Breakout Sessions
Tuesday, November 4 | Concurrent Session A | 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Concurrent Session A1 | South Meadow Room
Building Belonging and Boosting Success: The Power of Living Learning Communities at UW-Eau Claire
Jasmine Case, John Reichert, Linda Pratt – University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
At UW-Eau Claire, Living Learning Communities are central to our efforts to foster student belonging, engagement, and success. This session will highlight how cross-divisional collaboration among Student Affairs, Enrollment Management, and Academic Affairs has driven the strategic expansion of LLCs on our campus. Our LLCs range from identity-based and major-specific cohorts to interest-driven communities that incorporate high-impact practices like Community-Engaged Learning—a graduation requirement at UWEC. These communities provide meaningful connections to peers, faculty, and the broader community, starting in students’ first year. Presenters will share outcomes that show increased student satisfaction and retention tied to LLC participation. As part of our Strategic Plan, LLCs are also playing a key role in reimagining our First-Year Experience (FYE) program. Join us to learn how your campus can grow or enhance LLCs through collaboration, equity-focused design, and intentional integration with student success efforts.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Experiential and service-learning, First-year students, Living-learning communities/residential programs, Retention
Concurrent Session A2 | Harvest Room
The Bunker Hill Community College Learning Communities Model Applied to a Holistic Approach to Supporting ELL Students
Aurora Bautista, Jeff Ellenbird, Vivian Lin – Bunker Hill Community College
This presentation will highlight the continuing impact of the Bunker Hill Community College Learning Communities. It will showcase how Learning Communities’ pedagogies and practices have been integrated into the curriculum, contributing to the holistic support of English Language Learners (ELL) through three key components: thematic/content-based instruction in ELL courses fulfilling General Education requirements, embedded success coaching, and the ACE Mentor Program. The ELL program offers three levels of six-credit courses that promote student acceleration and community-based learning. Additionally, an ELL Success Coach will present the advising curriculum designed to support ELL students.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Community colleges, Integrative assignments, Peer mentoring, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session A3 | North Prairie Room
Anchors Away: Strategies for Program Stability Through Attentive and Intentional Partnering
Christine Grela – McHenry County College, James Allen – College of DuPage, Dawn McKinley – Harper College
In a world where stalwart learning communities programs can be dismantled overnight, and seemingly embedded teaching and learning practices are eliminated without explanation, LC leadership can often be found in conference sessions and round tables, fretting over the innumerable challenges facing their programs – and rightly so.
However, there are things that we can and should do, as practitioners of innovation, to help better tether ourselves to the institutions we serve. There are steps we can take to cement our praxis to the missions of our colleges. There are real plans we can set in motion to make it hard to swipe us away with administrative turnover or political headwinds.
Learning Communities programs must situate themselves amongst the bedrock of our institutions. To address vulnerabilities, this interactive presentation will focus on the pragmatism of becoming a long-term, institutionalized learning communities program.
Focus areas: Collaboration, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Program coordination and administration, Promising practices
Concurrent Session A4 | Cardinal Room
Structured for Success: A 4-Year Learning Community Model with Travel Integration
Catherine Pape, Melissa Burek, Rylan Celajes, Ella Strum, Alli Balog, Charlotte Stephan – Bowling Green State University
This session will highlight how integrating a 4-year curriculum plan into a learning community (LC) course sequence can create a more intentional and impactful student experience. Using a Criminal Justice LC as a case study, we’ll explore how aligning academic coursework with co-curricular travel—ranging from local site visits to overnight trips—supports student engagement, retention, and career readiness. Attendees will hear a brief overview of the curriculum design and travel integration, followed by interactive small-group discussions focused on adapting similar strategies within their own programs. Participants will receive sample materials, including a curriculum map and planning templates. The model is scalable, flexible, and applicable across a range of disciplines and institutions, offering practical ideas for embedding high-impact practices into any LC structure.
Focus areas: Active learning, Curriculum, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Integrative assignments, Retention
Concurrent Session A5 | Gold Room
Network-based Reflection: Activities for Student Support Network Development and Learning Community Assessment
Rachel Smith, Thaddeus Hill – Iowa State University
Successful learning communities rely on the relationships built among students, faculty, and staff. Subsequently, LCs can leverage those relationships to help students connect to the broader campus support ecology. This session describes two network-based reflection activities that can be used in learning communities to assess students’ campus connections, help meet students’ individual needs, and suggest program improvements to help students strengthen their support networks. One activity focuses on first-year students’ transition support networks, while the second examines the professional networks that advanced students are developing relative to their majors and careers. We will describe the network-based reflection activities, including a demonstration of a web-based network-based data collection tool, as well as describing “low-tech” means of doing network-based reflection. We will discuss the benefits and challenges of using individual and community-based network activities in various contexts and suggest activity modifications to suit attendees’ needs.
