First
Year Students | Undecided
Exploratory Students |
Transfer Students
Professional/Graduate
School Planning |
At-Risk Students
First-Year Students
The first year of college, for students,
is one of life’s most critical transitions. It
is a time when students are developing and acquiring
the skills, dispositions, and norms needed to learn
and grow throughout their college years. The most critical
time period is the initial six weeks of their first
semester in college. According to ACT (1992), high student
attrition among first-year college students continues
to be a national trend. A study conducted by Weinsten
(1988) identifies six categories where first-year students
experience differences and transitions: academic environment,
grading, knowledge acquisition, support, stress and
responsibility.
As a university community, the central
objectives for outreach to first-year students revolves
around 1) developing a sense of community, 2) involvement
of students in the life of the institution, and 3) academic
and social integration. Vincent Tinto, a distinguished
professor at the University of Syracuse has stated of
college dropouts, 55% leave after their freshman year.
Tinto has been researching student retention for over
25 years.
There are many reasons first-year
students leave their initial institution. Joe Cuseo
of Marymount College has developed nine reasons that
students typically leave a university.
These include:
Academic Under-preparedness
Academic Boredom
Transition-to-College Adjustment Difficulties
Uncertainty about Educational or Occupational Goals
Irrelevancy
Isolation/Alienation
Incongruence with the institution
Low Commitment
Financial
These are areas to consider when interacting
with first-year students whether advising, teaching,
or passing through a main University estuary.
UMBC Resources:
Advising Resource Center – Self-Directed Search
FUEL – For Undecided and Exploratory Learners
Career Services Center
First Year SeminarsExternal
Resources:
National
Academic Advising Association (NACADA)
Policy
Center of the First-Year of College
National
Resource Center on the First-Year Experience and Students
in Transition
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