First-Year Experience GOAL: To promote for first-year students a positive adjustment and assimilation into the college. ADVANTAGES: Retention (persistence) Academic Performance (achievement) Extended Freshmen Advising Joe Cuseo, Exhibit A

First-Year Experience Goals of an Ideal Course 1. To help students learn to balance their freedom with a sense of responsibility as part of the process of enhancing self-knowledge and self-confidence. 2. To help students learn and develop a set of adaptive study, coping, critical thinking, logical problem-solving, and survival skills. 97% of the 40,000 faculty respondents to the survey conducted by the America Council on Education indicated that promoting critical thinking was the most important goal of undergraduate education. Joe Cuseo, The Conceptual Case for the First-Year Seminar; National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience

First-Year Experience Goals of an Ideal Course 3. To help students make friends and develop a support group. 4. To improve student attitudes toward the teaching/learning process and towards faculty who are responsible for providing this process. 5. To help students learn how to understand professors' teaching and presentation styles. National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience

First-Year Experience Goals of an Ideal Course 6. To improve relations between faculty and students. 7. To involve students in the total life of the college. 8. To help students discover a mentor on campus. National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience

First-Year Experience Goals of an Ideal Course 9. To teach students about JCC: its history, purposes, organization, rules and regulations, people, services, resources, and opportunities for student development. 10. To have students use such helping resources of the institution as the Library, Career Center, Study Skills Center, Tutoring, Counseling Center, Writing Center, and Mathematics Laboratory. National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience

First-Year Experience Goals of an Ideal Course 11. To reduce student anxiety about written and oral communication, enhance reading comprehension, and provide supplemental practice in applying the knowledge students gain in other first-year courses. 12. To provide students with information about health and wellness issues. National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience

First-Year Experience Goals of an Ideal Course 13. To introduce students to American higher education with emphasis on its history and current structure. 14. To help students develop personal goals for careers and academic majors and to master processes/means of achieving these goals. 15. To provide students additional training, practice, experience, and knowledge in the following skill areas: decision making, goal setting, planning, time management, and group/teamwork. National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience

First-Year Experience Extended Advising - NACADA Personal Development I values clarification b. understanding abilities c. aptitudes d. interests e. limitations II. Personal Development II developing decision-making skills b. developing problem-solving skills III. Educational/ Career Planning a. life goals b. interests c. skills d. abilities e. values to careers f. world of work

First-Year Experience Extended Advising - NACADA IV. Educational Plan a. consistent with life goals b. consistent with life objectives c. alternative courses of action d. alternative career consideration e. selection of courses V. Institution Information a. policies b. procedures c. resources d. programs VI. Support Services a. campus b. community

First-Year Experience Extended Advising - NACADA VII. Evaluation and Re-evaluation of Progress a. toward established goals b. toward educational plans VIII. Student Information a. advisors b. departments

First-Year Experience:Success Def. First-year students succeed when they make progress toward fulfilling the following educational and personal goals: Developing academic and intellectual competence Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships Developing personal identity Deciding on a career and lifestyle Maintaining personal health and growth Developing an integrated philosophy of life Upcraft, M., & Gardner, J. The Freshmen Year Experience

