May 7 - Concurrent session schedule (1) Transitions In, Through & Out of College (2) Student Development 51 presenters total (not including Dr. Tinto) (3) Social Inclusion Updated: April 22 (4) Current Issues (5) Transition Toolkit Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 11:15-12:15 pm 1 A1/A17 - Transition to College, Get Becca Allan, Orientation and Transition Together Centennial and will share their transition programming from orientation to leadership. K318 Connected, Stay Connected Programming Coordinator, Mike Zecchino, Housing and Student Life Learn about Centennial's Road to Success transitions framework and our Leadership Passport program designed to Manager, Seona Morrison, Student Life connect students to each other, the institution and their communities. The cornerstones of getting started (Centennial Advisor Welcomes and Extended Orientation), getting supported (Service Fairs) and getting involved (Engagement Week and Leadership Passport) will be explored. The focus will be on the newly implemented Engagement Weeks, created to align with our semesterly break weeks and our innovative Leadership Passport program which results in students receiving a Darryl Creeden, Director Student Distinction in Leadership (second credential) at convocation. Transitioning to Academic and Recruitment and Transitions and Personal Success Christine Haesler, Manager of Student Georgian will share their 4 main transition programming events designed to connect incoming students with their college, Development, Transitions and Service staff, peers and the local community across all 7 of our campuses. It encourages the building of relationships and Georgian College, Learning developing of connections making Georgian into their new home. Get Connected is our pre orientation program where we invite students on campus before classes have begun, but after they have picked their timetable. Orientation day is an opportunity for to connect and engage with peers, faculty and students outside the classroom. The Stay Connected - Ask Me booth help is available in our main traffic areas for the first few weeks of class from 8am – 1pm. Late Connection Orientation – is our event to ensure that all students have the opportunity to connect – even if they joined our college late or were not able to attend orientation day.

2 A2 - Delivering Counselling and Jim Lees, Coordinator of Counselling Using videoconferencing to deliver counselling in is rare. “An Analysis of Counselling Services in Ontario Colleges” K320 Student Services Through Video showed that the vast majority of counselling is provided ‘face to face’, being physically present in the same room, with 96% of Ontario’s counsellors indicating they had never used video to conduct counselling (Lees and Dietsche, 2012). This was a bit surprising, given the ubiquitous nature of video capability routinely utilized by the general public and by other professional groups, in business and health particularly. For example, health service professions in Ontario, through the Ontario Telemedicine Network have been utilizing videoconferencing for consultation and clinical assessment for close to three decades. With funding provided by the Mental Health Innovation Fund, Confederation College through a multi- college project entitled “Bridging the Distance” (http://bridgingthedistance.com/) set up a virtual student service network linking the eight regional campuses to the main campus in . The regional campuses are 3 ½ to 5 ½ road hours from the main campus. In addition to counselling services, academic advisement, financial aid and accessibility services were made available through video. The session will provide an overview of how the system was established, the progress made during the first two years of the project and lessons learned. Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 3 E1/8 - “Summer Transition Bruno Mancini, Director, The Summer Transition Program is a joint summer program offered by and the University of K322 Program for Students with Mental Counselling & Student Accessibility Guelph to facilitate the transition of any student with mental health issues from the secondary school system Health Issues” Services, to university and college. This program will be conducted in two phases. Shawna Bernard, Counsellor/ Conestoga College, University of Coordinator, Counselling Services, The first is a one week residential experience held at the University of Guelph in early July that will focus on the Guelph Conestoga College development of the generic skills and knowledge required by both college and university students to smooth out what can be a period of significant challenge for students with mental health issues.

The second phase of the program will be two separate and unique programs held at Conestoga and the University of Guelph just prior to Orientation week. Both programs will focus on the specific resources and supports available at both campuses to help students make a successful transition to their respective post- secondary settings.

