives both within and outside the Residential
Colleges. We will provide concrete examples including implementing designated study
spaces, focusing our midterm outreach efforts, and catering to each Res Colleges’
needs. We will discuss what assessments we do, why we do it, and what we have changed/learned
from them, as well as our future direction of student assessment.
2:45 p.m.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Jeffrey Thomas, Sarah Fatherly, Queens University of Charlotte
Teaching in linked-course learning communities is often a new experience for faculty
and LC programs understandably typically focus professional development efforts on
supporting these new colleagues. But for a strong program to thrive, it is important
to offer support for returning faculty who face different challenges than first-time
instructors and have the opportunity to deepen and enrich the LC experience for faculty
and students alike.
In this interactive session, we will create space to explore what it means to design
continuous professional development relevant for different stages of LC faculty experience.
Participants will identify challenges more experienced faculty face and discuss examples
of resources that can be useful with this audience. Together we will explore strategies
for creating development activities that foster communities of continuous improvement.
Participants will be able to walk away with concrete ideas for framing and delivering
activities that can support LC faculty on their campuses.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Interactive Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communities, Residential
Colleges
Presenters: Julia Metzker, Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education
Many a learning community program has been launched or refined as the result of intensive
action planning at the Washington Center summer institute. In this session, we want
to collect stories from your engagement with the summer institute as we prepare to
mark the 40th year of the Washington Center. If you served as resource faculty, convened
a team, or were on a team, come reminisce with us - and possibly commiserate about
dorm life. Washington Center staff will lead you through structured story building
exercises to celebrate and preserve the collective experience and insights of our
community.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Ashlee Toomey-Flinn, Kimberly Blaise, Georgia Institute of Technology
Getting students engaged in programming is a challenge and it can be difficult to
work across siloes in schools, departments, and across campus. Please join us for
a session discussing how two different living learning communities at Georgia Tech
use data, marketing strategies, and communication to engage Housing and Residence
Life, other LLCs, and campus partners to support student programming and engagement.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies
Presenters: John Garcia, Rebecca Scott, Rich Johnson, Kim Jaeger, Meg King, and Karen
Dailey, Harper College
One benefit of Learning Communities is that they break students (and faculty) free
from the "silos" of thinking in terms of specific courses or departments. Yet it is
more common, at least at our institution, for faculty within the same division to
come together to create a Learning Community. In this panel discussion, a group of
faculty from Harper College will talk about ways they have worked to go beyond the
"academic division boundary" and developed courses that either connect classes in
the Humanities to Match and Science courses or connect students at Harper to students
around the world.
Come hear about how faculty have connected English to Chemistry, Philosophy to Statistics,
and Harper College students to the global community!
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Living Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Linda Jena, Texas A&M University-Commerce
This will be an informative session where research findings from a concurrent mixed
methods study exploring the experiences and outcomes of students who self-select into
the various living-learning communities (LLCs) at a Carnegie-classified R3 university
are presented. An LLC survey was administered to 220 participants over 21 weeks, where
both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to assess the impact of LLC
participation. The data analysis revealed a positive influence on student experiences
and outcomes, thereby confirming the study's hypotheses. Additionally, thematic analysis
of open-ended responses revealed key themes such as belonging and community, revealing
the benefits of LLC participation even among students who self-select into these communities.
3:45 p.m.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Renée Rude, Colleen Wilkowski and Anna Loseke, Chandler-Gilbert Community
College
This interactive session will explore how to empower students to share their research
of Blue Zones, positive psychology, and sustainability practices in a Wellness Showcase.
Presenters will share high impact practices, student artifacts, and how students prepared
and presented their learning to the college and surrounding community, strengthening
their personal and academic journeys in the process. We will invite participants to
engage with wellness practices that they can take back to their own classrooms.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communities, Residential
Colleges
Presenters: Rosena Beniste, Broward College
Join us for an interactive session led by experienced and paired Learning Community
faculty from Broward College, Florida, who also serve as coordinators of the learning
community program. Through engaging activities including icebreakers, competitive
group games, and exploration assignments, you'll grasp the importance of belonging,
share experiences with peers, and explore methods to promote inclusivity. You will
also gain valuable insights into best practices for enriching your learning community
framework by integrating resources that support student engagement and empowerment.
