| Presentation Proposal - NACADA Annual Conference |
| Presentation Info and Handouts |
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Code=523
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Conference Year:
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2026
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Session #:
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()
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Title:
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Read Yourself In: Fostering First Year Student's Sense of Belonging Through Place as Text Pedagogy |
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Lead Presenter:
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John Andrews |
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Date:
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December 31, 1969 Time: 6:00 pm - 6:00 pm |
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Room:
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Abstract:
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What if advisors could increase first-year retention without adding a single new policy or program? This session introduces Place as Text (PAT), a scalable, experiential approach that helps students "read themselves into" their campus community. Drawing on qualitative reflections and two years of persistence data from a first-semester course redesign, participants will explore how structured engagement with campus spaces-through Mapping, Observing, Listening, and Reflecting-strengthens belonging and correlates with higher institutional retention. Attendees will get a crash course in PAT pedagogy and leave with adaptable tools to integrate place-based strategies into advising, orientation, first-year seminars, and learning communities. When students learn to see campus as more than a backdrop-when they see themselves in it-they are more likely to stay. Let's turn advising into a belonging intervention. |
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Handouts
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Note: Handouts (if offered for this session) are accessible via the conference app. |
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