Dr. Rachel Schmitz, an Oklahoma State University sociology professor, will share the secrets of OSU’s groundbreaking and highly successful pet therapy program, Pete’s Pet Posse, to a worldwide audience of academic advisors.

NACADA: the Global Community for Academic Advising (formerly known as the National Academic Advising Association) is holding its annual conference Oct. 4-7 in the Oklahoma City Convention Center. NACADA is the leading global association advancing student success through excellence in academic advising in higher education.

“The NACADA Annual Conference planning committee has chosen Pete’s Pet Posse as our conference philanthropy project,” said Kristal Soderstrom Junkens, OSU senior academic advisor and NACADA conference planning committee member. “We hope to spread the word of the wonderful things this program has done for OSU and our students, and to help other colleges and universities understand the benefits of such a program in the hopes they would establish them at their own institutions.”

Schmitz will report her findings to the premier academic organization after three years of research on how pet therapy programming at colleges and universities can help advisors help students build interconnected resources across campus. Schmitz has been a member of the OSU Pete’s Pet Posse since 2019. She was part of a therapy team with her dog, Lucy, and has served as chair of the P3 Research Committee since 2023.

The committee is made up of interdisciplinary faculty, staff and student members from across the OSU system, serving as an integral part of the Ann Hargis OSU Center for Pet Therapy. Research exploring the dynamics between humans and dogs in a pet therapy setting has been ongoing since P3's creation in 2013. Key findings show that the vast majority of students, staff and handlers involved in P3 reported improved mental health, reduced stress, a greater sense of community and a more inclusive campus climate, underscoring the program's value as a model for human-animal interaction initiatives in higher education.

P3 is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based pet therapy program dedicated to enhancing the well-being of the OSU family. Nearly 100 currently active owner-handler dog teams make up a professionally trained and nationally certified pet therapy program working across five campuses of the OSU system.

More than 200 P3 teams have impacted nearly one million students, staff, and campus visitors over the past 13 years. The pet therapy teams bring joy and comfort to the campus community and have even stepped in to traumatic situations alongside OSU counselors during crisis conditions.

Schmitz will be presenting her ongoing research entitled “For the Love of Dogs, Supporting the OSU Community through an Integrated Canine-Assisted Intervention.”

“This presentation dovetails with the NACADA mission of supporting students and the wider campus community by providing well-being supports — discovering how pet therapy can foster academic success, mental health and social connections, all resting on the shared foundation of the love of dogs,” Schmitz said.