Focus areas: Assessment, First-year students, Promising practices, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session A6 | North Meadow Room
Building a BASE for Success
Chelsea Kaufman – Wingate University
Summer bridge programs have been shown to be an effective method of preparing students for their first year of university. In this study, I will discuss my efforts to establish a summer bridge program and provide continued support for the students enrolled throughout their first academic year. Students in the Building and Supporting Excellence (BASE) program are part of a learning community that begins in the summer before their first year and then continues through the first academic year. The summer program consists of a living-learning community, where BASE students and their peer mentors (often BASE alumni) live together in the same residence hall, participate in social activities designed by the peer mentors or program director, and have regular programming to connect them to on-campus resources (career center, library, health center, etc.). During that time, the students also complete 6 credits towards their general education requirements, including one course taught by the program director and one taught by the director of our first-year seminar program. During the first academic year, the students are assigned success coaches, maintain connections with their peer mentors, and are advised by the program director. They also take courses in Math and English with their BASE cohorts, with the English course being taught by the Director of the Writing Center. The analysis will include an assessment of their academic performance (GPA and retention rates relative to peers) as well as student reflections on how well the program achieved its objectives: to build an academic and social foundation and work towards achieving their future goals. The study will include data from the 2022-2025 cohorts.
Focus areas: At-risk/at-promise students, First-year students, Peer mentoring, Retention, Student support and engagement
Tuesday, November 4 | Concurrent Session B | 10:45-11:45 a.m.
Concurrent Session B1 | Harvest Room
Developing and Assessing Course-Based Undergraduate Research Opportunities, Skills Perceptions, and Science Identity in a Science Living-Learning Community
Temperance Rowell – Virginia Tech University
The need for providing undergraduate research experiences to build science identity, skills, and interest is rising. However, the feasibility of offering large groups of students with varying backgrounds these experiences is a challenge. Our LLC has developed a 1-credit LLC course series to integrate a CURE (course-based undergraduate research experience) curriculum that allows ~170 interdisciplinary science first years to participate in a research experience, culminating in a group-based conference-style research poster presentation. We have built in a curriculum with complementary assessments to help understand their perceptions of undergraduate research, science identity, and self-ratings of 19 related research skills throughout their first year. We found that >60% needed/wanted undergraduate research experiences among entering first years, that science identity increased throughout the year, and that >70% of students rated a moderate to great gain in all research skills after their experience.
Focus areas: Assessment, Curriculum, First-year students, Living-learning communities/residential programs, Research and scholarly activity
Concurrent Session B2 | Cardinal Room
Understanding and Overcoming Enrollment Challenges at Community Colleges
Rebecca Scott, Dawn McKinley – Harper College
Learning community programs at community colleges face particular barriers when it comes to establishing and growing a program. At Harper, our students are non-residential, typically have busy work schedules outside of school, and often take fewer credit hours than their peers at four-year institutions. In addition, because students typically spend fewer semesters with us, it is more difficult for our program to gain traction via word of mouth. In this presentation and discussion, we will describe the challenges we face as a learning community program at a community college. We will then share some strategies that we have implemented this spring and report on their effectiveness for fall enrollment. Finally, we will create the space for participants to share with one another their own challenges with building and maintaining learning community programs, as well as strategies that have worked (or not) at their own institutions.
Focus areas: Community colleges, Program coordination and administration
Concurrent Session B3 | South Meadow Room
Embedding Empathy in Mentorship: Building Trust and Connection Within Learning Communities
Anindita Das – Iowa State University
Empathy in mentorship fosters trust, belonging, and engagement—core elements of successful learning communities. This session explores how empathy-centered mentor training can improve student retention, academic motivation, and institutional climate, particularly for underrepresented populations. Drawing on interdisciplinary research and institutional case studies, participants will examine the impact of empathetic mentoring on campus culture and student success. Through reflection and collaborative strategy-building, attendees will develop tools to embed empathy into their mentoring practices and learning community models. The session offers practical, transferable strategies for institutions seeking to strengthen connection, persistence, and purpose through more intentional mentoring approaches.