4 A12 - Engaging Students to Prevent Christine Blake-Durie and Pamela Status of Women Canada spearheaded a nation-wide strategy addressing gender-based violence on post–secondary K324 Violence on Post -Secondary Nitert, Marnie Herskovits, Yellow Brick campuses. Yellow Brick House partnered with in order to ascertain best practices in engaging young Campuses House people in preventing violence on campuses. Two surveys, safety assessments, and focus groups with diverse students yielded compelling findings that indicated need for a multi-tiered approach aimed at prevention and awareness, building Seneca College bystander capacities, and improved service provision for college members who had experienced violence. “Mobilizing Connected Bystanders” emerged as critical in addressing violence on post-secondary campuses in a student-engaged way.

The recognition that diverse views on violence prevention exist on most college campuses, as well as student diversity in age, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, and aboriginal status means that approaches to intervention and prevention must be fluid and responsive to shifting perspectives and attitudes. What became clear was that if every member of a college campus family could be better equipped to identify and name violence, and then intervene in a way that was a fit for them, diverse approaches would always be respected. Through these findings, Seneca College and Yellow Brick House were able to cultivate a Campus Community Plan that addresses the specific needs of all campus stakeholders including staff, faculty, and students.

In this session, Seneca College and Yellow Brick House will share the project outcomes including best practices, enhanced safety provisions, supporting the work, and how the findings will impact the campus community today and in the future. Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 5 B1 - Measuring Contributions of Helen Sheridan, Corporate Research The Academic Area uses institutional data for such activities as program review, retention, and faculty evaluation; but K326 Student Support Services and Analyst and Nancy Miyagi, Special what about Student Services? There may be a wealth of institutional data at your college that can help identify students Enhancing Student Success with Research & Evaluation Projects who are at risk, who are using your initiatives or services, who are engaged with their studies, and who are satisfied with Institutional Data your services.

Mohawk College, George Brown This presentation will identify the different sources of institutional data like Student Entrance Survey, Student KPI College Satisfaction Survey, Student Engagement Survey, P.A.S.S. (Peer Assisted Student Sessions) initiative, at-risk student outreach, Clockworks, and retention analysis. We will look at challenges with some institutional data, how the data can be used, how to organize an initiative in order to collect data and other ways in getting additional information and feedback, all of which could assist with student success.

EA Sharing Best Practices Rhonda Scharf This session will provide participants with the opportunity to share best practices, unique ideas, tips and tricks related to TBC the role of administrative support to the Vice Presidents, Students

Presenters Session Summary Location Special Requirements 1:30-2:30 pm 1 F3 - Cognitive Strategies for Judith McKinnon, Career Counsellor Learn about a collection of strategies that have proven useful for working with students of all ages. Topics K318 Personal and Career Success and Donna Fundy Brennan, covered will include: Visualization and the power of attitude; use of metaphors – visual, physical textural, Employment Consultant aspects of emotional intelligence including awareness of self-talk, internal dialogues, and belief systems. The session will include both theoretical background and practical application.

2 A8 - Using Social Media to Engage Dr. Heather Drummond, Ed.D. Students are more connected digitally than ever; post-secondary institutional budgets are shrinking, this is the K320 Students: Thinking Outside the (Counselling Psychology), time to find innovative ways of engaging our students and encouraging academic persistence. Dr. Heather College Counselling “Box” Counsellor/Professor Drummond, Counsellor and Professor, at has developed, and is currently implementing a student success program designed to meet students where they are at, engrossed in the various social media Mohawk College platforms. Come find out how to use Twitter, WordPress, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and your institutions e- learning platform to help students build the necessary skills to successfully engage in the academic process.

Dr. Heather Drummond, Counsellor and Professor, at Mohawk College has developed, and is currently implementing a student success program designed to meet students where they are at, engrossed in the various social media platforms. Come find out how to use Twitter, WordPress, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and your institutions e-learning platform to help students build the necessary skills to successfully engage in the academic process. Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 3 E10 - Creating Benchmarks in Lana Ray, CPAL Project Manager of The Centre for Policy in Aboriginal Learning (CPAL) at Confederation College, in partnership with Northern College, K322 Aboriginal Learning through the Use Research; S. Brenda Small, CPAL V.P.; , Collège Boréal, and has undertaken a project to document and examine of Culturally Relevant Measures Renee Hallee, Directrice - Appui à a number of practices in Aboriginal learning to create culturally relevant benchmarks. l'apprentissage; Eric Dupuis, The Centre for Policy in Aboriginal Gestionnaire, Projet autochtones; Six following best practices in Aboriginal learning will be explored and discussed: the Aboriginal Learning Outcomes, Elders Learning (CPAL) Confederation Richard Ouellet, Wabnode Centre in Residence program, the iALU Portal, Transition program, Evaluation of Cultural Services, and the Discover your Spirit College, College Boreal, Cambrian Director; Mary Wabano, Director of program. College, Canadore College, Northern Aboriginal Learning Unit, First Peoples’ College, Sault College Centre; Diane Ryder, Campus Manger; Carolyn Hepburn, Director, Native Education and Academic Upgrading

