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The First-Year Experience (FYE) (also known as the Freshman-Year Experience or the Freshman Seminar Program) is a program at many
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s and
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designed to help students prepare for the transition from
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to college. FYE programs often foster the participation of students in co-curricular events such as common reads, concerts, art exhibits, and guest lectures. Depending on the school, the course can last anywhere from two weeks to a full school year. Some larger universities, such as the
University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
, through their Project Renaissance Program, create a "small college" feel by allowing freshmen to do their first-year courses in one section of the university. While the origins of the program remain unclear, many people attribute the start of the First-Year Seminar to the University of South Carolina, which houses the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and holds a series of workshops for colleges and universities to better their own first-year programs.


History

Originally, Boston College was where the first Freshman Orientation class was offered in the year 1888. Reed College, based in Portland, Oregon, was the first institution to offer a course for credit when, in 1911, they offered a course that was divided into men-only and women-only sections that met for 2 hours per week for the year. In May 1970, University of South Carolina President Thomas Jones faced campus unrest and violence. In the aftermath he vowed to create a new course designed to "bond students to the institution and transform the way that undergraduate students were taught.""Our History,"
University of South Carolina National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition website. Accessed June 2, 2015.
In 1972, Carolina introduced "University 101", designed to "improve the educational experiences of first-year college students." Carolina's program became a model for colleges and universities across the country, and in 1982, representatives from 175 schools came to Carolina to meet about the first-year experience. In 1983, Carolina's University 101 faculty director, John N. Gardner, organized the first Annual Conference on the Freshman Year Experience. In 1986, Carolina partnered with the
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to produce the first International Conference on the First-Year Experience. Also in 1986, Carolina established the National Resource Center; as it broadened its focus it underwent a number of name changes, settling on the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition in 1998. As the Center states on its website:


Typical structure

Many of the colleges and universities that use the program require that all incoming freshmen take the freshman seminar; other schools have the program as optional, but recommended. Most first-year seminars are a semester long and start at
student orientation Student orientation or new student orientation (often encapsulated into an orientation week, o-week, frosh week, welcome week or freshers' week) is a period before the start of an academic year at a university or tertiary institutions. A variety ...
. From orientation, students enroll in the course, which gives them a variety of college experiences, from tours of the campus to a breakdown of how to study for tests. Many schools even offer students help with purchasing books from the school's bookstore. For instance, as part of
Mitchell College Mitchell College is a private college in New London, Connecticut. In Fall 2020 it had an enrollment of 572 students and a faculty of 68. Admission rate was 70%. The college offers associate and bachelor's degrees in fourteen subjects. Academ ...
's First-Year Experience (FYE) program for transitioning into college, first-year students are assigned to Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs) in their first semester according to a common academic interest or major. These groups explore the topics and issues related to their chosen path. Those who arrive at Mitchell undecided about their academic route are also grouped together to allow for a broader survey of options. Students are encouraged to communicate their unique perspective and make connections through co-curricular activities.
Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
's outdoor orientation COOT (Colby Outdoor Orientation Trips) program is designed to ease new students' transition into college and introduce them to
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
's cultural and natural resources. COOT features an on-campus orientation and a variety of trips, including hiking trips at
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and
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canoe trips on the Kennebec and Moose Rivers, and other trips around the state. There are over 60 different trips, designed to appeal to incoming students with a variety of interests and fitness levels, and more "front country" trips have been added in recent years, including service- and arts-oriented options such as an organic farm stay and a challenge course."Colby Outdoor Orientation Trips,"
Colby College website. Accessed June 2, 2015.
COOT leaders are chosen from upperclass students who apply for these positions, and are expected to help the students both during and after the trip with the adjustment to campus life. In 1991, Norman Adler initiated the Penn Reading Project at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, an integrative introduction to liberal learning for college freshmen newly arriving on campus. Subsequently, Freshman Reading Projects have been adopted widely as part of the first-year experience at many college campuses.


Program credits

As a standard for most first-year seminars, many colleges give students one to two credits for completing the program, such as
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. Many schools, such as the
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in
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, merge the program into a second course which helps to satisfy
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's general education requirement. In addition, the school recently introduced its Civic Engagement program, which is designed to allow students to participate in
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as a part of its First-Year Experience program.


Workshops and training

The University of South Carolina hosts a seminar every year in which the many colleges and universities which have the First-Year Program get together to improve their own programs, and to offer suggestions to their colleagues on how they might also improve. The workshop is usually a week long and attendance is voluntary.


Effectiveness

The
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's
First-Year Experience The First-Year Experience (FYE) (also known as the Freshman-Year Experience or the Freshman Seminar Program) is a program at many American colleges and universities designed to help students prepare for the transition from high school to college. FY ...
program is called University Studies 101 (UNS 101). The program aims to assist students in discovering their purpose, identifying their strengths, and aligning these newly discovered assets with a plan for their future. The activities, class discussions, and assignments used in the course guide students through the six
appreciative advising Appreciative advising (AA) is an academic advising philosophy that provides a framework for optimizing student-advisor interactions both in 1:1 and group settings. Appreciative advising is based on David Cooperrider's organizational development th ...
stages. A comprehensive program evaluation which includes the tracking of academic outcomes and assessment of student attitudes and behaviors has evidenced the positive impact of the UNS 101 program. For example, the freshman to sophomore retention rate of freshmen who completed UNS 101 in fall 2006 and returned for fall 2007 was 81.9%. This compares to a retention rate of 74.4% for freshmen who did not take the course. Meanwhile, the average first-semester GPA for students who did not take the course was 2.49, while UNS 101 participants had an average first-semester GPA of 2.72. J.N. Gardner, member of ''The Journal of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers'' and author of ''The freshman-year experience'', emphasized the importance of having courses that focus on the first few weeks of college. During this time is most likely when students will make the decision to drop out, due to the increase of feeling personal independence and habit-forming, as well as forming relationships that they will continue throughout their college careers. Gardner also suggested that things such as curriculum modifications, academic advisement, faculty led freshman-level courses instead of graduate student-led, living/learning environments, peer counseling, and special freshmen administrative units improve the student's freshman year.


See also

*
Appreciative advising Appreciative advising (AA) is an academic advising philosophy that provides a framework for optimizing student-advisor interactions both in 1:1 and group settings. Appreciative advising is based on David Cooperrider's organizational development th ...
*
Purpose Network In higher education, a purpose network is an online community intentionally designed to support critical student learning outcomes through peer-to-peer, peer-to-staff and staff-to-peer communication. College student purpose networks, unlike social ...
*
Purpose-guided education Purpose-guided education prioritizes intrinsic motivation and helps students become more engaged in learning experiences through connecting their beliefs and life goals to curricular requirements. Jerry Pattengale first coined the phrase "purpose ...
*
Student affairs Student affairs, student support, or student services is the department or division of services and support for student success at institutions of higher education to enhance student growth and development. People who work in this field are know ...
* Supplemental instruction


References


Further reading

*Association of College Research Libraries (2007)
''The First-Year Experience and Academic Libraries: A Select, Annotated Bibliography.''
Retrieved April 20, 2008.


External links


Random House's Common Reads One Book blog

University of South Carolina FYE National Resource Center

"The Freshman Year Experience, 1962-1990: An Experiment in Humanistic Higher Education," by Elsie Watts
{{DEFAULTSORT:First-Year Experience Program University of South Carolina Higher education Learning Teaching