Focus areas: Curriculum, Program coordination and administration, Peer mentoring, Promising practices, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session B4 | Gold Room
Cultivating Successful Community Members through Embedded Civic Engagement
Lesley Graybeal, Bo Blew – University of Central Arkansas
Learning communities are one of a number of research-based high-impact practices that have been found to increase college student success; research has further demonstrated that student participation in multiple high-impact practices has a cumulative impact on academic success, leading to calls for intentional collaborations that incorporate multiple high-impact practices. This presentation will share a case example from the University of Central Arkansas, highlighting how community-engaged learning has been integrated into our campus-wide first-year living learning community model. Through a facilitated brainstorming activity, attendees will reflect on how their campuses can center engaged citizenship, curricular and co-curricular service-learning experiences, voter registration and education, and the celebration of civic holidays to capitalize on the fertile ground that living learning communities present for students to cultivate the skills necessary for active participation in a democratic society.
Focus areas: Experiential and service-learning, First-year students, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Program coordination and administration, Civic engagement
Concurrent Session B5 | North Meadow Room
Learning Communities Are Powerful Faculty Development
Anne Humphrey, Christine Grela – McHenry County College
The value of learning communities to participating faculty as professional development deserves to be acknowledged, celebrated, remembered, applied, reconsidered, and reused. The professional development value of our collaborative work should also be promoted to administrators as a high-value product of a learning communities program. The skills, knowledge, and course activities developed in a learning community strengthen all of our classes and interactions. By intentionally reflecting, recalling, reviewing, and revisioning our coteaching and other close collaborations, we can find more ideas to use, a strong argument for learning communities and faculty development, and a refreshed appreciation for our colleagues.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Integrative assignments, Program coordination and administration, Research and scholarly activity
Concurrent Session B6 | North Prairie Room
Integrating Holistic Curriculum Design into Learning Communities: A Pathway to Whole-Person Education
Rachel Vincitore – Norfolk State University
Learning Communities aims to foster a supportive academic and social environment that aids students in their transition from high school to college and throughout their university experience. This foundation is established through classroom learning, co-curricular engagement, and meaningful interactions with peers, faculty, and staff. Incorporating a holistic curriculum model that intentionally addresses the intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions of learning can enhance these communities by creating more inclusive and transformative educational experiences. Because learning communities already emphasize cohort-based, theme-driven learning and strong faculty-student relationships, they are a natural setting for holistic approaches. Together, these models support students in exploring their identities, cultivating self-worth, and building resilience in a rapidly changing world. By co-creating holistic environments, educators can inspire deeper learning and personal growth, empowering students to connect with themselves, others, and the world around them.
Focus areas: Active learning, Curriculum, First-year students, Promising practices, Student support and engagement
Tuesday, November 4 | Concurrent Session C | 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Session C1 | North Meadow Room
From Peer to Leader: Creating Meaningful Student Leadership Pathways
Alexis Doming – University of Connecticut
This session will explore peer leadership models within Learning Communities, with a focus on the tiered structure used at the University of Connecticut. UConn’s year-long model includes Floor Mentors, who live in Learning Communities and complete a credit-bearing peer mentorship course; Teaching Assistants (TAs), who mentor small groups of Floor Mentors and assist in training and course facilitation; and Supervisory Teaching Assistants (STAs), who support the TAs and play a leadership role in program planning. Additional leadership opportunities, including the Learning Community Executive Council, First-Year Experience Mentors, and community-specific councils, will also be discussed. Session participants will be invited to share their own models, ask questions, and collaboratively consider how these approaches can be adapted for their institutions. The session will offer practical strategies to enhance peer leadership and strengthen student engagement within Learning Community programs.
Focus areas: Living-learning communities/residential programs, Program coordination and administration, Peer mentoring, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session C2 | North Prairie Room
Transforming the Learner into the Teacher: Making Pedagogy Meet the Needs of the 21st Century Classroom through Learning Communities
Dr. Crystal Johnson, Douglas Fishel – Metropolitan Community College
Quite often, as students of our discipline, we excel and matriculate toward our specific degree. As we enter into our teaching profession, we may find ourselves struggling with taking what we have learned and having it meet the needs of our students.
When we started our first integrated Learning Community at Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City, we brought the teaching styles we had seen modeled and used in our other classes. We soon realized that they were less than successful for the community college students at our institution. Why we asked, for we were seeing few of the advantages LC studies have shown when teaching a learning community. This session is geared toward new faculty entering into teaching a Learning Community for the first time and bridging together different teaching styles, methods, and techniques. In addition, community college instructors can benefit from this session by gaining new ideas for their learning community courses. Finally, we will conclude this session with a discussion of the changes we have made over the last three years in our learning community, in an attempt to make ours a learning “community” where the subject matter is student-centered and not solely content-centered.
