Running head: FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE PROGRAMMING

First Year Experience Programming

Caitlin Cairncross, Katie Dabbs, Sauntia Griffin, Luisa Lora, Errold Nabong
Seattle University

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Abstract

First Year Experience programming is beneficial to students engagement, academic success,

involvement, and degree completion. In this paper, we explore some of the best practices within
three key components of the First Year Experience: Orientation, Freshman Year Seminars, and
Residence Life. These practices have been shown to increase retention, provide support systems
for students, and encourage campus involvement.

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For our Best Practices topic, our group has chosen to research the importance and
benefits of First Year Experience (FYE) programs. FYE programming is beneficial to students in
several aspects. Our group will focus on best practices in Orientation, First Year Seminars, and
Residence Life. We will also look at the outcomes of these programs, such as student retention,
academic success, and program/degree completion.
Our group has chosen to focus on the above best practices as significant factors necessary
for successful first year programming. While these are not the only components required for a
successful first year experience program, we believe they create a solid foundation for any
institutions programming. Throughout the paper, we will provide models from community
colleges and four-year universities that we believe exemplify the best practices that we have
chosen.
First Year Experience Programs
New Student Orientation
An integral part of the first year experience, the new student orientation consists of events
and activities that facilitate students and their families transition to college. It provides students
and families with an opportunity to learn about campus resources and expectations and to
connect with incoming and current students and their families as well as faculty, administration,
and staff. Many new student orientations are held during summer term and again in the fall term,
during which it is typically referred to as Fall Orientation (e.g., Western Washington
University, University of Michigan). New student orientation activities are often led by student
leaders, and may vary by institution or even by department, academic interest, or affinity group.
For example, summer bridge programs offer students the opportunity to receive specialized
academic preparation, attention, and advising, which can be particularly helpful for

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underrepresented students. Regardless of the new student type, new student orientations share
the common goal of preparing students and their families for the college/university experience.
Programs for Students
New student orientation activities for students include workshops and sessions led by
students, administrators, and/or faculty regarding academic expectations, financial resources,
program offerings, campus involvement, and advising and registration. Other activities include
campus tours, campus dining, and residence hall overnight stays. While many institutions require
students to attend new student orientation events (e.g., Raritan Valley Community College,
Bellevue College), others do not for particular groups. For instance, Ohlone College does not
require students to attend new student orientation if they have completed 30 or more college
units from an accredited college (New Student Orientation Overview, 2013). Similarly, Georgia
Perimeter College does not require students to attend new student orientation if they have already
earned a bachelors degree (Orientation @ Georgia Perimeter College, 2013). However, some
institutions do offer alternatives to students who are not interested or are unable to attend new
student orientation events. For example, Western Washington University offers students who are
unable to attend Summerstart (the summer orientation) the opportunity to receive academic
advising and register for courses during fall orientation (Summerstart, 2013).
Programs for Parents and Families
Orientation activities offered to students parents and families are similar to those
provided to students. These activities include workshops on issues that may be of interest to this
population such as student housing, financial assistance, academic curricula, student life, health,
and transportation. In addition, family orientation programs are generally optional and are held
during new student orientation. However, a portion of the entire parent and family orientation

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may be held separately from the new student orientation. The University of Michigan
emphasizes a complete separation, stating that both programs have different itineraries and are
located in different buildings (New Student Programs, 2013). On the other hand, although
Raritan Valley Community College separates its students and families during registration, it
allots time for them to be together for other parts of the orientation.
First Year Seminars
The First Year Experience may vary in design and name depending on the institution you
attend. The credits earned, interactions with faculty and staff, length of the program and living
requirements may differ, but what is constant are the First Year Seminars (FYS). All new
students enrolled in a FYE program may be required to take a seminar together with students
also enrolled in the program. Depending on the institution, students are grouped together by
seminar topics. The length of a FYS may also differ by institution where a student is only
required to take one of these courses for a semester while at other institutions it is a yearlong
seminar that may have a continuing or different topic for each semester. These seminars are
designed to set high expectations for students in their first year and introduce them to skills
necessary to be successful moving forward.
At Holy Cross, a small private Jesuit college in Worcester, Massachusetts, all first year
students are required to participate in the FYE program, Montserrat. The program is described as
an intensive introduction to liberal arts education that connects three parts of the college life:
Learning, Living and Doing. Holy Cross requires students to enroll in a yearlong seminar where
students are grouped in thematic, interdisciplinary clusters to explore topics ranging from Core
Human Questions, Divine, Global Society, Natural World and Self. Montserrat is designed to
develop critical thinking, writing and communication skills.

