Noting that the transition from preschool to kindergarten presents many challenges to children, families, and teachers, presents a preschool-to-kindergarten planning transition model. The goal of the model is to provide a strategy that assists children, teachers, and families to establish and implement a collaborative transition process. Five…

Within the context of increasing cultural diversity, colleges and universities face new challenges and opportunities in attempting to forge a community, both on campus and in society at large. Community-building efforts must address the following: proliferation of campus affinity groups; facilitation of constructive intergroup relations; emergence…

Compared three types of orientation programs offered to new students at Salisbury State University (Maryland) traditional, alternative, and outdoor. Findings suggested enrollees in the outdoor program had better adjustment and higher retention rates than enrollees in other programs. The study concluded that interaction/ collaboration among…

Discusses the importance of faculty mentors in the persistence and success of black doctoral students in the sciences and engineering, and describes individual cases in which this relationship has been crucial. Issues discussed include student feelings of isolation, color issues in the mentoring relationship, and the need for more black women…

Main trends and developments in British graduate study in the last decade are examined, including establishment of organizational structures to reduce graduate student isolation; graduate curriculum development; concern with completion rates; and issues surrounding quality of graduate courses, especially through academic audit and teaching quality…

Mayland Community College, in North Carolina, established the following five goals for enhancing its 1995 fall orientation program: providing information about the infrastructure of the college, connecting students with faculty and staff, connecting students with other students, communicating college-level expectations, and inspiring students. To…

The Community College Transfer Opportunity Program (CCTOP) was established in 1990 to help students at 11 participating community colleges transfer to and complete their baccalaureate degrees at New York University's (NYU's) School of Education. Since 1990, the program has enabled over 450 students to transfer to NYU, while the retention rate for…

This report presents results of a study concerning institutional support provided to overseas students studying at institutions of higher and further education in Scotland. The study examined three related sets of issues: (1) academic arrangements (information about programs, courses, induction, timetables, tutoring arrangements); (2)…

This booklet describes the characteristics of 16 Chicago-area schools designated as winners in a 1982-83 contest to develop student character and academic learning. Out of the 80 schools competing, the 25 finalists were reviewed for evidence of school effectiveness and outcomes. Schools were asked to assess students' prosocial activities and the…

Presented is a discussion of an intercultural orientation seminar for foreign and U.S. university students at Colorado State University. This 1-day retreat is held each semester at a lodge in the Rocky Mountains. It is designed to bring together the students and community people to experience an international environment where the goal is to…

This monograph describes the role of the middle school counselor and middle school teacher in developing an educational program that meets the developmental and individual needs of students. The author identifies the broad-based and multi-dimensional perspectives of such a program and suggests that teachers and other school personnel should share…

This report discusses the difficulties encountered by student personnel services in fitting the nontraditional or older than average student into daytime college activities. The example of the Services for Returning Students at The University of Texas at Austin offers educational counseling services to persons who have experienced an interruption…

This guide examines the problem of providing orientation for foreign students attending U.S. universities. Ideas and suggestions for the design and conduct of orientation programs are provided. Inherent constraints that may impair program success are enumerated, including erratic student arrival times, lack of motivation to participate in…

Educators in Indiana's Duneland School District found the transition from elementary schools to a newly organized middle school unacceptably difficult for both the students and their parents. After assessing student and parent preconceptions of the middle school as revealed in their responses to questionnaires, the middle school principal…

In this series of convention papers, the presentors reviewed the phenomenon of retention, summarized what is known and not known about the causes of attrition on the college campus, traced the efforts of the Grand Valley State Colleges' Retention Committee and the colleges, reviewed the colleges' research information, and presented the all-college…