Focus areas: Active learning, Collaboration, Community colleges, Promising practices, Retention
Concurrent Session C3 | Harvest Room
Learning Communities, Advising, and Orientation: Best Practices in the Most Pivotal Relationship in LC Enrollment
Paige Lush, Victor Gallegos – McHenry County College, George Hill – Hudson County Community College
Academic Advising is a critical partner in the success of any Learning Community program. By creating a solid, professional understanding between academic advising, orientation directors, and LC leadership, we can recruit students into Learning Communities and support students who are in LC programs. With some exposure to LC classwork and operations, advising and orientation can better guide the students they see. With a clearer understanding of the ways in which student services are different from academic affairs, LC faculty and leadership can become better partners. Collaboratively, our colleges will argue for increased training and exposure for advisors and LC faculty to better appreciate the tasks we engage in at the college, which will lead to truer communication and partnership. In this session, we will outline some best practices for building a strong, cross-college relationship and some ideas for creating a working approach to our shared mission: helping our students succeed. We will discuss ways Advisors can help recruit students into Learning Communities, as well as ways to integrate Academic Advising into Learning Communities. Participants are encouraged to share resources as well!
Focus areas: Collaboration, Program coordination and administration, Promising practices, Recruitment
Concurrent Session C4 | South Meadow Room
Building Identity and Academic Success: Implementing a First-Generation Student Learning Community Model at Your Institution
Vanessa Anagbo – Albany State University
Albany State University (ASU), a leading HBCU in Georgia, has developed a high-impact approach to improving student retention and engagement through its University College Learning Communities (LCs). Rooted in Tinto’s Student Integration Model, ASU’s program has grown from 9 Learning Communities serving 250 students to 15 communities supporting over 550 students. These LCs foster strong academic and social connections for first-year students through linked courses, intentional mentoring, professional networking, and experiential learning. This presentation will focus on the First-Generation Student Learning Community, an initiative that supports students who are the first in their families to attend college. This community addresses the unique challenges faced by first-gen students and has contributed to marked improvements in academic performance, confidence, and persistence. Participants will engage in small group discussions, reflection activities, and case study analysis to explore how identity-based communities support academic success. Attendees will leave with a customizable implementation toolkit that includes key elements, staffing structures, assessment tools, and adaptable practices that can be tailored to fit a variety of institutional contexts. By the end of the session, participants will have concrete strategies and resources to design or refine learning communities that center first-generation students, enhance student engagement, and support retention goals.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Experiential and service-learning, First-year students, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Retention
Concurrent Session C5 | Cardinal Room
Sunsetting Learning Communities
Amy Lorenz – University of North Florida
Do you have specific learning communities that are no longer serving the needs of students and your campus community? Is it time for them to go? Example: Do you have that one learning community where it is a battle to get campus partner support? Are students no longer interested in and/or enrolling in the learning community, but someone still wants it to go on despite the heavy resource lift? Join this session to learn about an intentional model for determining and ultimately sunsetting learning communities in a way that is intentional and constructive. We will discuss: The Three Rs of Sunsetting: Resources, Relevance, and Rationale. We will review: Strategies for creating an intentional and constructive process; Creating campus partner buy-in; Student involvement in the transition; and Communication plans. We will spend the first part of our time together reviewing models and strategies, and transition into a facilitated discussion to learn from one another. This session is adapted from a popular NLCA Community of Practice session for conference attendees. Attendees will receive handouts and resources to bring home to their campuses.
Focus areas: Assessment, Collaboration, Program coordination and administration
Tuesday, November 4 | Concurrent Session D | 2:45-3:45 p.m.
Concurrent Session D1 | North Meadow Room
The Signature Experience: Leveraging Residential LLC Cohort(s) for Student-Driven Pedagogy
Garrett Tur, Joel Whitesel, Stephanie Harshman, Bridget Lester – Ball State University
This facilitated dialogue examines Ball State University’s Signature Experience Living-Learning Community Model, illustrating how this large-scale (100-500 student) LLC utilizes a robust cross-divisional partnership between Housing and Residence Life and Academic Affairs to enhance student success and address institutional demands. Discussion will encompass the integration of student-driven pedagogy, the model’s development, current implementation within the Honors College and partner colleges (including Fine Arts and Business), and key lessons learned. Presenters representing HRL and academic units will facilitate participant discussion on adapting this flexible, partnership-based approach—characterized by intentional co-curricular and curricular integration—to diverse institutional contexts for fostering belonging and student achievement. The session offers strategies for building effective cross-divisional partnerships and implementing student-centered pedagogical practices.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Curriculum, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Living-learning communities/residential programs, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session D2 | Gold Room
Tackling Tough Truths to Encourage Intellectual Engagement
Jim Allen, Les Wolf – College of DuPage
Today, our students face serious challenges in navigating through the myriad of conflicting constructions of reality bombarding them through social media. To help our students confront these conflicts, our learning community, combining Composition I with Introduction to Philosophy, focuses on exploring the central question “What is Truth?” In this presentation, we will discuss the motivations we had for developing the LC, its overall structure, and our progress in teaching the LC that semester.
