The first year of college can be nerve-racking for many students, particularly first-generation college students and those coming from out of state without an established community at their new university.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s University Housing is working to make that transition a little smoother by partnering with colleges across campus to create Living and Learning Communities (LLCs). Designed to connect students who share common interests, LLCs give students opportunities to build relationships both inside and outside the classroom.
For students in the College of Communication and Information, that community is Nexus LLC.
CCI recently relaunched Nexus LLC, which provides first-year CCI students with a built-in community and opportunities that connects them with peers, faculty, and the many resources and opportunities offered by the college.
“University Housing does programming to build community among the students in their living space. My role is to get them connected and building community in the academic space,” said Dionne George, CCI’s director for access and engagement.
This is the second year since the relaunch that CCI students could join Nexus LLC. The program is tied to the college’s Business and Professional Communications and First-Year Studies courses, giving incoming students opportunities to build relationships with others in their college while also expanding their classroom experience to the broader CCI community.
“The classes give students an opportunity to build important skills they’ll carry into the workforce, and we want to complement that experience by helping them build relationships with their peers, faculty, and the college outside of the classroom,” George said.
The program’s goal is to make those connections more intentional. In addition to their classes, students participate in programming designed to introduce them to CCI, its faculty, and the many opportunities available within the college.
“Feeling connected to the college is the overarching goal,” George said.
George began working with Nexus this year after becoming CCI’s director for access and engagement in July 2026. Her department recently hosted a gathering that brought together students from the previous cohort and the new cohort, giving new students an opportunity to learn from seasoned peers and discover ways to get involved at CCI and across campus.
For sophomore advertising major and business administration minor Gianna Henry, Nexus made a large university feel a little smaller.
As a first-generation college student, Henry wanted to find a community within CCI that she could lean on for support as she navigated this big life change when she arrived at UT. She also appreciated the convenience of having guaranteed housing through the program.
“I thought it would be a good way to connect with students in my major in my college because I knew coming in that the college was small,” Henry said. “I really wanted to find my community within the communications LLC.”
That community eventually led Henry to opportunities beyond Nexus. After connecting with other students via Nexus, she became involved with outlets at CCI’s Media Center, including the student-run newspaper The Daily Beacon and radio stations WUOT and WUTK.
“I knew I would be seeing the same faces in my classes anyway, and being in an LLC gave me a reason to actually want to talk to them, hear about their experiences, and see what they were doing,” Henry said.
Henry said she began seeing fellow Nexus students at CCI events and interest meetings, which helped her discover opportunities she might not otherwise have known about.
Today, Henry is involved in several areas of campus life. She works as a peer academic coach with the Rocky Top Scholars program, serves in student government as a senator representing CCI, and works with The Media Center’s WUTK.
Through those experiences, she said, Nexus helped her begin building the network and confidence necessary to become an active member of the UT community.
Henry encourages new students considering Nexus to take advantage of the opportunity.
“I would say just go for it,” she said. “It’s not like a big time commitment or anything, and it’s a very good way to get connected with your college and explore opportunities and especially get to know faculty within CCI that are willing to help you.”
Madison Elzey, a sophomore public relations major with dual minors in business administration and applied AI, also credits Nexus with helping her find her place at UT.
Elzey came to Knoxville from New Orleans and said the distance from home made the transition to college intimidating.
“I really love SEC culture, but I felt there was more for me outside of Louisiana,” Elzey said. After visiting Knoxville for a volleyball tournament and touring UT, she “instantly fell in love” with Rocky Top.
Still, being eight hours from her home was challenging.
“I didn’t really know anybody besides my roommate, who I had just met on Instagram a couple of weeks prior,” Elzey said.
Nexus made it easy to meet other CCI students and build a community before she found her footing on campus.
One of Elzey’s favorite experiences was a trip to Dollywood with the cohort, which allowed students to deepen their rapport with each other outside of the classroom.
“I think that was a great team bonding experience, and it also just let us be who we are without the restrictions of being in class or being in some kind of meeting,” Elzey said. “I just got to know everybody authentically, and I feel like it really did make us a stronger group.”
Nexus also exposed Elzey to other sides of CCI beyond her major.
“I feel it kind of just made me understand that there’s more to CCI than just the PR aspect of it or the ad aspect of it,” she said.
Elzey now serves as a CCI Ambassador, helping with student recruitment, alumni relations, community outreach, student retention, and college events. In a similar capacity, she helps recruit students to UT by participating in UT Admissions events on and off campus as part of the university’s Vol Team. She learned about both opportunities through Nexus, and said these experiences taught her how to collaborate with people from different backgrounds and begin building a professional network.
“I’ve really learned how to work in a team,” Elzey said. “You really learn how to collaborate with people and try to understand who they are as a person and how that translates into their work.”
For Elzey, that experience is one of the most valuable parts of Nexus.
“I would tell [incoming freshman] to join, not because they just want it to be on their résumé, but rather to really get a community and understand everything that CCI has to offer them,” she said. “It’s nice to build those connections early on because you never know how it’ll help you in your future.”
While students from the previous cohort can point to the connections and opportunities Nexus helped them find, the newest members of the community are just beginning to discover what their experience will look like.
First-year School of Journalism and Media student Kate Coates joined Nexus because she wanted to jump start her campus engagement.
“I was really involved in high school, and I wanted to get really involved in college as well,” Coates said. “I thought that it would be good to just go ahead and start early and, before I’m even there, just do something to get involved.”
Coates, who grew up about 30 minutes from UT in Jefferson County, said she hopes Nexus will help her build connections and gain experience as she begins her college career.
“I want to get some good connections, but I also just want to experience additional guidance,” she said.
Coates is already looking for ways to explore her interests in public speaking and writing at UT, such as getting involved with The Volunteer Channel and The Daily Beacon.
“I really want to go into broadcasting,” Coates said. “I love public speaking and then I love writing, so I thought it would be a good combination of both.”
As Nexus welcomes its newest cohort, the program is continuing to build on its goal of helping students feel connected to CCI from the beginning of their college experience.
George hopes Nexus will become an experience that students recognize as an important part of their transition to UT and their connection to CCI.
“Our goal is to make it a unique enough experience that students are walking away glad that they did this — Feeling like they are more knowledgeable, have great connections, that they truly just feel a part of the college in a way that they may not have gotten otherwise,” George said.