Emphasizes the need to accommodate growing cultural and educational diversity among first-year college students. Describes several programs designed to address freshmen needs including a two-day orientation program; a mentoring scheme; and a course unit to improve teamwork and communication skills, increase awareness of university facilities, and…

A Washington University (Missouri) law school program for new faculty has four elements: a publication, "Things I Wish I Had Known as a New Faculty Member"; orientation sessions on teaching, creating and grading exams, pursuing scholarship, and dealing with law reviews; formal mentoring; and a detailed question-and-answer memo about the…

A study examining wilderness orientation programs for incoming college freshmen surveyed 57 program leaders. Findings indicate that most programs supported social over academic goals and that assessment was informal and after the fact. Recommendations include revising stated goals and encouraging faculty participation if student retention is the…

States that sixty-three percent of 125 developmental students who participated in a retention study in fall of 1995 subsequently left the university, citing financial and academic problems. Recommends improving student retention through the use of early introduction of financial, academic and career counseling, and development of a freshmen…

The objective of this research is to find out the problems and expectations of the students in Inonu University (in Malatya, a city in east Turkey) concerning the orientation services. An additional objective is to ascertain whether students' expectations with regard to orientation services differ according to their sex, their place of origin, and…

The process of transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education can be very complex and challenging. Many freshmen students are coming to college underprepared and in need of developmental education. The role of student services is to assist these students and their families with this important transition to postsecondary education by…

Designed an intervention to facilitate the first meeting between student and adviser. During orientation, students were asked to focus on career goals in preparing for the adviser interview, recognizing stages through which students typically pass as they progress through college. Skits were used to demonstrate adviser expectations. Advisers…

The ingredients for making trustees effective fund raisers are agreement on the objectives of fund raising, understanding the institution, orientation for new trustees, and participation by trustees themselves. (Author)

Pace University's efforts to attract and retain adult students include contacting nonmatriculated students to encourage commitment and resolve problems and contacting part-time students the first semester they stop attending. The results of the university taking the initiative have been increased retention and greater information about student…

Entering college freshmen who voluntarily participated in a summer college-introduction program were compared to other freshmen. Results of the study indicated no differences in grades or attitudes between the two groups; however, threshold students took more academic credits and had less academic attrition than nonparticipating students. (CP)

Describes New Student Welcome Day, an orientation program for freshmen at the University of Maine. Outlines objectives of the three-day program, including assisting students' transition to the university, fostering development of a peer group, creating an atmosphere conducive to favorable attitudes, and reducing anxiety. (JAC)

Because the first days of school are considered crucial to the establishment of a well-run classroom, this study observed 28 third-grade classes during the beginning of a term, identifying successful teacher behaviors in making introductions, presenting rules and procedures, monitoring the classroom, and analyzing and regulating student behavior.…

Surveyed college freshmen and professionals involved in orientation planning to compare their perception of student needs. Planners emphasized money and housing needs while students ranked academic concerns highest. Program activities responding to these needs included personal interviews, course schedule planning, registration assistance and…

A variety of colleges, large and small, public and private, have organized unique and interesting events for prospective students, current students, recent graduates, alumni, and friends of the institutions. A potpourri of these events is described, and some advice is given for planning them. (MSE)

Results indicate freshmen consider academic and personal topics to be important, but academic categories have primacy. To increase freshmen retention, the academic domain warrants a high priority in orientation programs. They should also focus on student life outside the classroom such as finances and extracurricular activities. (Author)