Focus areas: Active learning, Community colleges, First-year students, Four-year institutions, Integrative assignments
Concurrent Session D3 | North Prairie Room
Centering Student Exploration While Teaching About Sensitive Topics
Tommy DeRossett, Tracy Stephens – Queens University of Charlotte
This session will explore how the linked-course learning community model can facilitate the discussion of difficult topics like race and identity by providing opportunities for students to consider the issue from multiple angles, not just across the classes but within them. This creates space for the students’ own various perspectives and responses and encourages a grounded understanding of race rooted in specific contexts and experiences, which together promote openness and empathy. This session will also ask how this approach can be used in different institutional contexts where the teaching of these topics is more constrained. The Interactive component will ask Individuals to work within purposefully designed small groups to develop, or alter, a plan to teach courses centering on societally sensitive topics.
Focus areas: Active learning, Collaboration, Integrative assignments, Program coordination and administration, Promising practices
Concurrent Session D4 | Harvest Room
Creating Learning Communities to Enhance Transfer Student Success
Allison Land, Jean Clarke – Minnesota State University-Mankato
This presentation will describe MN State Mankato’s transfer student population and a new program designed to improve transfer student success. We have recently created a program in which all incoming STEM transfer students are welcomed into a discipline-specific learning community. These communities are supported by faculty and peer-mentors and centered around a common 1-credit course built upon the first-year experience model but adapted to meet the strengths and needs of our transfer students. We invite the seminar participants to share their experiences with transfer students, including engagement strategies and considerations for creating inclusive and welcoming learning communities. We anticipate that our experiences and the conversation shared in the session will be transferable to other institutions that are creating and growing transfer student-specific initiatives.
Focus areas: At-risk/at-promise students, Four-year institutions, Retention, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session D5 | Cardinal Room
Data Storytelling: How to Make Your Insights Resonate
Elizabeth Housholder – Iowa State University
In a time of abundant data, the ability to translate data into compelling and engaging stories can transform how you communicate insights and drive action. Join me for this session, which is dedicated to finding and communicating stories in your data. In this session, I will talk about why stories make data more memorable, how to find the story in your data, and how data visualization supports a compelling data story. By the end of the session, you will be equipped with practical insights and techniques to make your data more impactful and persuasive. No experience in data or storytelling in necessary!
Focus area: Assessment
Tuesday, November 4 | Concurrent Session E | 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Concurrent Session E1 | Cancelled, please find alternate session during this time (updated 10/27)
Concurrent Session E2 | North Prairie Room
We’re All “Cringe” and That’s Okay: Engaging Hot Topics When the Students Know More Than Us
Paige Lush, Robert McCord – McHenry County College
A dead learning community in music appreciation and English composition was resurrected and rethemed into a course on video game music. The resulting learning community centered student knowledge and harnessed their enthusiasm for the theme, but placed the instructors squarely outside of their own comfort zones. Paige Lush and Robert McCord will discuss the challenges of teaching a topic in which the students are highly invested.
Focus areas: Community colleges, First-year students, Integrative assignments, Retention, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session E3 | Gold Room
Building Bridges: Cross-Departmental Strategies for Designing & Implementing Meta-Major-Based Learning Communities for First-Year Student Success
Brett Bruner – Wichita State University
This session will explore the collaborative efforts of one institution in designing and implementing meta-major-based learning communities, as part of its strategic enrollment management plan and student success and persistence quality initiative (QI) project through its regional accreditor, to enhance the success of first-time-in-college (FTIC) students. The presentation will detail how academic colleges, student affairs, academic advising, first year programs/new student orientation, and career development departments worked together to create intentional pathways through these learning communities that help students learn about, select, and transition between majors.
Focus areas: First-year students, Four-year institutions, Program coordination and administration, Retention, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session E4 | Cardinal Room
Unlocking the Potential of Learning Communities: Exploring Innovative Course Pairings
Dawn McKinley, Enrique D’Amico – Harper College
Welcome to an exciting exploration of learning communities! When we think of learning communities, we often envision traditional pairings like speech, composition, or first-year experience classes with content-rich courses such as history, philosophy, literature, or psychology. But what if we dared to think beyond the conventional? What unique opportunities could we create for our students to deepen their learning experiences?
