January 5, 2026

East Mississippi Community College Instructional Advisor/Accessibility Resource Services Liaison Dr. Renyetta Johnson presented at the 2025 annual NACADA conference held October 26-29, 2025. The theme of the conference was Viva Advising: Excellence in Student Support. 

Johnson currently serves as the Mississippi liaison on the NACADA Region 4 Steering Committee. Her presentation was titled "Can you tell me about...Building a Questioning Culture Through Storytelling," which focused on student development using a narrative perspective. 

NACADA is the Global community for academic advising and consists of more than 12,000 advising colleagues.

"Being actively engaged in this community of advising colleagues has been a tremendous asset to my professional growth at East Mississippi Community College", Johnson noted. "My goal is to simply meet students where they are and help them realize their dreams and reach their full potential, which supports the advising mission at EMCC.”

Johnson's presentation specifically covered how advisors can support students and cultivate an advising environment that values the use of storytelling and effective questioning skills to help students make informed decisions. 

"As advisors, retention is crucial and we understand that students face a plethora of lived experiences. Helping them to become self-advocating and apply informed decision making in various situations is where the rubber meets the road," Johnson said. 

Dr. Nikita L. Ashford-Ashworth, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success, notes that "Dr. Johnson is the example of self-advocating and modeling that skill for her students." Also, "I would like to thank you, Dr. Johnson, for representing EMCC and the state of Mississippi as the Mississippi Liaison on the NACADA Region 4 Steering Committee. We are so proud of her."