4 A3 - Instituting the National College Jim Lees, Counsellor and Dr. Su-Ting The session will offer lessons learned in instituting the surveys and utilizing the results to inform policy and program K324 Health Assessment in Ontario Colleges Teo, Director, Student Health and planning in both the college and university sectors. The NCHA is an attractive option, both in terms of its broad, health Wellness and wellness focus and relative affordability. Implementing the NCHA is also an excellent opportunity for close Confederation College, Ryerson collaboration with university partners who share a common set of concerns and experiences. University

5 C2 - Mohawk Creates a MAP to Rosemarie DeRubeis, Senior Built with Ellucian’s Degree Works software, My Academic Progress (MAP) is a web-based academic tracking K326 Student Success -- My Academic Business Analyst – Marilyn Micucci, tool that gives students “anytime, anywhere” access to their personal academic plans. The tool allows Progress (MAP) Acting Registrar individuals to see how many courses they’ve taken, what requirements remain and where they are in relation to achieving individual higher education goals. Mohawk College The technology doesn’t replace the need for on-campus academic advisers and counselors. Rather, it seeks to enrich the value of those experiences by allowing students to monitor their own progress, consult their academic records and prepare questions ahead of valuable in-person meetings. - Students are empowered to track their academic progress and self-advise with accurate progress audits and early intervention. - Data mining provides a myriad of information which allows for timely and proactive communications to students including, and not limited to, early academic progress alerts and available missed courses. - Faculty and Student Success Advisors have access to real-time student registration details and student academic progress audits. Process efficiencies also allow for quality time with the students.

Presenter Session Summary Location Special Requirements Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 1:30-3:00 pm EA Making the Leap to Remarkable Rhonda Scharf You’re good at what you do – but are you remarkable? Do you really stand out as “one of the best” in the TBC Flipchart, markers administrative field? If you have been doing your job for a while now (5+ years), how do you know if you are good anymore? Are you relying on your own self-taught skills to make you remarkable?

During this fully interactive workshop, you will learn more about your profession by discussing the top 10 things you need to do to Make the Leap to Remarkable!

Presenters Session Summary Location Special Requirements 2:45-3:45 pm 1 E3 - Supporting Student Christina Wiggins, Project Leader, The Co-Curricular Record (CCR) is an initiative aimed at supporting students’ transition to, through and beyond K318 Transitions through the Co- Co-Curricular Record (Sheridan) their post-secondary experience. The CCR provides students with the opportunity to engage in activities Curricular Record Kimberly Elias, Program designed to provide meaningful learning and development, which are recorded on an official institutional Coordinator, Co-Curricular Record document. Currently there are over 60 universities and colleges across Canada that have launched or are in the Sheridan College and University of ( process of developing a CCR program. Toronto This session will focus on how the CCR can support student transitions, including its influence on student personal growth and development, graduation rates, and career exploration and attainment. The CCR can provide opportunities for social inclusion through participation in community activities as well as foster a sense of community that can encourage future alumni engagement. We will also learn about the current landscape of CCRs across Canada, including the collaborative efforts by post-secondary institutions to promote the value of CCRs both within and outside post-secondary education.

2 A9 - What does great advising look Robert Kitchen & Tim Fricker What does it mean today for both students and institutions to say they are benefitting from great advising? K320 like at an Ontario College? Ontario Colleges deliver advising services to students in many different ways and for a variety of reasons. How do we demonstrate that we are advising our students well? There is strong literature that suggest advising is a , Mohawk key driver for student success and retention; however, are we optimally delivering the results that good College advising can provide to our students? Some institutions have of strong elements of an advising program, but are students really benefit from a collaborative and seamless program of advising throughout the student lifecycle?

