First-Year Experience Programming
Integrate various first-year experience programs to create a holistic experience for students
First-year students face unique academic and social barriers during their transition to campus, which can hinder their retention. First-year experience (FYE) programs at the profiled institutions seek to increase student retention through increased support. This resource profiles initial orientation and post-orientation programming, including first-year seminars, living-learning communities, and mentor programs. Additionally, it looks at program development and evaluation, staffing, and student and faculty engagement.
Integrate FYE programming into a holistic experience
To create a holistic experience for first-year students, administrators should create a purposeful array of programming that ensues social connectedness in among students and boosts first-year student retention. Staff at Institution A, Institution B, Institution C, Institution D, and Institution E integrate between three and five new-student (i.e., orientation), academic, and residential programs within their broader FYE. For example, both Institution A and Institution C incorporate a mentorship program into their first-year seminar courses to help first-year students connect with upperclassmen. Acting together, FYE programs can tackle retention concerns through deep, coordinated academic and social supports.
Provide on- and off-campus orientation programming for first-year students
On- and off-campus orientation programming introduces first-year students to the campus, student services, and their peers. All profiled institutions offer orientation programming to familiarize first-year students with campus and available student support services. In addition to focusing on campus supports, off-campus orientation programming at Institution B, Institution C, and Institution E emphasize establishing social connectedness through peer relationships. By offering peer support, staff members ensure students cultivate social connectedness with the institution, thus improving retention as well. These relationships instill a sense of belonging among first-year students at the very beginning of their college careers.
Outdoor activity trip leader selection and training at Institution B
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Select co-leader
First, interested students select another student to co-lead the trip with them. The interview consists of a standard list of six questions, linked to characteristics or values of the outdoor activity trip (e.g., building community across groups, embracing positive leadership).
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Training
All trip leaders receive training in risk management, inclusion and equity, bystander intervention, and basic outdoor skills (e.g., cooking around a campfire, setting up a tent). Administrators partner with other companies to deliver some of the trainings. For example, they partner with the National Outdoor Leadership School for general outdoor leadership training.
Establish post-orientation programming aligned to retention goals
Faculty members at Institution B, Institution D, Institution A, and Institution C teach mandatory interdisciplinary first-year experience seminar courses, which allow faculty members to develop impactful relationships with first-year students. Administrators at Institution A, Institution B, Institution C, and Institution E require all first-year students to read the same text, via a common read program. As a commitment to fostering conversations on diversity, staff at Institution E created the common reading program, to introduce students to the values of their institution. Institution A and Institution C include a mentorship component to increase social connectedness for first-year students. To deliver impactful living-learning programming to first-year students, administrators at Institution E and Institution D offer opportunities for non-first-year students to engage in residential programming as well. Post-orientation programming helps build community for first-year students.
Evaluate programs’ alignment with institutional goals
FYE staff establish institution-specific FYE goals or align programming with goals already established in their institution’s strategic plan to address academic and social barriers to student retention. After establishing specific FYE goals, administrators should evaluate the effectiveness of current FYE programming based upon alignment with these goals.
For example, based on the Association of American Colleges & Universities’ VALUE rubrics, staff at Institution A created their own learning objective-based rubrics to assess the effectiveness of their FYE programming. Clear and concise goals and rubrics ensure that instructors understand what students should accomplish in these seminars.
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Association of American Colleges & Universities’ VALUE Rubrics
The VALUE rubrics assess 16 learning outcomes students should achieve prior to graduation. The 16 learning outcomes relate to intellectual and practical skills, personal or social responsibility, or integrative and applied
learning.
Collaborate across campus to deliver an integrated first-year experience
Due to their small team size and the various first-year needs they must support, FYE teams often work with individuals and offices housed in other departments. For example, administrators at Institution A, Institution B, Institution D, and Institution E convene relevant stakeholders through formal FYE committees. Staff members at Institution E use two separate FYE committees to evaluate different aspects of first-year experience programming. One committee focuses on orientation and residence life for first-year students, while the other focuses solely on the orientation trip. By developing specialized committees, administrators can ensure more focused conversations among committee members.
Engage students and faculty in FYE programming
Although programming is mandatory at profiled institutions, FYE staff still prioritize student and faculty engagement. For example, to help incoming students choose an orientation trip, staff members at Institution B publish comprehensive details on the various trip options online. Detailed information on these trips ensures students select experiences aligned with their capabilities and interests.
To ensure faculty buy-in for FYE programming, administrators should tailor opportunities to faculty members’ needs. Specifically, administrators can offer faculty opportunities that require minimal training or that include faculty-tailored compensation structures. For example, rather than offering faculty a general stipend for teaching a first-year seminar, the contact at Institution F suggests that administrators rebrand funds as a “teacher-owned grant” or “pedagogy grant.” This makes the opportunity appear more prestigious on a CV.
Ensure general FYE programming reflects student diversity
The contact at Institution F finds that institutions often focus on population-specific programming in place of general programming to increase retention among students. But by separating out different special populations, students can feel “othered” from the general student population.
Additionally, this contact suggests that replacing general programming with special student population programming limits all students’ ability to interact with students from different backgrounds. Rather than only offering population-specific programming, institutions should create spaces within the general first-year experience where all students can learn about backgrounds different from their own.
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