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Another example of a FYE program is at the University of Oregon, a public research

university in Eugene, Oregon. FYS are small, engaging courses that introduce first year students
to thought provoking and unique subjects in an instructors special area of interest. Seminar
topics include travel writing, Japanese pop culture, sports poetry, anatomy and weight training
and global health. The program is designed to promote faculty-student and student-student
interaction and focuses on writing, communication and critical thinking skills. The program aims
to prepare students for the challenging courses ahead.
First Year Experience programs are also present at community colleges, where they
utilize these seminars as ways to build skills that can help them be successful there and moving
forward. At Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) in Yakima, WA, there is a student
development class that students are required to take in their first semester. The course addresses
topics of self, using academic resources, research and other proficiencies. The goal of this course
is for students to gain the skills necessary for a successful job search or transfer to a four-year
institution.
While they may vary depending on the institution, what is unvarying is the success of
students that participated in a FYE. In How College Affects Students (2005,) Pascarella and
Terenzini state that the weight of evidence indicates that FYS participation has statistically
significant and substantial, positive effects on a students successful transition to college and the
likelihood of persistence into the second year as well as on academic performance while in
college and on a considerable array of college experiences known to be related directly and
indirectly to bachelors degree completion (p. 403.)

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Residence Life
Residence Life plays a significant role in the First Year Experience. Many institutions
reserve residence halls exclusively for first year students who are participating in a first year
program. These programs require students to live on campus and it may also be required for
students to live on particular floors so that they may share that space with other program
participants. The idea is for students to cultivate intellectual and social relationships with their
classmates in a welcoming environment.
At the College of the Holy Cross, students participating in their first year program,
Montserrat are required to live on-campus in a first year residence hall with other participants of
the program as their roommate and hall mates. The residence hall is used as a secondary
classroom where students have monthly themed discussions, faculty and guest speakers, as well
as social events. Holy Cross aims to foster a sense of belonging amongst its students, by having
in class and out of class interactions; Holy Cross achieves the Jesuit tradition of education of the
whole person.
Another approach to FYE housing can be seen at the University of Maine (UM) campus
in Orono, Maine. UM offers students an opportunity to live in Living Learning Communities
(LLCs) where they have small themed communities on one floor of a first year residence hall.
To be selected for a specific LLC, students must submit an essay explaining their interest to live
in that particular LLC. The goal is for students who may feel overwhelmed in a large or new
campus to move in knowing they have something in common with their neighbors. This is a
great example of UMs efforts to build supportive and inclusive communities (Blimling and
Whitt, 1999) through their residence life and housing.

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Success in a FYE program is not limited to students living on campus; the same results
can be achieved by students attending a community college or students who commute to campus.
A 2012 study by EBI MAP-Works titled, The Impact of First-Year Initiatives for On and OffCampus Students, found that the FYE is associated with improvement in academic and cognitive
skills for both on and off-campus students. The study also found that critical thinking is also
enhanced by the FYE and seminar especially for those living off-campus. The study concludes
that overall, students living both on and off campus show a significant improvement moving on
to their second year and are also likely to recommend the program to an incoming student (EBI,
2012.) What these results show is the effectiveness of the FYE program as a whole, and they
prove that it is not limited to one type of student or approach.
Outcomes for First Year Experience Programming
First Year Experience programs can address all of the issues that a first year student might
come across, and can help support them in their transition into college. First Year Experience
programs can include several areas of focus for support of new students, including orientation,
summer bridge programs, first year seminars, and residence life (which can include living
learning communities). Student retention and success is beneficial to both the student and the
institution. Because institutions are preparing students to enter society as community members, it
is important for them keep their students at the center of their programming by providing them
with an intentional and robust first year experience. In this section, we will look in closer detail
at how some of the first year experience programs we discussed above can affect both student
retention and success.