Current Trends in 1st-Year Seminars – Course Structure 2000 National Survey of First-Year Seminar Programming – 1,103 institutions Grading: 83.5% of seminars are graded by a letter grade 18.9% of seminars are graded pass/fail, satisfactory/unsatisfactory, or are upgraded Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trend in 1st-Year Seminars – Course Structure Required/Elective 49.3% seminars are required for all first-year students 29.7% are required for some students (generally high-risk students) 21% are elective courses for all new students Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends in 1st-Year Seminars – Course Structure Academic Credit; Credit Hours 92.1% of seminars carry academic credit toward graduation 46.7% carry 1 semester or equivalent quarter hour(s) of credit 16.6% carry 2 semester or equivalent quarter hours of credit 29.6% carry 3 semester or equivalent quarter hours of credit 10.2 % carry more than 3 semester or equivalent quarter hours Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends in 1st-Year Seminars –Current Trends Application of Credit: 44.5% of first-year seminars carry elective credit 34.1% carry general education credit 20.9% carry credit toward core requirements 5.2% carry credit toward major requirements 5.7% other (i.e. graduation requirement, college requirement, non-degree credit) Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends I 1st-Year Seminars – Instructors, Instructor Training, and Academic Advising Instructors (% in institutions which have seminars): 89.3% of seminars are taught by faculty 53.3% are taught by student affairs professionals 34.5% are taught by campus administrators 23.8% students (10.5% upper-level undergraduate students, 5.1% graduate students, 8.1% others) Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends in 1st-Year Seminars - Instructors, Instructor Training, Academic Training Team Teaching: 31.4% of seminars are co-taught Training: 80.7% of institutions with first-year seminars offer instructor training for seminar instructors 50.4% of institutions consider training a prerequisite for teaching Academic Advising: In 20.5% of institutions, the freshman instructor is the academic instructor for all seminar students. Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends in 1-Year Seminars Linkage with Learning Community: 26.3% of responding institutions link the first-year seminar with another course/ other courses to create a “learning community.” Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends in 1st-Year Seminars – Evaluation of Course Outcomes (Percentage represents the number of institutions finding that attribute) 58.5% student satisfaction with the course and instructor 34.7% increased persistence to sophomore year 31.3% student satisfaction with the institution 30.4% increased content knowledge/improved academic abilities 26.6% increased us of campus services 23.1% increased number of friendships among 1st-year classmates. Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Current Trends in 1st-Year Seminars – Evaluation of Course Outcomes (Percentage represents the number of institutions finding that attribute) 20.1% improved grade point average 19.5% increased level of student participation in campus activities 19.1% increased out-of-class interaction with faculty 16.7% increased level of campus involvement 15.6% increased persistence to graduation Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Other Trends in First-Year Seminars Types of Seminars: more academic seminars, fewer extended orientation seminars Grading: more seminars are letter graded, fewer seminars are graded on pass-fail basis Credit: amount of credit is increasing (more 3-credit classes, fewer 1 credit classes) Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Other Trends in First-Year Seminars Application of Credit: increase in general education credit decrease in elective credit increase in credit in major Linkage to Learning Communities: more linkage to learning communities – almost double the 1997 number Mary Stuart Hunter, University of South Carolina

Student Retention Outcomes Persistence to Completion of the First-Semester/Quarter of College: 50% higher than non-participants. Persistence to Completion of the First Year of College: 67% first-year retention rate, compared to a rate of 46% for non-participants. Persistence to Completion of the Sophomore Year: significantly higher retention rates throughout first four semesters in college. Joe Cuseo, The Empirical Case for First-year Seminars

Student Retention Outcomes 4. Cumulative (Total) Number of College Units/Credits Completed: completed 326% as many units as non-participants. 5. Persistence to Degree/Program Completion: 49% persist to completion of the baccalaureate degree, versus 28% of non-participants. 6. Time Taken to Degree/Program Completion: 29% graduate within four years, versus 16% of non-participants. Joe Cuseo, The Empirical Case for First-year Seminars

Academic-Performance/Achievement Outcomes Cumulative GPA Attained at the end of the First Term or First Year of College: GPA of 2.87, versus GPA of 2.38. Cumulative GPA Attained Beyond the First Year of College: achieved significantly higher GPAs. GPA Attained vs. GPA Predicted: significantly higher. Total Number of First-Year Students in Good Academic Standing: significantly higher. Joe Cuseo, The Empirical Case for First-year Seminars

Academic-Performance/Achievement Outcomes 5. Total Number of First-Year Courses Passed: completed an average of nine more units by the end of first semester. 6. Total Number of First-Year Courses Completed with a Grade of “c” or Higher: completed four time as many math classes, three times as many writing classes, and twice as many reading classes with a grade of “C” or higher. 7. Percentage of Students Who Qualified for the Dean’s List and Honors Program: significantly higher. Joe Cuseo, The Empirical Case for First-year Seminars

First-Year Experience GOAL: To promote for first-year students a positive adjustment and assimilation into the college. ADVANTAGES: Retention (persistence) Academic Performance (achievement) Extended Freshmen Advising Joe Cuseo, Exhibit A