In this workshop style session we will: (1) Explore current advising literature and research about effective advising service delivery; (2) Facilitate a discussion about some of the critical challenges and opportunities of operationalizing great advising in the current landscape, and (3) Share our lessons and plans to move our respective advising services forward on our campuses.

Recognizing that each campus and it’s students are unique the key takeaway for participants will be a process that can be used to have intentional conversations about what great advising is and what the steps forward are for operationalizing it in your situation. Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 3 E2/4 - Supporting Success for Tara Connolly, Disabilities Counselor In our effort to meet Ministry expectations for student success, Accessibility/Disability Services across the K322 Students with Disabilities in the and Project Coordinator province have broadened supports to include preparatory programs for students with disabilities entering Transition to College and the Heather Bailey, Learning Strategist college and also career-related events for students with disabilities moving on to employment. This Transition to Work Cris Brady, Learning Strategist presentation will look specifically at the pilot project offered at that supports first year Bethany Wiseman, Learning students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how this project could benefit students with other Algonquin College, Centennial Strategist disabilities. In the second half of the presentation we will explore what colleges are currently doing to support College, students/graduates with disabilities moving to employment, including best practices, barriers/limitations and Tim Comerford, Carla Grey, David meeting student expectations. Common themes for best practices for supporting student transitions will be Hurlbut highlighted.

4 A15 - Restorative Justice: Neil Buddel, PhD, Dean of Students There are three distinct, yet interrelated, approaches to student conduct; punitive, developmental, and K324 Enhancing Student Learning and restorative paradigms, and associated tools, should be used according to the level of trust with the student. (Re)Building Community This session will explore the aforementioned paradigms and associated tools, with an emphasis on demonstrating the efficacy of restorative justice (whether informal conversation through to formal facilitated Centennial College conferences) to enhance learning and building community.

Contrasted to the other two paradigms, where the focus is on the respondent, restorative justice is the only frame that engages complainants and other community members in the process. The outcomes of restorative justice are repairing harms and rebuilding trust; as students engage in dialogue they learn more about intentions and impacts and build agreements to “put things as right as possible.” The principles of restorative justice extend way beyond student conduct to interpersonal relationships and conflict. Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 5 C3 - Financial Literacy Resource Marilyn Micucci, Acting Registrar Mohawk College’s Financial Assistance staff recognized the need to educate our students on money K326 Centre and Dan Pavic, Manager, Financial management and developed a strategy of increasing financial literacy. Assistance Mohawk College Our presentation will focus on three key initiatives launched in January 2015.

Web Site Internal and external partners collaborated in the process of creating a dynamic website that provides students with access to resources on paying for school, budgeting, understanding credit and debt, and financial planning after graduation.

Mo’ Money Resource Centre The Centre is a source of information to educate and support students to become more confident with their finances. Information is available on how to effectively manage money and reduce debt. Counselling services, provided by a Certified Credit Counsellor, are available for students who request help with their money management.

Financial Literacy Game Financial Assistance worked with an internal team to develop an online game to help students build their financial literacy. The experience presents common life style scenarios to students and gives them the option to select choices they would make in a particular situation. Every decision they make within the game has a financial cost. The goal of the game is to bring awareness to financial literacy and the cost of decisions a student makes while at college.

3:00 - 4:50 pm Making the Leap to Remarkable Rhonda Scharf You’re good at what you do – but are you remarkable? Do you really stand out as “one of the best” in the TBC administrative field? If you have been doing your job for a while now (5+ years), how do you know if you are good anymore? Are you relying on your own self-taught skills to make you remarkable?

During this fully interactive workshop, you will learn more about your profession by discussing the top 10 things you need to do to Make the Leap to Remarkable!