Come discover practical strategies to cultivate a culture of belonging where every
student feels valued and connected, both academically and personally.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Melissa Foreman, Chinenye Anyanwu, Jaci Van Heest, and Sara Dahlen, University
of Connecticut
Chinenye Anyanwu, founding Faculty Director of UConn's newest Living/Learning Community,
BSOUL (Black Sisters Optimizing Unity & Leadership) House, flipped her approach to
implementing community building activities based on stories shared in a faculty director
meeting by Jaci Van Heest, Faculty Director of Public Health House. This spring, student
leaders were assigned a month to lead community building activities. The approach
resulted in events students wanted and increased engagement and attendance. Student-led
activities included a Black Student Organization Involvement Fair and a Health Innovation
Hackathon. During this session led by students, faculty, and staff, participants will
learn strategies to develop student leaders as a vehicle to ensure activities are
relevant and have peer buy-in, which is where the magic happens in LC experiences.
When directors craft scaffolded community and leadership development, students will
dare to take risks, knowing that whether they fail or succeed, they have their community
to lean on.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communities, Residential
Colleges
Presenters: Rachel Smith, Iowa State University
"Community" can be conceptualized as patterns of relationships, or networks, that
shape students' meaning-making. Focusing on what drives students' relationship network
formation and the educational outcomes such networks are associated with allows us
to more intentionally shape environments to facilitate learning. However, most learning
community assessment measures focus on individual behaviors, experiences, and outcomes.
This session will draw on examples of social network analysis (SNA) based assessments
of learning communities for students exploring majors to help you examine the relational
mechanisms you use to form community, practice network-based assessment methods, and
apply findings from network-based assessment to strengthen your learning community's
subsequent development. Participants will gain a basic understanding of SNA, develop
a network assessment activity for use with their LC students, and depart with a toolkit
for further network-based assessment applications.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Living Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Shayla Schumacher, Louisiana State University
Collaborating between Academic and Student Affairs can be challenging, especially
when it comes to managing budgets and programming. Come learn about how Res Life at
LSU facilitates collaboration between the Res Life staff and Res College faculty.
Find out what steps we have implemented to close gaps in knowledge and strengthen
the services we provide for our on-campus students.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Cassatt A
Presenter: Amy Cooper
Friday
10 a.m.
10-10:50am
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Jennifer Lau-Bond, Harper College
Learning communities are opportunities to engage students, consider big questions,
and connect with ideas beyond the classroom. Information literacy skills play a key
role in all those goals. Incorporating information literacy into your learning communities
can enhance the connections students make between the environment of your classroom
and the wider world. In this session, you'll learn how librarians already collaborate
with learning communities and how a partnership with your own campus library can enhance
the student experience and be a perfect match for the larger aims of learning communities.
10-10:50am
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communites, Residential
Colleges
Presenters: Kate Midday, Aaron Lawler, and Steven Zusman, McHenry County College,
Waubonsee Community College
For six years, McHenry County College has mentored Waubonsee Community College in
the creation of a Learning Communities Program. Through a collegial willingness to
understand the unique dynamics of sister institutions, consistency, patience, and
some old-fashioned persistence, Waubonsee Community College is in the pilot year of
their own supported Learning Communities program. We encourage others to get on the
path toward mentorship as they lay the groundwork for an LC program launch, specifically
with a college that is similar in mission, scope, size, and programmatic possibility.
There is a benefit to understanding the context of a program's growing ground, and
a success that can come from that shared experience as faculty/program leadership.
This session will lay out the unique challenges facing a community college in forming
a new program, some strategies that were ineffective and effective in bringing the
launch to life, and some steps for forming a mentorship with another institution.
10-10:50am
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Living Learning Communites
Presenters: Garrett Tur, Jeff Eads, Dixie Denton, Ball State University
This session is a collaborative effort, bringing together practitioners from Ball
State Living-Learning Communities, Teachers College, and the Office of Industry Engagement.