In this session, we will embark on a creative journey to brainstorm unconventional course pairings that can enrich our students’ educational journeys. We’ll dive into innovative ideas that push the boundaries of traditional learning communities, discussing the potential benefits and challenges these unique pairings may present. Together, we’ll share insights and experiences from teaching distinctive learning communities, highlighting both the successes and obstacles we’ve encountered. Join us as we unlock new possibilities and pave the way for transformative educational experiences!
Focus areas: Collaboration, Curriculum, Integrative assignments
Concurrent Session E5 | Harvest Room
Anything One Can Do, Two Can Do better!
Shiela Venkataswamy, Toni Countryman – McHenry County College
“Building a Community of Learners” is an essential goal for our learning community program at MCC. Together, we focused on community building for our Fall 2024 course “The Matrix: Living in 3D,” which combines Introduction to Sociology with English Composition. We find the linked learning community provides a unique opportunity to model collaboration and community building for our students. Our challenging combined curriculum required increased support. We strategized ways to motivate and engage our students, drawing on each other’s expertise. This proved successful as shown in our own and the department’s assessment. We will share the statistics for those responses. We will also explain methods to work together to build community in the classroom and provide the audience with an opportunity to participate in an activity we use.
Focus areas: Active learning, Assessment, Collaboration, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Student support and engagement
Wednesday, November 5 | Concurrent Session F | 8:15-9:15 a.m.
Concurrent Session F1 | North Meadow Room
Cultivating Success from the Start: Learning Community Memos of Understanding
Amy Lorenz – University of North Florida
Living-learning communities are most successful when strong partnerships are established between residence life and academic affairs. LLC Memos of Understanding (MOUs) provide an opportunity for campus partners to identify expectations for one another, such as responsibilities for marketing, enrollment, teaching, budgeting, advising, and more. However, many LLCs are born from fantastic ideas (from great people!) but lacking infrastructure. LLC MOUs provide the foundation for establishing guidelines, processes, and student experiences in a clear way from the start. As a result of attending this session, participants will be able to: Identify the components of the living-learning communities best practices model (Inkelas et al, 2018); Articulate the needs of their LLC students, faculty, and staff on their own unique campuses; Create a draft living-learning community memo of understanding. Participants will leave with a completed draft LLC MOU to bring to their home campuses and additional resources.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Curriculum, Living-learning communities/residential programs, Program coordination and administration
Concurrent Session F2 | Cardinal Room
LC Changes and Administrative Transitions: Holding the Course
David Finley, Chris Schnick – Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Chandler-Gilbert Community College has been a leader in LCs within the Maricopa Community Colleges for years, but with decreased enrollment trends, the number of LC offerings to make hit an all-time low last academic year. The situation was exacerbated by budget cuts and transitions in executive leadership. Come learn how the LC Leadership Team worked with administration and faculty to actually reinvigorate the program by leveraging the District’s new focus of being “All-in on Student Retention” and the College’s Strategic Plan to “scale High-Impact Practices” with years of student retention data and recent gains in student success and degree/certificate completion. One notable outcome, in addition to new LC offerings this fall, is a first-time LC budget line in the College Plan with a faculty compensation model that provides room for growth. This session hopes to inspire programs that are facing challenges in enrollment, funding, or as a result of leadership transitions.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Community colleges, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Program coordination and administration, Retention
Concurrent Session F3 | Gold Room
Reigniting the Learning Community Program: A Collaborative Journey Towards Transformation
Christina Schwab, Jenny Krzyskowski – University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
This session will highlight an overview of the history of learning communities at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a focus on student data related to LC enrollment, retention, and persistence. Presenters will also share the recent journey of reviving the learning communities program. Discussion will include the phases that the FYE office took to reignite the historically successful high-impact practice on campus. Presenters will also share recent collaborations in the growth of learning communities and plans for future improvements to best serve students. Below is a snapshot of the history covered in the session:
2006-2020 – Introduction and peak of Learning Communities at UW-Whitewater
2020-2022 – Shift to First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs)
2022-2023 – Learning Community reintroduction phase
2023-present – Current 17 Learning Communities
Focus areas: Collaboration, First-year students, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Program coordination and administration, Retention
Concurrent Session F4 | South Meadow Room
Touchstones as a Pedagogy for Learning Communities: Fostering Voice, Belonging, and Reflection
Chelsie Hawkinson – University of Nevada-Las Vegas
The Touchstones Discussion Project is a discussion-based pedagogy that promotes equitable dialogue, deep listening, and student voice—core goals of effective learning communities. In this interactive session, participants will experience a Touchstones discussion firsthand and explore how its structured approach to shared inquiry builds belonging, collaboration, and critical reflection. Drawing on implementation at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas in first-year and second-year seminars—including those serving military-affiliated, co-requisite math, and GEAR UP students—the session will highlight how Touchstones supports motivation and engagement. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how to integrate Touchstones into their own learning communities, whether in linked courses, residence halls, or co-curricular programs.