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Retention
Retention is just as important to students as it is for institutions. A secondary education
increases your earning potential; for example, the median annual salary for someone with a high
school diploma was $30, 800 in 2003, versus someone who holds a bachelors degree, who earns
a median salary of $49, 900 (Jamelske, 2008). While there is an incentive for students to persist
through graduation, students still drop out or transfer out. According to the research, students
tend to persist to graduation if they have good experiences during the first few weeks of
matriculation (Marrow & Akermann, 2012).
College student enrollment has increased and remained high, and by 2015, there will be
2.3 million students enrolled in college, although retention and graduation rates have remained
relatively low (Morrow & Akermann, 2012). Students often seek a secondary education for the
upward mobility it brings, but graduation rates are not aligning with the increased college
enrollment trend. Only 48 % of college students complete their degree within five years (Morrow
& Ackermann, 2012).
Summer bridge programs can play an important role in helping underrepresented students
gain access to and gather information about higher education. They can help students by
acquainting them with college resources, help them become familiar with college expectations,
and help them build a community through faculty and staff interactions. Additionally, to prepare
underrepresented students for the rigor of college life, the programs gives them the option to get
a jump start on building academic skills. (Yale, 2012). By preparing them adequately for the
rigors of a college education, summer bridge programs can help improve retention rates for
underrepresented students.

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Living learning communities (as well as other residence life programs) are another
integral piece of student persistence in college. They are designed to place students from the
same residence hall together in a themed group, and therefore provide a system of support by
helping students integrate into the campus community. This integration has frequently been cited
as influencing student retention and success, for students are much more likely to persist if they
have a sense of belonging to a community (Tinto, 1993). For this reason, LLCs can play an
important role in student retention.
Academic Success and Goal Completion
The first year seminar is a good example of a program that can influence student success
and academic achievement. While types of first year seminars vary, the result of a small group
of students who move through the same core courses together is that students can build a strong
system of support with their peers, and forge relationships with their professors. Such support is
an extremely important factor in student success, as students have a built in network that they
can rely upon as they adjust to college level work, while also honing their writing and
communication skills. In addition, it can help students become more engaged in their education,
which has been demonstrated to have an effect on student success (Kuh, Kruce, Shoup, Kinzie,
and Conyea, 2008). Essentially, the strong network that is developed through first year seminars
can truly help students in their academic lives (particularly those students who are struggling
with their work), and can give them foundational skills that can help them be successful
throughout the entirety of their education.
Connection to Best Practices
While all of the programming that we included in this project is programming that we
identified as emerging best practices within the realm of freshman year experience, we also

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found connections to more general best practices within the realm of student affairs as a whole.
This section will address three of these best practices, and explore how they appear in the context
of the Freshman Year Experience programs that we have explored.
Building Inclusive Communities
Building inclusive communities is one of the most important aspects of the freshman year
experience. Much research on student retention, including Tintos (1993) theory on student
attrition, has confirmed that students who are more engaged and connected to the college
community are more likely to persist and be successful. For this reason, we wanted to focus our
fist year experience programming on creating communities for students so they could begin
building relationships with other students, as well as with faculty and staff, from the moment
they step foot on campus.
Community building exists at nearly every level of programming that we have
incorporated in this study. The most compelling examples of community building, however, are
found in the first year seminar and residence life programs. First year seminars group students
together in clusters, which allows students an immediate opportunity to build a community
within the institution, and provides them quality interactions with their peers in an intellectually
stimulating setting. Residence life also provides students an opportunity to build a meaningful
community, as residence halls naturally create an environment in which students can connect
with their fellow hall members and build meaningful relationships with their peers. The intended
goal of these community-oriented programs is to ensure that students have every opportunity
possible to become invested in and connected to a community within the school, which in turn
will help increase student success.