We aim to provide an interdivisional perspective on opportunity areas, emphasizing
the importance of industry and community relations stakeholders in connecting with
students through intentional and immersive experiences. Through community-engaged
learning, we address the learning inequalities that arise from background and class
differences and student career development outcomes through place-based learning (Holmes,
2024). This collaborative approach offers practical benefits for internal and external
funding to support immersive pedagogy. It creates a pathway for increased buy-in from
community and industry partners through student engagement with the community and
region.
10-10:50am
Location: Warhol A
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Coordinated Studies
Presenters: Gregg Fields, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
This session will provide a 4-tiered on-ramp for developing buy-in and engaging faculty
in the work of curricular integration. We will examine how we drew on campus data
resources through our institutional research department connected to faculty schedules
and student enrollments to encourage more low-stakes integration activities like short
term professor swaps and on-campus events at a commuter oriented community college.
10-10:50am
Location: Pollock A
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Heidi Giffin, Queens University of Charlotte
Are you overwhelmed by the amount of learning objectives that you need to address
in your Learning Community course(s)? Course SLOs, Gen Ed SLOs, QEPs, and more - how
can you address those in meaningful and relevant ways AND create community? This session
is about how one teacher approaches course and assignment design in a purposeful way.
If you are new to LCs or just need to refresh your course design, this working session
can help you align objectives and consider the kinds of assignments that will best
address those goals. Come prepared to share ideas and learn from others' experiences
about how to address the many expectations of teaching and learning in a Learning
Community.
11 a.m.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Candace dePass and Angela Phillips, Howard Community College
The role of assessment has long been emphasized as a pivotal element that defines
well-executed high-impact practices, but also has major implications for meeting an
institution's accreditation requirements. Howard Community College's Silas Craft Collegians
Program is one of two linked-course learning communities at the college that maintains
a consistent assessment cycle to measure student learning outcomes, evaluate program
quality, and make curricular improvements. This presentation will provide an in-depth
look at the development and evolution of the program's assessment cycle, and the exciting
step that Howard Community College is taking to bring high-impact practices to scale
as a part of the college's strategic agenda.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living-Learning Communities, Residential
Colleges
Presenters: Keely Floyd, Indiana University - Indianapolis
Can encouraging students with declared majors to engage in career exploration actually
lead to better retention? It may seem counter-intuitive, but we suggest that it can.
This informal, discussion-based session will describe our initiative to utilize career
exploration within a first-year seminar to generate an improved sense of identity,
better community, stronger academic performance, and overall better persistence among
our matriculated first-year students. Attendees will learn how empowering students
to fully explore their major and career opportunities through targeted service-learning,
cross-curricular faculty engagement, and intentional career reflection can generate
improved persistence and "stickiness" to their chosen degree program or general field.
This session will discuss how this approach was utilized in a stand-alone course and
offer suggestions for application in full learning community settings.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses, Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Brad Knight, American University
Join us for an insightful session delving into AU Cornerstone D.C., an exclusive yearlong
program tailored for first-year students eager to enhance their academic journey.
Breaking convention, AU Cornerstone D.C. offers a unique opportunity for matriculated
first-year students to delve into the professional world through internships, a privilege
often reserved for upper-class students. Throughout the fall semester, participants
collaborate closely with program staff and the Career Center, honing essential skills
such as resume and cover letter crafting, while engaging in specialized internship
preparatory events. Come spring, students embark on a supervised internship venture
in the DC region, dedicating 12-15 hours weekly to real-world experience and earning
three academic credits. What further sets AU Cornerstone apart is its integration
with University College (UC), AU's largest first-year living-learning community. Discover
how AU Cornerstone D.C. is breaking barriers, shaping future leaders, and cultivating
a supportive environment for first-year success.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies
Presenters: John Garcia, Julie Ellefson-Kuehn, Harper College
Five years ago Harper College Professors Julie Ellefson and John Garcia accompanied
students in the Honors Program on a Study Abroad trip to a Sustainability Education
Center in Costa Rica. While on the trip, they began to see potential for a Learning
Community connecting Ethics to Chemistry, with a focus on sustainability. The course,
"Living Sustainable Lives," has provided students an opportunity to see not only how
Philosophy and Science connect, but also to connect course content to their everyday
lives. But, it has also provided the instructors something unexpected - the chance
to feel "sustained" in our teaching by continually finding ourselves forced, by each
other, and by our students, outside of our comfort zone. This session will focus on
how to approach the teaching of a Learning Community with an eye toward continual
evolution as a way to remain energized about a course. The target audience is anyone
interested in the teaching of Learning Communities, with a focus on students and faculty.
