JORDAN PATTERSON
Staff Writer
Students may not always see their freshman year as an important time in their college career. But universities across the country do, and Fredonia is hoping to pave the way for change.
Fredonia was one of 44 schools selected to participate in the Re-imagining the First Year of College program. The program is organized through American Association of State Colleges and Universities (ASSCU) and is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Fredonia is the only school in New York to be selected for this honor.
“I think this program is a wonderful opportunity and am thrilled that Fredonia was selected to be a part of this learning community,” said Dr. Lisa Hunter, leader of Fredonia’s Re-Imagining the First Year (RFY) Team.
ASSCU hosted a conference in Austin, Texas, that allowed four members of the RFY team to attend. Three other members accompanied Hunter: Director of First-Year and Transition Program Erin Mroczka, Mathematical Science Professor Nancy Boynton, and Chair of History Department Mary Beth Sievens.
This team will begin to have weekly meetings where they will try to come up with new ways to smooth out the first year for students. By June, this team has to submit a plan to AASCU, a plan that they will attempt to implement next Fall here at Fredonia.
What this program is attempting to do is not something new. For years, Fredonia has been trying ways to reinvigorate the first year for students in order to retain them over the course of four years. In the past, however, when it came time initiate a plan, that plan fell through due to funding, limited resources and the faculty’s limited time.
“I know that about ten years ago we also participated in one of these re-thinking the first [year] projects called The Foundations of Excellence,” said Sievens. “There were a lot of really great ideas surrounding that and some of them were implemented.”
There are now freshmen seminars for particular majors, and a position was created in Student Affairs specifically focusing on the first year for students.
But according to Sievens, the problems came with the implementation. It appeared the issue then was that teachers were already busy with what they were already doing and couldn’t really dive into the program.
The four members of this team are deeply invested in the students and want to see Fredonia still here in 20 years.
Back in Austin, one particular presentation — about fixed mindsets and growth mindsets — really stuck with the team. Students with fixed mindsets think they aren’t good at a certain subject and that is the end of it, where those with growth mindset would realize they can be better at this subject if they work harder at it.
Another way this team hopes to figure out what is lacking for first year students is crowdsourcing.
“Our intention is to have good conversations with students throughout this process, so I ask students to ask questions,” said Mrozcka. “We’re asking you but you should also be asking us, so I want students to be proud that Fredonia is thinking about ‘how do we make this the very best place?’”
For the next three years Fredonia will be involved in a continuous hands-on learning experiment trying to figure out what needs improvement and how to improve it. AASCU and 43 other schools across the nation will be in contact, sharing each other’s feedback with one another.
Although this process has just begun, for the RFY team the focus is on students needs.
“The ultimate goal is to increase student success and to provide a transformational learning experience for all students,” said Hunter.