PASS Faculty Workbooks

What happens when students lead the research and the conversation about what actually works in classrooms?

These workbooks emerge from participatory action research led by PASS (Psychology Peer Academic Support System) student leaders at John Jay College. Drawing from interviews, focus groups, and lived experience, they offer concrete, manageable strategies for building trust, connection, and belonging in higher education classrooms. 

Created by: Mia, Yexayra, Wendy, and Aleena
When to use: Course planning, curriculum development, creating inclusive classroom cultures

What kind of worlds are we building based on how we co-design our classrooms with students? This workbook is an invitation to dream up new ways or celebrate the ways you're already integrating student-centered approaches into your course planning.

What's inside:

• Part 1: Building Student-Faculty Connection & Accessibility (Inspired by Yexayra) – Make your journey visible, create multiple access points, be a guide not just an evaluator. Includes week-by-week connection planning worksheets.
• Part 2: Recognizing Students as Whole People (Inspired by Mia) – Build flexibility into course structures, acknowledge external realities, and map your course schedule against potential life pressures students face.
• Part 3: Creating Brave and Kind Learning Spaces (Inspired by Aleena) – Establish communication guidelines, diversify participation structures, model intellectual humility in difficult conversations.

Why it matters: "By fostering a more compassionate environment, we can build an educational structure and a culture that feels empowering for students and professors. Let's commit to embracing discomfort, dismantling assumptions, and building a supportive environment that uplifts every voice." —Wendy

Time commitment: Designed for iterative use during course planning; each section takes 20-30 minutes.

Created by: Joshua Cedeno, Nataly Gonzales, Yexayra Cabrera Martinez, and Mia Ramos
When to use: Syllabus revision, faculty development workshops, conversations about AI in education

Students don't just want to pass your class. They want to know you see them as people, not just names on a roster. The syllabus and your AI policy are often the first (and sometimes only) places students experience whether you genuinely care about their learning.

What's inside:

• Section 1: The Syllabus Audit – Activities to examine your syllabus for first impressions, language, tone, and organization. Includes the powerful "landlord test" and concrete rewriting exercises.
• Section 2: AI Policies That Build Trust – Move from suspicion-based to learning-centered approaches. Draft AI policies that invite partnership rather than assume guilt.
• Section 3: Building Trust in Real Time – Strategies for genuine care vs. performative care in daily classroom interactions.

Why it matters: Students told us that accusatory AI policies and bureaucratic syllabi undermine trust before the semester even begins. This workbook helps close the gap between the care you feel and the care students actually experience.

Time commitment: 30-45 minutes with concrete takeaways for immediate implementation.