This qualitative case study examined the efficacy of one university's academic interventions in support of conditionally admitted (CA) students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective was to gain insights into how academic interventions changed for CA students and how the students used academic interventions during COVID-19 at one four-year…

First-year seminar courses have become increasingly popular for colleges and universities as they are expected to help aid in the transition to college and help students persist to graduation (Culver & Bowman, 2020). Utilizing pre-existing data from the Office of Institutional Research Effectiveness and Planning (IREP), the…

Drawing from our experiences facilitating an FYE faculty development program, we highlight how we have practiced elements of trauma-informed pedagogy to work with first-year students and faculty. We discuss how both students and faculty can benefit from a more complex process of cultivating relationships through mindfulness. Practices of…

This evaluation study had three main aims: 1) to examine how an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Summit can be used to promote First Year Experience (FYE) instructors' sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within the context of the FYE program at a community college; 2) to examine how an AI Summit might guide FYE program development; and 3) to…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine to what extent a difference exists in first year experience (FYE) pass rate and persistence of summer to fall enrollment based on utility value intervention (UVI) participation among college students enrolled in FYE classes at a community college in the Midwest United States.…

Increasing student retention is one of the greatest challenges faced by community colleges. First-year community college students face a complex set of issues in grappling with their new academic roles and identities. Therefore, there is a need for effective retention efforts that support students during this time of transition. First-Year…

Retention and graduation rates are declining nationwide but are exceptionally low for Black men. Extant research substantiates that various influences contribute to a student's ability to persist to graduation. Apart from the positive impact of HBCUs on educational outcomes for Black students, empirical research highlights that enrollment, campus…

Higher education has seen an increase in first-year students who arrive with significant early college credit. There is a gap in research about how first-year seminars meet the transition needs of students with college-level experience obtained during high school. This qualitative study, guided by Schlossberg's (1989) transition theory, explored…

Online education has increased in popularity over the last few decades due to the enrollment of adult learners. Adult learners have challenges with returning to school. It is not known what resources and support faculty need to support adult learners taking online first-year experience courses (FYE). The purpose of this general descriptive…

A first-year general education core course can act as a keystone connecting general education and specialized major courses, enhancing their value in the eyes of students and recognizing student goals for both career preparation and self-discovery. The core course introduces themes based on distinctive institutional mission and identity and also…

Climate change denial is often treated as a binary opinion. However, an individual can express acceptance of climate change, while still denying other aspects of the field such as its causation by humans, impacts, or our ability to mitigate these impacts. Here, we conduct a semester long survey and discourse analysis of a class of first-year…

A key goal of higher education is to graduate citizens who are actively engaged in the process of democracy. Yet, it is a challenge to build a curriculum with this in mind. Herein, we describe a multi-year process of creating and supporting a movement to centralize undergraduates' civic identity development across the curriculum. The result is a…

The article explored the modern global educational space and university environment with its structure and functioning. It presents key tasks of US university education in a global context, offers the definition of the university environment, and describes core features of the US university setting. The university campus is considered as a main…

The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) is a US Department of Education funded initiative to support students from migrant/seasonal farmworker backgrounds--i.e., students whose families travel seasonally to work in agriculture--during their first year as undergraduates. This article shares authors' experience of using insights from…

Winston-Salem State University incorporates critical thinking and oral communication into general education learning outcomes and assessment. To teach these critical skills, the authors used active learning techniques in a first-year seminar on animal behavior. Students performed simulation experiments and orally presented their findings. Their…