Focus areas: Active learning, Collaboration, Curriculum, Experiential and service-learning, High-Impact Practices (HIPs)
Concurrent Session F5 | Harvest Room
Implementing and Assessing a Case Study Approach to Teaching/Learning Campus Resources
Carolyn Richie – Texas Woman’s University, Karen Scheel – Iowa State University
First-year students may be overwhelmed with orientation information on campus resources and how to access them. Nonetheless, it is imperative that incoming students know how to obtain support for their academic success and well-being when needed. In this interactive session, a novel approach to teaching students how to identify and access campus supports will be taught. This approach involves de-identified case studies based on former learning community students’ needs. Following the presentation of the approach, methods for assessing its impact at individual student and programmatic levels will be presented and discussed. Case study teaching materials will be shared with session participants so that they can be adapted for other learning communities across a variety of settings and disciplines. Assessments for individual and programmatic outcomes will also be shared.
Focus areas: Active learning, First-year students, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Promising practices, Student support and engagement
Wednesday, November 5 | Concurrent Sessions G | 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Concurrent Session G1 | Harvest Room
It Takes a Community: Building Your Support Team for Your LC Program
Jim Allen – College of DuPage
Just starting (or re-starting) your LC program? In this presentation, we’ll discuss the many supporting players and resources within your institution that can be crucial for helping you develop your program (or can present barrios to success if not on your “team”). We’ll talk about the need to have key connections with those who are responsible for recruiting students (Admissions, Registration, Advising, and Counseling), for recruiting faculty (Deans, department chairs, professional development directors), as well as garnering support from upper administration, directors of other High Impact Practice programs, and Research and Planning. We’ll also discuss strategies for addressing the challenges that arise when these connections inevitably change through reorganizations or changes in personnel. Finally, the attendees will collaborate in small groups with similar LC programs to discuss and develop their own list of supporters at their institutions.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Community colleges, Four-year institutions, Program coordination and administration
Concurrent Session G2 | North Meadow Room
Work Smarter – Not Harder! Standardizing LC Curriculum Using Authentic Assessment
Shellee Stewart – University of California-Riverside
The Problem: How do we maintain quality while increasing quantity? The Solution: Work smarter and not harder! This session will explore how an FYE department at the University of California, Riverside used authentic assessment in standardizing learning community (LC) curriculum for large-scale required LCs. Authentic assessment helps students to develop their own meanings of the material covered in the class and how it applies to their own lives, which helps to increase both material retention and engagement, as well as to tackle academic integrity issues with the increased use of AI. By standardizing curriculum and being intentional with embedding authentic assessment, professionals can preplan course content, which allows for preparation time to happen at your convenience and execution to be more seamless throughout the academic year.
Focus areas: Active learning, Curriculum, Four-year institutions, Program coordination and administration, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session G3 | Gold Room
Yes, Learning Communities Do Matter: The Impact of Learning Communities on First-Year Student Success
Carlos Huerta – Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) required all first-year students to participate in learning communities (LCs) for 30 years until campus leadership discontinued course linking in Fall 2024. While this decision ended a long-standing program, it also created a unique opportunity—analyzing student success outcomes for LCs with a true comparison group. This session will explore the history of LCs at TAMU-CC, the rationale behind their removal, and data comparing success rates between LC and non-LC students. The findings highlight the significant positive impact of LCs on first-year student success. By sharing empirical evidence, this session aims to equip educators and administrators with the tools to demonstrate the value of LCs and advocate for their continued implementation across diverse institutional contexts.
Focus areas: Assessment, First-year students, Retention
Concurrent Session G4 | Cardinal Room
Creating Transformative Spaces for Success: Lessons from Two Learning Communities at an HBCU in Texas
Tammy Holmes, Nathan Mitchell, Laurette Foster, Shayla Wiggins – Prairie View A&M University
This session highlights innovative practices from two transformative learning communities at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Texas. The B-Global Program’s first initiative is a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that integrates global themes into general education courses, promoting interdisciplinary learning, cultural competence, and global citizenship. The second initiative, the Texas Leadership Scholars (TLS) Program, is now in its fourth year; it is a Living Learning Community designed for high-achieving students who graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. Supported by full academic scholarships, this program encourages Texas’s top scholars to remain in-state by providing a comprehensive educational, residential, and leadership development experience.
These models illustrate how targeted curricular and co-curricular initiatives can enhance student engagement, retention, and institutional reputation. Presenters will share the program frameworks, outcomes, and lessons learned, offering practical strategies for institutions looking to elevate student success through intentional learning community design.
