MHU Staff Present on First Year Experience

September 1, 2017

Staff from the Center for Student Success—Ryan Bell, Amy Carraux Price and Lisa Wachtman—along with Director of Institutional Research, Dr. Suzanne Klonis, in collaboration with Dr. Jason Pierce, former Interim VP of Academic Affairs presented at the 36th Annual Conference on the First Year Experience in Atlanta on February 14. Their topic, “First-Year Connections: Incentivizing ‘Belonging’ for all First-Year Students” centered on a new initiative at MHU that helps first-year students better connect to campus resources as well as encouraging them to be involved in clubs, organizations, and to attend lecture and performance events.

All first-year students enrolled in the First Year Seminar (FYS 111) participate in First Year Connections (FYC). Instead of getting a college work-study job, a first-year student’s “job” becomes using resources such as the Writing Center and Math Center as well as developing habits of successful students like attending Supplemental Instruction for classes, getting tutoring from Student Support Services (if they qualify), attending workshops related to student success, etc. Students are also encouraged to attend events on campus and in the local community in order to broaden their academic and social experiences.