11-11:50 a.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Christine Grela, Tim Seitz, McHenry County College
Talking Dirty is a co-taught, fully integrated learning community that combines PSY
175: Human Sexuality and PHI 161: Introduction to Ethics. This course was one of the
founding learning community courses of the McHenry County College Learning Communities
Program. It used to fill as soon as registration opened, but this is no longer the
case. This session will focus on the challenges that any learning community course
can face: enrollment, promotion, and student (dis)engagement, as well as challenges
unique to a course focused on controversial issues in an increasingly polarized society.
1:45 p.m.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Meg King, Karen Dailey, Harper College
In this session, we will detail how a Chemistry-English Learning Community was initially
conceived and developed, and continues to evolve. The courses paired in this Learning
Community are not traditionally viewed as complementary. English 101 is a first year
College writing class required for all undergraduate students, while Chemistry 121
is a foundational course for most STEM majors. We have found that this Learning Community
offers a number of benefits to students, such as: honing students' communication skills
and highlighting why those skills are so important to convey STEM discoveries and
developments to the general public; developing critical thinking skills particularly
in relation to contemporary issues in STEM fields; and providing a community of like-minded
individuals who support one another through very difficult coursework.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Informative/panel Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Living-Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Treon McClendon, Tiana Iruoje, Ball State University
"Black Men Thriving: Cultivating Belonging at a Midwestern PWI through a Living-Learning
Community Program for Black Men" will explore the vital role of a midwestern living-learning
community in fostering a sense of belonging and connection among Black men at a predominantly
white institution. Through interactive discussions, participants will delve into strategies
for creating supportive environments within these centers, addressing challenges,
and leveraging resources to enhance Black male students' academic and social experiences.
Activities will include small group discussions, brainstorming sessions for actionable
initiatives, and sharing personal narratives to empower attendees in building strong,
inclusive communities within their institutions. Join us in exploring the transformative
potential of living-learning centers in nurturing a sense of rootedness and brotherhood
among Black men on campus through an integrated curriculum, co-curricular programming,
and holistic collaboration among residential life and academic affairs. This high-impact
practice has yielded higher retention and completion rates for Black men at predominantly
white institutions.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Angela Perez, Amanda Marquez, Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi
Research shows that Latina higher education students have some of the lowest enrollment
and degree attainment percentages among college graduates, but also finds that relationships
with family, peers, faculty, staff, and community can increase the likelihood of their
persistence and graduation rates. First-year, first-generation, Latina students can
highly benefit from the support of role models that include peer and faculty mentors.
Mentoring relationships, such as those commonly formed within learning communities,
which focus on the quality and frequency of interactions with faculty mentors of similar
backgrounds can have a positive effect on student grades, improve persistence in higher
education programs, graduation rates, and future career and professional development.
This presentation will highlight some of the best practices Seminar faculty may employ
to better engage with students in establishing a mentor/mentee relationship. This
session intends to equip other faculty with some pedagogical tools to employ at their
own institutions to better support underrepresented students.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Jim Allen, Kate Midday & Dawn McKinley, College of DuPage, McHenry County
College, Harper College
Among all the voices represented at our conventions, one stakeholder's is often only
heard from indirectly: the students who populate our learning communities. Our presentation
will assemble a panel of students from area community colleges who will speak directly
about their experiences in various LCs as well as their thoughts and suggestions regarding
the benefits and drawbacks of LCs.
