August 1, 2001

First Year Experience provides
opportunities for students

The First Year Experience at Arkansas State University is a program structured to give new students opportunities and prepare them for life on a university campus.

The program, which began in fall 1999, is still relatively new to ASU and continues to enhance the experience of first-time students.

"The First Year Experience is designed to help students in their transition from high school to college, because the experiences are so different," Lynita Cooksey, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs, said. "The First Year sections help students deal with different social and diversity issues they may not have faced in high school. We are able to help them once they’re in this new situation, and to adjust and adapt to a multi-cultural environment with an extreme range of social activities."

The First Year Seminar courses are also for non-traditional students coming to campus, which means the blending of traditional-age students and non-traditional age students creates a secondary learning environment.

"Last fall I had some non-traditional students in my section, and I believe it really helped my traditional students to see everyone has problems or things they need to manage," Cooksey said. "Many of the traditional students have concerns such as how to go to school and pay for a car, while many of the non-traditional students have concerns about working full-time, raising a family and getting their education. Traditional students can see how life experiences prepare them."

Cooksey, a native of Jonesboro, also noted that First Year seminars are an option for every first-time, full-time student, even students who are more prepared academically than others.

"We have found that students who score 30 on their ACT benefit from this as much as students with a 20 on the ACT. It’s not just about academic preparedness, it’s about maturity and life skills."

Each course section varies in content and can be specialized by topic or interest or general information. Some sections of the seminar target specific disciplines or interests such as agriculture, business, health professions or science, while others may focus on current issues such as politics, trends in technology or diversity. However, each has a common core that includes academic performance skills, self-management skills and understanding how a university works.

Academic performance skills discussed in the course include how to study, take notes, tests and think critically. Students are also taught how to better utilize the library and other technical resources on campus.

Time management, priority setting, economic management, emotional maturity and transitioning are issues covered under the self-management skills section of the course.

Understanding university policy is an essential section of the core content, because students can better utilize the services available to them. This section of the course covers organization, faculty expectations, resources, policies, degree requirements and advising.

"The purpose of the core information is to better prepare students for life on campus and life after school. We teach students to calculate their grade point average, and show them how important their G.P.A. is and that their transcript is like a fingerprint. We actually show them an anonymous transcript, so they can see how withdrawing from a class or failing to do so can affect a transcript or grade. The choices they make now can follow them their entire life, and all of a sudden the students realize that everything they do while in school goes with them."

Cooksey noted the importance of informing students of all the services available to students on campus, such as the health center and pharmacy or financial aid or academic services, such as tutoring.

Although taking part in the First Year Experience is not mandatory for students at this time, all incoming student athletes are required to take a two-hour course, Life Skills for Athletes. The course progresses over the academic career of the athlete to include information about NCAA rules, future employment opportunities and money management. The course is important because it includes the same core content as other courses, but is geared for students who have a possible future in professional sports.

Students participating in the First Year Experience may also take part in Learning Communities, two courses which are linked together and share a common enrollment of students. The communities allow students enrolled in the same courses to get to know one another, form natural study groups, earn better grades and develop a greater sense of belonging and community within the university, according to Cooksey.

Many upper-level students studying primarily within their major already experience a sort of learning community because they are in many of the same courses with their peers. By providing this option to first-time students, the benefits of working together with other students begins earlier in their academic career.

Cooksey noted that while the First Year Experience program at Arkansas State is relatively new, the idea behind it has been used at many other universities, including the University of South Carolina where a First Year Experience Center is housed.

"All of this is change, and change is difficult. The seminars are easier to implement than our Learning Communities because people don’t always realize how they work," Cooksey said.

"Our focus is for the success of our students. As this program continues and we add to our available sections and learning communities, I believe we will continue to see our students succeed while adjusting to life at college."

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