This chapter describes a Reading and Study Skills program and course that are offered to first-year students who are underprepared or reluctant and who may be at risk for failure in other courses as well as at risk for long-term retention and graduation. The course is discussed with respect to its parallels to the MVP model, and initial evidence…

Guttman Community College (GCC), a newly-established, urban community college, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), enrolls a largely traditional student body which is also predominantly minority. Students enter the college with an average high-school grade-point average of 75% (C average), and are required to enroll in three first-year…

This dissertation reports on a study investigating the identity of first-year university students as writers. The longitudinal project explored how students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds construct their identities as undergraduates and as academic writers in their first year. The research was qualitative and interpretative, and used…

This is the final report of the National Evaluation of Student Support Services (SSS). SSS is one of eight federally funded grant programs that are administered as part of the Federal TRIO Programs within the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The SSS program, in particular, focuses on students while they are enrolled in college. In general, SSS…

An active and successful peer advising program in a college setting is discussed. The assumption was that new students needed the support and advice of experienced counselors to help them develop academic competence, and upper-division students could provide that support. (MLW)

This model presents an experimental orientation program at a computer college. Subjects were 200 freshmen students, 100 of whom participated in the experimental program and 100 of whom acted as a control group. The control group went through a traditional orientation program - three four-hour sessions in a large auditorium. The experimental…

This paper examines several models of freshman seminar programs, reviews the assessment and research literature showing the efficacy of these programs, and discusses research emphases of the new National Center for the Study of the Freshman Year Experience at the University of South Carolina. (Author/MLW)

The Personal Learning Plan project described in this report was developed as a way to supplement the advising system at Rhode Island College by giving students a written document of their academic progress throughout their college careers. The overall purpose is to improve retention by advising students on the best way for them to be successful in…

This paper offers an overview of a comprehensive program for the educational and vocational counseling of university freshmen. The program, now in operation in University College, The Ohio State University, has evolved out of a need to provide quality services to great numbers of students. Effective methods have been developed to assist students…

CLIOTUTOR is a computer-assisted instructional package of 30 tutorial lessons keyed to a standard text and operated with a VAX computer system. Western Michigan University, a member of the CLIOTUTOR consortium, operates its own copy of the program in conjunction with a redesigned two-semester freshman history course. CLIOTUTOR provides a half-hour…

Describes a cost effective nontraditional recruitment program at California State College, Stanislaus, which trained college freshmen to recruit Mexican American students in the high schools they had attended. Response to the program was positive, and erased some stereotypes of Chicano students. (JAC)

To introduce college students to the liberal arts, Castleton State College established the Soundings Program in fall 1985. The program was designed as a general education requirement for freshmen that earned one credit in each of the two semesters of the first year for attendance at (1) a limited number of required lectures and (2) eight elective…

The Career Introduction Model discussed in this chapter is an early intervention strategy intended to support the first-generation freshmen enrolled in the Education Opportunity Program (EOP) at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). The model is an interactive approach to assist students in connecting their academic pathway to their…

This monograph describes Supplemental Instruction, a student assistance program designed to improve the academic success of college freshmen based on the idea that if students are not being successful in courses then perhaps colleges should change the way courses are taught. Supplemental Instruction (SI) utilizes regularly scheduled, out-of-class,…

Retention research shows that the highest amount of attrition occurs around the freshman year. Freshman-year programs designed to support students in their academic and social development and to involve them more deeply with the education process are described. (MLW)