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FYI on FYE Part III: Education beyond the classroom |
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Terry Biel |
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Apr 25, 2005 |
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This article is the last in a three-part series regarding the First-Year Experience Program.
One of the goals of the FYE Program is to build and sustain a vibrant and diverse college community committed to students in their first year at UT. That vital “community” aspect is being addressed with several proactive initiatives that reach out far past lecture halls, lab hours and homework.
The Residence Life Faculty Friends Program, backed by FYE, seeks to bridge the formal academic environment with the humanity of both teacher and student. Interested UT faculty members apply for the program and those selected for participation are given passes for two meals per week per semester. They spend time with students, dine with them, attend and run residence hall programs, and are friends and advocates for them. In addition, each residence hall’s faculty friends “team” is appropriated a sum to run programs and events for students in their assigned residence halls. Faculty friends receive no stipend or other compensation for their time.
“When a student comes and sees faculty at the front of a classroom, it can be intimidating,” says Tamara Clark, assistant director for residential education. The Faculty Friends Program, she explains, helps to ease that tension and educates both faculty and students in regards to how they think of each other. The program also bridges the gap between academics and student life. “We are all partners in student success,” Clark adds. Research also has consistently shown the success of students at college, in particular first-year students, is greatly enhanced through positive extended interaction with faculty members.
Presently, there are 11 faculty friends assigned to Carter Hall or the quad. The program would like to have faculty in all the dorms, Clark says, both to increase programming and more importantly increase contact between faculty and students. “That’s the point,” she says, “it isn’t just presenting. It’s coming in and being there for the students.”
Addressing student health and safety issues is the Life@College series. Funded primarily by the UT Office of Recreation, Life@College focuses on educating students in their first semester at UT about lifestyle choices involving alcohol, relationships and sexual health through student skits and presentations. With additional FYE funding, the series has been expanded to include a third session, featuring a guest speaker and focusing on motivation, individual initiative and character building. On average, more than 1,600 students attended each of the three fall sessions.
The FYE-sponsored Primos peer-mentoring initiative is looking out for entering Latino undergraduates. Even with declining overall enrollment, Hispanic enrollment at UT increased 4.2 percent annually from 2000 to 2003, according to reports by the Office of Institutional Research. However, the year one to year two retention rate for Hispanic students during this time remained 4 percent to 13 percent lower than that of white students.
Five Primos peer mentors this year, under the guidance of Dr. Dagmar Morales, director of Latino initiatives, run a series of programs designed to help Latino students fight that figure. Primos (which is Spanish for “cousins”) mentors have helped to guide over 70 first-year Latino students since the fall semester.
“We tell students they need a mentor,” Morales says, “but who knows what that is [as an entering freshman]?” Rather than rolling the dice on Latino freshmen’s futures, Primos mentors proactively reach out to entering students and prevent feelings of isolation or frustration with the academic system. Events range from a slumber party to participation in the annual Latino Youth Summit on campus.
Also addressing disparity in minority retention is the new African-American Student Enrichment Initiatives Office. Presently under the leadership of interim director Martino Harmon, the office will open this fall, offering supplemental advising, mentorship activities and enrichment programs while researching further opportunities to improve offerings for African-American students at UT.
For more information on FYE programs, contact Jennifer Rockwood, UT director of FYE, at 419.530.2330 or see http://utfye.utoledo.edu.
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