Focus areas: At-risk/at-promise students, Curriculum, Four-year institutions, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session G5 | South Meadow Room
Data Equity: Mitigating Bias in Project Design and Data Collection
Matthew Pistilli – Iowa State University
This presentation will explore the critical role of data equity in educational research and assessment, emphasizing how bias can infiltrate project design, data collection, and interpretation. The presenter will challenge the assumption that data are inherently objective, illustrating how averages and aggregated statistics can obscure disparities and misrepresent minoritized populations. The session will highlight the importance of intentionality in defining key terms, selecting demographic categories, and disaggregating data to uncover inequities. Attendees will also learn about the dilemma of creating grouping variables, potential challenges working with small sample sizes, and considerations for the use of proxy variables and the risks of unintended identification. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences and solutions they have identified for presenting data and outcomes.
Focus areas: Assessment, Program coordination and administration
Wednesday, November 5 | Concurrent Session H | 10:45-11:45 a.m.
Concurrent Session H1 | North Meadow Room
Journaling: Reflection as Assessment
Brenna Dixon, Elizabeth Zimmerman – Iowa State University
This session will highlight the value of using journaling and reflection assignments as a means of assessment and engagement in learning community courses. Participants will learn about effective journaling and reflection strategies illustrated by examples of successful application in learning community orientation courses and English courses at Iowa State University. All methods discussed are adaptable to any learning community course or context. Attendees will also be invited to participate in a model activity and engage in conversation around how formal and informal reflection and journaling activities might be tailored to their own learning communities’ needs.
Focus areas: Active learning, Assessment, Curriculum, Promising practices, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session H2 | Harvest Room
Using Funding Challenges to Develop LC Practices of Efficiency
Gregg Fields – Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Discover how LC Leadership teams used a challenge to the existing funding model by well-meaning administrators as a motivator to better support our teachers by developing Practices of Efficiency and an Expanded Practices of Consistency: Documents that declare a mindset and establish more effective ways to engage in co-teaching in LCs while decreasing the workload to match the funding an institution might be able to offer.
Focus areas: Community colleges, Program coordination and administration
Concurrent Session H3 | Gold Room
Navigating Success: A High-Impact Learning Community Approach to Summer Bridge Programs
Rita Sperry – Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
The Navigate Summer Bridge Academy (NSBA) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) is a high-impact learning community experience designed to support students who are not yet “college ready” in mathematics. By integrating cohort-based learning, faculty and peer engagement, and wrap-around support services, the NSBA fosters student success, institutional belonging, and academic preparedness. This session will explore the program’s structure, key components, and impact on student retention and engagement. Participants will gain insight into how LC principles can enhance summer bridge programs and explore strategies for adapting these practices to their own institutional contexts.
Focus areas: Active learning, At-risk/at-promise students, First-year students, Program coordination and administration, Student support and engagement
Concurrent Session H4 | Cardinal Room
Depth over Breadth: Ditching the Survey to Build Stronger LCs
Jeffrey Thomas, Sarah Fatherly – Queens University of Charlotte
While one of the key characteristics of powerful learning community design is ‘depth over breadth’, linked learning community courses are often built in the mode of survey courses that serve as broad introductions to a field. Developing learning communities that privilege depth requires cooperation and buy-in from administrators, departments, and faculty to incentivize and take part in course design or re-design. At Queens University of Charlotte, we have used a ‘messy problem’ framework to engage faculty in course design for learning communities while providing opportunities for departments to think about creative ways to connect these courses to their programmatic needs. In this interactive session, we will explore ways to engage faculty in learning community course design or re-design that emphasizes depth.
Focus areas: Collaboration, Curriculum, Integrative assignments
Concurrent Session H5 | South Meadow Room
Welcoming Other Eyes: How External Reviews Can Help Revitalize Well-Established LC Programs
Nathan Phelps, Kari Fernholz – University of Wisconsin-Madison
This interactive presentation explores a comprehensive external review of the First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs) at UW-Madison, a program designed to enhance student success and sense of belonging. Attendees will gain insights into the process of data-driven program evaluation, including methodologies for gathering and analyzing student feedback and participation metrics. A key focus will be the impact of an objective external review, highlighting how these perspectives can identify hidden strengths and areas for improvement. The session will underscore the importance of continuous program evaluation and using feedback to foster a culture of improvement. Through discussion and by responding to worksheet prompts, participants will leave with actionable strategies they can implement on their own campuses to understand and improve the impact of their own learning community programs.
Focus areas: Assessment, Four-year institutions, High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Program coordination and administration