Collaboration: The Key to First
Year Initiatives
Provide an overview of first year initiatives at Bowling Green
State University
Offer examples of collaborative efforts between Academic &
Student Affairs at Bowling Green State University
Assist in identifying key departments and individuals for
collaborative efforts
Highlight lessons learned in relation to collaboration
Orientation & First Year Programs
Bowling Green State University

Provide support to new students throughout the first year
of college

Enhance the students’ learning experience in and out of
the classroom

“Connect” students to BGSU
Program Components

UNIV 100 - University
Success course


Orientation & Registration

FYI - First Year Insight
magazine
First Year Summit

Welcome Programs

Connections newsletter

First Year Success Series

Common Reading
Experience

New Student Convocation
UNIV 100 University Success Course






2 credit hour elective course
50 sections
20 students per section
Faculty and administrators serve as course instructors
Undergraduate peer facilitators
Some sections linked with English and a general
education course
UNIV 100 Theme Sections

Academic Enhancement Undecided & Conditionally
Admitted Students

Men of Color

President's Leadership
Academy

Student Athletes

Honors Program

Chapman Learning Community

Colleges of Arts & Sciences
Education & Human
Development
Health & Human Services
Technology
Orientation & Registration

Academic Affairs Involvement
 Opening Address
 Academic Advising
 Coffee & Connections
 College Meetings
 Display Area
 Learning Communities
 Lunch Roundtables
 Placement Testing
Orientation & Registration

Student Affairs Involvement
 Coffee & Connections
 Display Areas
 Focus on Campus Life
 Student Services Information Sessions
Common Reading Experience
Fall 2001
Into the Forest - Jean Hegland

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450 new students participated
A collaborative effort between Student Affairs & Academic Affairs
Eight classes (UNIV 100, English 111, Environmental Science) and
Chapman Learning Community participated
Common Reading Experience
Fall 2002
A Hope in the Unseen - Ron Suskind

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2,000 new students participated
All sections of UNIV 100, in addition to multiple sections of English 111
and Sociology 101, Honors Program, and various residential learning
communities
Community interest in the experience
Common Reading Experience
Fall 2003
The Laramie Project - Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic
Theatre Project


2,500+ new students participated
All sections of UNIV 100, in addition to multiple sections of English 111,
Sociology, American Culture Studies, Theatre, Popular Culture,and
Ethnic Studies, Honors Program, and various residential learning
communities
Collaboration Through
Committees

First Year Summit

Academic Advising
Initiatives

Common Reading
Experience

Enrollment & Recruitment
Initiatives

Orientation & Registration

Library Advisory Groups
Building Bridges

Identify key academic units and individuals
 President
 Provost’s Area
 Institutional Research
 Colleges
 Library
 Academic Support Services
Assessment Initiatives
Identify formal methods
Surveys & Evaluations
Focus Groups
Institutional Research
Identify informal methods
Engagement & Commitment
New Partnerships
Return Rates
Lessons Learned

Effective bridge building

Identify common points of interest

Effective communication

Program ownership

Growth = Loss of some control
Contact Information
Jodi Webb, Director
Orientation & First Year Programs
301 Bowen-Thompson Student Union
Bowling Green, OH 43403
(419) 372-9646
[email protected]
www.bgsu.edu/offices/sa/oreg/