A three-day program at the College of the Holy Cross (Massachusetts) was developed to address low retention rates for African-American students meeting the usual predictive criteria for academic success. It familiarized students with the college, allowed them to meet significant college community members, and assisted in adapting to academic…

The design of a training program for Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) at the University of Washington and its current implementation are described. Departmental training for GTAs is administered through the Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR). Training support provided by CIDR is based on a Train-the-Trainer model, which…

Presents back-to-school activity suggestions from elementary school teachers around the country, noting how they extend a warm welcome, soothe first-day fears, and encourage students to get to know one another and the teacher. (SM)

This lesson plan calls for first-grade students to plan a special "Parent Night" as an activity so parents can take a tour and get acquainted with the school. The lesson plan sets out the task in a letter from the principal; presents the day-by-day (11 days), step-by-step (three or four steps each day) process, including conclusion and…

A mini-unit introducing seventh grade students to their new school and its surrounding area can be adapted for use in any school. Following a list of learning objectives and evaluation methods, the document provides a short vocabulary lesson and five student activities and worksheets for learning to read school, city, state, and county maps. A…

Designed to guide teachers through a 20-day sequence of preschool orientation activities, the manual presents a numbered sequence of topics with related objectives and explanations, preparation and planning needs, and specific activities for children. Section I is entitled "All Around Us" and focuses on guiding preschool children and…

This 59-item annotated bibliography covers suggested reading material published between 1956 and 1991 to assist college faculty and administrators in promoting first year success for college freshmen. The bibliography is divided into seven sections of resource materials. Section 1 contains suggested readings on both objective research on the…

This monograph contains 15 papers on aspects of college and university student and family orientation programs. Following a prologue, "Reflections on the Future of Orientation," by M. Lee Upcraft, the papers are: (1) "Today's Students and Their Impact on Orientation and First-Year Programs" (Tony W. Cawthon and Michael Miller);…

This guidebook describes the Martin Luther King Program at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, a program expressly created to provide services and resources to assist the minority student in coping with any adjustment problems that may be entailed in entering a predominantly white university in a rural community. The university's supplemental…

Proceedings of the 1984 National Conference on Academic Advising are presented, including three main addresses, brief overviews of workshops, detailed outlines of topical sessions, and abstracts of 58 conference papers. The conference highlighted advisors' involvement in critical teaching functions. General session titles and authors are as…

The Student Affirmative Action Program at California State University, Long Beach was designed to serve the needs of Latino students, an underrepresented population in higher education, and to help eliminate identified institutional barriers to their participation. Barriers include inadequate orientation and information, poor planning and academic…

This report provides a conceptual framework for guiding decisions regarding the administrative delivery and course content of the freshman orientation seminar. The proposed framework relies heavily on empirical evidence generated by college-level research in the areas of student retention, student learning and academic achievement, and student…

Materials from a spring 1986 teaching assistant (TA) planning meeting held at the University of Washington are presented. The training meeting was sponsored by the Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR). Contents include: a list of workshops; a timeline for planning TA orientation activities; information on CIDR print materials,…

Ways in which colleges can meet the needs of part-time faculty are suggested, based upon the experiences of community colleges. Recommendations concern basic needs, orientation, and staff development and evaluation. Advice for institutions includes: establish a salary scale for part-time faculty equal to that for full-time faculty teaching…

To supplement its French faculty, the Department of Modern Languages at Central Missouri State University (CMSU) has hired foreign students through the Institute of International Education (IIE), a clearinghouse for French and German university students wishing to teach in the United States. During the 1983-1984 academic year some 35 institutions…