1:45-2:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Living Learning Communities
Presenters: JillAnn Knoneborg, Virginia Tech
In light of global events, more colleges and universities than ever want to create
interfaith/interreligious living-learning communities. Engaging students' religious,
secular, and spiritual identities is critical to both campus climate and individual
sense of belonging. But this type of LLC presents challenges that others may not.
In this presentation, participants will learn about potential pitfalls in both development
and implementation, drawing on lessons learned from Aurora Interfaith Living-Learning
Community at Virginia Tech (entering its fourth year in 2024-2025). All participants
will leave having made a list of campus partners they need on their planning team.
2:45 p.m.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol B
Type: Informative/panel Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Tiffany Pogue, Albany State University
The contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been
well documented (Gasman & Nguyen, 2014; Irvine & Fenwick, 2011; Perna et al., 2009;
Reddick, 2006). While we know much of what these institutions contribute to the US
workforce, economy, and knowledge base, less attention has been given to how these
institutions operate. We also know that to promote student success, we must surround
students with an environment of activities and opportunities to stimulate engagement
(Li et al., 2020). University College (UC) and its learning communities at Albany
State University were created to encourage student engagement and academic success.
Our primary desired outcome is to contribute to students' successes through co-curricular
activities designed by our learning community instructors and faculty (University
College, 2022). This presentation will present findings from a year-long study to
explore the experiences of UC students in these communities and their impact on their
academic identities.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Cassatt B
Type: Interactive / Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Linked Courses, Living-Learning Communities, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Christopher Reider, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Using best practices such as active learning, bodily kinesthetic movement, and iterative
reflection and feedback we can invite our students in learning communities to feel
engaged and empowered to mitigate counterproductive habits and behaviors. Learning
communities forge peer to peer relationships that allow students to feel comfortable
with one another - so much so, that "hyperbonding" (negative group behaviors) is often
common. This interactive session will offer techniques and suggestions to help instructors
of LCs and program directors of residential LCs feel more confident to address these
situations productively, and proactively prevent them.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock B
Type: Facilitated dialogue
Audience: Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communities
Presenters: Garrett Turr, Joel Bynum, Joel Whitesel, Ball State University
This interactive session will guide attendees through the practical questions to answer
before entering partnership opportunities across divisional boundaries. Drawing upon
the institutional experience of growing an LLC model within Housing and Residence
Life, the presenters from Ball State Housing and Residence Life and the Miller College
of Business seek to shed light on the institutional realities that may impact how
cross-divisional partners can take shape. Institutional realities such as budget allocations,
personalities, and discipline-specific culture impact the approach and development
of new or refreshed partnerships. The Best-Practices Model of LLC development (Inkelas
et al., 2018) and thoughtful reflection on your institution's "Horizontal and Vertical
Structures" (Keeling et al., 2007) will support attendees in developing an actionable
plan of questions they need to answer for themselves and offer tangible strategies
to apply in your work to build new partnerships across campus silos.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol A
Type: Interactive
Audience: Linked Courses, Residential Colleges
Presenters: Charles Pastors, Northeastern Illinois University
Attendees will develop a list of institutional and personal reasons behind offering
a learning community program. Working in small groups, they will discuss options for
"making the sale" to critical institutional support cohorts. The session as a whole
will then propose specific assessment strategies for "closing the deal" for putting
institutional support behind such a pedagogical innovation.
2:45-3:35 p.m.
Location: Pollock A
Type: Informative/panel
Audience: Linked Courses
Presenters: Christine Grela, Kate Midday, Tim Seitz, and Lisa Roth, McHenry County
College
McHenry County College is building a SuperTwofer program which includes fully integrated,
co-taught classes that also include a first-year experience course and a capstone
project for students enrolled in all the SuperTwofer classes. As we move into the
second year of these courses being offered, instructors will share specific assignments
that highlight course successes with a focus on our capstone experience. We will also
share our challenges with continuing to build the program while losing dimensions
of institutional support.
3:45 p.m.
3:45-4:35 p.m.
Location: Warhol B