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Engaging Students in Active Learning

Creating an environment in which active learning is supported and encouraged is
important for student growth and success in college. Active learning means students are pushed
to reflect upon what they are learning, and apply their own life experiences to their academic
work. Active learning also encourages students to open themselves up to diverse perspectives,
and begin to learn how to incorporate these diverse perspectives into their own ways of thinking.
If executed properly, this type of experience can increase the opportunity for students to truly
connect various parts of their academic and non-academic lives.
Orientation programs are a good vehicle to explore active learning. Orientation often
includes events like workshops, which are a perfect opportunity for students to explore a certain
topic in depth, while also interacting with peers and engaging in a dialogue about the topic.
Residence life programming is also a good vehicle for active learning, as they provide students
with an opportunity to build relationships with other students in their residence hall, and build
the skills necessary to respect the diverse perspectives that inevitably appear in a residence hall,
and take part in creating a healthy living community.
Forging Educational Partnerships
Intentionally creating connections between staff and faculty can be a very important part
of a successful freshman year experience program. Getting feedback and contributions from a
variety of professionals encourages a diverse dialogue regarding the institutions approach to
programming, and increases the likelihood of a cohesive and productive experience for students.
The freshman year seminar is a primary example of a program that helps forge partnerships
between faculty and staffwhile faculty certainly play a role in devising the in class components
of the FYS, student affairs professionals are often responsible for creating important

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themes/topics for the clusters, and also can help organize the out-of-class components that truly
make FYS so effective. If staff and faculty work together to organize the FYS, it will be a much
more effective and comprehensive program that helps students make connections between their
curricular and co-curricular life.
Conclusion
In order to ensure that freshman year experience programs achieve their desired results, it
is important to take into account best practices that have been established throughout the field. If
best practices are carefully incorporated into programming, institutions can create an educational
experience that truly achieves its intended outcomes such as increased retention and academic
success. While we certainly have not covered every aspect of the first year experience, the
programs that we have selected highlight some of the important aspects of first year experience
programming, and demonstrate the potential positive effects of a well-crafted first year
experience program.

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References

Bellevue College. First Year Experience (FYE). Retrieved from http://bellevuecollege.edu/fye/

Bliming, G., Whitt, E., and Associates (1999). Good practice in student affairs: Principles to
foster student learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publications.
Comprehensive Studies Program University of Michigan. Summer Bridge Program.
Retrieved from http://www.lsa.umich.edu/csp/studentprograms/summerbridgeprogram
EBI Map Works (2012) The impact of first-year initiatives for on and off-campus students.
Webebi.com. Retrieved from http://www.webebi.com/community/research/57/theimpact-of-first-year-initiatives-for-on-and-off-campus-students#container
Georgia Perimeter College. (2013). Orientation @ Georgia Perimeter College. Retrieved from
http://orientation.gpc.edu/
Jamelske, E. (2009). Measuring the impact of a university first-year experience program
on student GPA and retention. Journal of Higher Education, 57(3), 373-391.
doi:10.1007/s10734-008-9161-1
Kuh, G. D., Cruce, T. M., Shoup, R., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M. (2008). Unmasking the
effects of student engagement on first-year college grades and persistence. Journal Of
Higher Education, 79(5), 540-563.
Morrow J., & Ackerman, M. E. (2012). Intention to persist and retention of first year
student: The importance of motivation and self belonging. College Student
Journal, 46(3), 483-491.
Ohlone College. (2013). New Student Orientation Overview Counseling Department.
Retrieved from http://www.ohlone.edu/org/orientation/overview.html.
Pascarella, E .T., and Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of
Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publicatons.
Raritan Valley Community College. (2012). New Student Orientation. Retrieved from
http://www.raritanval.edu/studentserv/fye/roars.html.
University of Michigan. (2013). Office of New Student Programs. Retrieved from
http://www.onsp.umich.edu/parents_family/orientation.html.
Western Michigan University Student Orientation. Academic Advising and Placement. Retrieved
from http://www.wmich.edu/fye/orientation/advising.html
Western Washington University. (2013). Summerstart 2013. Retrieved from
http://www.nssfo.wwu.edu/summerstart/index.shtml.

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Yale, A. (2012). An integrated first year experience best practices, strategies, and
applications. Retrieved from
http://www.sru.edu/academics/enrollment/Documents/Presentations/An%20Integrated
%20FYE%20-%20Strategies%20and%20Interventions.pdf

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