Connections Are Everything: How Trusting Relationships Drive Student Success

Research consistently shows that students’ relationships with faculty, staff and peers are crucial to academic success and personal well-being in higher education. With the rise of generative AI, human connections matter even more for learning, motivation, well-being, and meaning-making. Drawing on almost 500 interviews with students, faculty, and staff in higher education, this interactive session examines how fostering relationships – especially educationally purposeful peer relationships – offers a practical, scalable, and humane path to ensuring that all students experience welcome and care, become inspired to learn, and explore the big questions that matter for their lives and our communities. You will leave the session with practical, data-informed ideas for enhancing connections and collaboration in your work.

Peter Felten is executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, assistant provost for teaching and learning , and professor of history at Elon University. He has published nine books about higher education, including Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education (2023) and The SoTL Guide: (Re)Orienting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2025). Both of those co-authored books have an open-access online version free to all readers. He is on the advisory board of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and is a fellow of the Gardner Institute.

Session 1 – 11-11:50 a.m.

• Building a Culture of Mentorship: Scaling Meaningful Connections to Enhance Student Well-Being (Dining Commons)
  This session provides a deep dive into the six essential elements needed to scale mentorship across community colleges: Strategic, Resourced, Participant-Centered, Visible, Data-Informed, and Celebrated. Using research-backed strategies and real-world examples, we will examine how intentional connection improves student well-being. Participants will learn how to integrate mentorship into the student experience using identity-conscious matching, leverage data for impactful storytelling, engage cross-functional stakeholders, and gain a framework to adapt these principles to their institutions.
• Stop the Student Bounce: Using Navigate360 to Build Connected Advising (C208)
  This session shares how Bristol Community College’s Advising & Success team configured Navigate360 care units, templates and permissions to align workflows with retention, equity and SUCCESS data collection requirements. Bristol expanded Navigate360 beyond scheduling to support consistent advising, documentation and coordinated care among professional advisors, faculty and campus partners. Presenters will discuss differentiated training models designed to reduce cognitive load and invite participants to discuss sustainable cross-departmental collaboration.
• Unstuck: A Scalable Approach to Persistence and Completion (N250)
  Incomplete grades derail student progress, but they don’t have to. This interactive workshop introduces Mission Unstuck, a low-cost, high-impact program combining advising, tutoring, library, and academic support to help students complete outstanding coursework. Participants will learn to replicate this scalable, community-based model using existing campus resources. Walk away with a practical framework to reduce incompletes, re-engage students, and foster cross-campus collaborations that drive persistence and success.

Session 2 – 1-1:50 p.m.

• Don’t Miss Your Connection! Designing Onboarding for a Successful Student Journey (Dining Commons)
  Effective onboarding determines whether students feel confident or disengaged when entering a SUCCESS Program. This interactive session explores how intentional onboarding design fosters clarity, builds early advisor relationships, and supports long-term student success. Presenters will share the evolution of the SUCCESS Scholars onboarding process—launched in 2023 to address inconsistent engagement—and how it normalizes help-seeking behaviors. Participants will reflect on their own onboarding practices and leave with practical strategies to apply at their institutions.
• AI Without The Anxiety: Practical Tools to Enhance Advising Support (C208)
  This session cuts through the AI noise by focusing on accessible, low-risk approaches to enhance efficiency, improve communication and strengthen student support in higher education. Rather than centering on institutional trends, this presentation emphasizes adaptable strategies that support a range of roles. Participants will explore how AI streamlines workflows, supports decision-making, and generates insights that improve student outcomes. Attendees will leave with practical strategies and tools to confidently navigate AI in a responsible way.
• A Collaborative Model for Change: GCC’s Academic Standing Appeal Process (N250)
  In 2025, GCC formed an Academic Standing Working Group to create a holistic, strengths-based review process for academic standing appeals. This initiative collaborates across GCC’s Academic Advising Center, Registrar’s Office, Student Financial Services, and Dean of Students. This presentation will share the project’s impetus, outline our collaborative decision-making model, present the updated appeal form and process, discuss planned next steps, and facilitate discussion on initiatives underway at other campuses.

Session 3 – 2-2:50 p.m.

• A SUCCESS Student Participatory Action Research Study: Data-informed Recommendations for Improving Relational Ecosystems and Growing Student Success (Dining Commons)
  This presentation shares a Participatory Action Research (PAR) SUCCESS program review at Massasoit Community College that elevates student voices to offer an evidence-based path toward improved persistence, equity, and trust. Student co-researchers participated in all project stages, from studying critical theory and conducting literature reviews to data collection, analysis, and formulating recommendations. This project demonstrates a fundamental belief in the power, spirit, and creativity of community college students.
• Beyond Best Practices: Lessons from Collaborative Implementation in TechRise (C208)
  This reflective session examines TechRise through a collaborative lens, focusing on what institutions learned while working across departments and with external partners to implement technology workforce initiatives. Using qualitative examples from multiple colleges, the presentation explores how collaboration influenced program implementation, student pathways, and institutional capacity. Emphasizing shared learning over prescription, the session highlights both successes and challenges. Participants will leave with adaptable ideas for strengthening collaboration to support student recruitment, persistence, and success.
• SUCCESS Scholars Camp: A Transformative Workshop Series for Navigating College with Confidence (N250)
  This presentation explores transforming traditional academic workshops into an immersive, in-person camp model. Discover the rationale behind shifting from multi-session formats to the more accessible SUCCESS Scholars Camp, designed to better meet student availability. Participants will learn how this model expands access to college-wide resources while teaching vital study and time-management strategies. We will also examine how intentional activities foster a sense of belonging through shared experiences and meaningful peer connections.