Cultivating Belonging: Advancing Student Success Through Connection, Care, and Community

The Student Success Conference brings together faculty, staff, administrators, researchers, and practitioners committed to advancing student success, well-being, persistence, and achievement. As higher education continues to evolve, fostering a strong sense of belonging has become increasingly important to supporting student engagement, academic success, retention, and overall student development.

We invite you to submit a program proposal by Friday, November 6, 2026. Proposals should align with Rutgers University's Academic Master Plan 2.0 student success priorities, including:

• Creating a welcoming, equitable, and supportive learning environment for all students.
• Promoting student success through timely degree completion and minimizing barriers that contribute to excessive educational costs and debt.
• Expanding access to high-impact learning experiences that prepare students for personal, academic, and professional success.

As you develop your proposal, we also encourage consideration of how fostering a culture of care, belonging, and support for faculty and staff strengthens our collective ability to help students thrive.

Content Types

We welcome a variety of content types, including:

• Research Spotlights: Original research, assessment findings, and evidence-based practices.
• Success Stories: Programs, initiatives, and institutional strategies demonstrating measurable impact.
• Discussion Sessions: Facilitated conversations that explore emerging challenges, promising approaches, and lessons learned.
• Upskilling Workshops: Interactive sessions that provide practical tools, strategies, and resources participants can immediately apply in their work.

Conference Competencies

To support the goals of Rutgers University's Academic Master Plan 2.0 and the theme of Cultivating Belonging: Advancing Student Success Through Connection, Care, and Community, proposals should align with one or more of the following conference competencies:

Belonging, Community, and Student Engagement

Advancing strategies that foster meaningful connections, increase student engagement, and create welcoming campus communities where students feel valued and supported.

• Building and sustaining a culture of belonging
• Student engagement and connectedness
• Community-building initiatives and campus partnerships
• Student leadership development and involvement

Student Success, Persistence, and Academic Achievement

Promoting student learning, academic progress, retention, persistence, and degree completion through innovative and student-centered practices.

• Retention and persistence strategies
• Academic success coaching and advising innovations
• High-impact educational practices and experiential learning
• Supporting student transitions and academic momentum

Holistic Support and Well-Being

Supporting the whole student through comprehensive approaches that promote well-being, resilience, and access to essential resources.

• Basic needs support and student well-being
• Mental health promotion and wellness initiatives
• Crisis response and student care interventions
• Trauma-informed and holistic student support approaches

Inclusive Excellence and Equitable Outcomes

Creating equitable opportunities and removing barriers to success for students from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

• Fostering inclusive excellence and equitable student outcomes
• Supporting first-generation, transfer, commuter, adult, international, military-connected, LGBTQ+, students with disabilities, and other historically underserved student populations
• Reducing barriers to student success and degree completion

Collaboration, Innovation, and Research

Leveraging partnerships, technology, research, and innovation to strengthen student support and improve institutional outcomes.

• Partnerships across academic affairs, student affairs, and community organizations
• Technology and innovation in student support services
• Data-informed approaches to improving student outcomes
• Research on belonging, engagement, persistence, and student success

• Leadership development and professional skill building

Faculty and Staff Success

Recognizing that student success is strengthened when faculty and staff are supported, connected, and equipped to foster belonging and learning.

• Faculty and staff practices that foster student belonging and success
• Creating cultures of care and support for employees
• Professional development strategies that strengthen student support efforts
• Practices that promote student belonging through faculty and staff interactions

Proposal Expectations

We encourage submissions that provide:

• Practical and scalable strategies
• Assessment results or measurable outcomes when applicable
• Actionable takeaways participants can adapt to their own work
• Approaches that advance student belonging, success, and equitable outcomes
• Proposals should include sufficient content and engagement strategies to effectively fill a 50-minute session, with clear learning objectives and actionable takeaways for participants.

Together, we can explore how connection, care, and community contribute to student success and help create learning environments where all students can thrive.

Join colleagues from across Rutgers-New Brunswick in sharing your expertise, research, experiences, and innovative practices that advance student success and strengthen our campus community.

- 2027 Student Success Conference Planning Team