Presenters Location Special Requirements Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 3:50-4:50 pm 1 F2 - Career Services (OCCE) - Strong Jean Little, Graduate Employment We invite members from all service areas to join us for an engaging, informative and highly interactive session that K318 partners for YOU! Consultant, Kelleen Schonfeldt, promises to be valuable for everyone. You will leave, feeling invigorated and inspired, armed with practical tips, Employment and Career Advisor, Linda resources and information. , Cambrian College, MacDonald, Career Advisor 1. EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF CAREER SERVICES • Employment Consultants/Advisors from a number of College Career Centres will discuss wide array of services we provide to students and graduates at Ontario Colleges to assist in critical transitions from school to career. The fact is we assist students with launching their careers after graduation – the journey from backpack to briefcase is definitely a major transition in a learner’s life!

• Discover key challenges and learn how you can help, collaborate and partner with us.

2. PACK YOUR BRIEFCASES FULL OF IDEAS … We will showcase aspects of our work, with our provincial Student Services Colleagues, including discussion of success stories and examples of excellent collaborative relationships currently existing amongst our service areas. Presentation will drill down to particulars including what these great relationships look like; how we established our partnerships; benefits of reciprocity amongst the departments; and critical roles we all play in our student’s lives, success and retention.

• Gather and share existing ways our members support and partner with various service areas to educate, cross-promote and drive student success.

• Brainstorm new ideas for working together to learn about key service areas provided to students, formulate an action plan to create partnerships resulting in improved service delivery and fuel winning transitions for our students.

2 A16 - Connecting the Dots: The role Juanita Wattam & Robert Malowany Driven by the values of respect, responsiveness, and accountability, George Brown College is implementing a three year K320 of the First Year Experience multi-pronged college-wide strategy engaging both the academic and service sides of the house to promote student Committee in Student Success at GBC success and retention.

George Brown College Within this strategy, the First Year Experience (FYE) committee is playing a pivotal role in generating college-wide momentum for positive shifts in policy, procedure, service, and culture. This session will provide an overview of the FYE committee, including its Connect! Campaign, which aims to encourage meaningful interpersonal connections in student- to-student, student-staff, and staff-to-staff relations to promote a sense of belonging, dignity, and empowerment for all at George Brown College.

The work of the FYE is expected to significantly increase student satisfaction, persistence, and retention rates over the next three years Special Session Time Session Title/College(s) Presenter(s) Session Summary Location Requirements 3 E6 - Social Class, Stories, and Student Neil Buddel, PhD, Dean of Students Social class is an important, yet rarely discussed, construct in the student success literature. As a consequence, our K322 Success: Lessons from First approaches to student success are largely based within the meritocratic paradigm and assumption of ability; however, Generation Students this is only a partial story. We lived storied lives: students develop dispositions, values, and beliefs resulting from family, social, cultural, and self-stories that also affect how they experience postsecondary education. Further, the stories of Centennial College their lives affect the extent that they story future possibilities as postsecondary students.

Participants in this session will discuss learnings from my doctoral research; a narrative inquiry exploring the postsecondary experiences of four first-generation students. Learning include implications for early-childhood education and building community, capacity, and confidence for all students during their transition in, through, and out of postsecondary education.

4 A11 - Case Management on Karyn Baker, Project Lead; Michelle In response to the increasingly complex concerns that post secondary students are presenting with, colleges K324 Campus: Supporting Transitions Delrish, Case Manager Lead; Diane and universities have been developing and implementing case management approaches to best support Norman, Case Manager; Ann students through transitions and coordinating both campus and community services. This session will review Georgian College, Centennial Brown, Case Manager some of the different models and practices that are being used in colleges and universities across the province. College, , Western University

5 D1 - Self-Advocacy for Success Lorri McLeod & Debi Maniloff, Learning What do ‘self-advocacy’ and being a strong ‘self–advocate’ really mean? If you work with students who have barriers to K326 Strategists learning – physical/mobility issue, vision &/or hearing loss, LD / ADHD, ASD, Mental Health disability, ABI, low ability, ESL, Algonquin College lack of employment skills and / or experience, how do they positively navigate their way to get the supports they need? This interactive session will discuss the challenges people face in identifying, disclosing, and moving towards success. Let’s continue the dialogue and come away with practical solutions to take back and implement at our respective institutions!