Balmy South Carolina breezes
greeted Jeri Krogseth and me upon
our late night arrival in Columbia,
South Carolina for the 13th Annual
Conference of the Freshman Year
Experience. For the first time, two
new strands were included in the
conference proceedings: The National
Forum on New Students with Dis-
abilities and the National Forum on
New Student Athletes. Our presenta-
tion, “A Safety Net for Success”,
scheduled for the Forum on New
Students with Disabilities, was slated
first thing on Friday morning, allow-
ing us to enjoy the rest of the confer-
ence.

In the New Students with Disabili-
ties Forum, Jeri and I were considered
experts on the subject, and new
information for us was scarce, to say
the least. However, it was nice to learn
that B.C. generally, and Capilano
College specifically, are on the
leading edge of service provision to
students with disabilities. I have a
copy of the program and proceed-
ings from this forum and would be
happy to share it.

The Freshman Year Experience
Conference began early Sunday
morning. The focus of the conference
was Campus Communities: Inten-
tional and Involving. I attended the
following presentations:

1. The Freshman Seminar - A Flexible
Fixture in American Higher Educa-
tion. This took us through the
results of a national survey of
freshman seminar programming to
provide an overview of freshman
seminar experiences.

2. Peer Leaders Program: This was a
discussion by peer leaders about
their experiences in supporting
faculty and students. Talk about
enthusiasm! Wow!

3. A Model of Decision Sequencing in
the Transition to College: This

A Conference in South Carolina

Learning about the Freshman Experience

by Jolene Bordewick

session outlined the decisions high
school students make in their
transition to College. This was an
interesting overview of ways in
which students arrive at decisions
to enrol in one institution over
another.

. Evaluation Results of University

101: Paul P. Fidler, Director of
Research at the University of South
Carolina, discussed survey results
including descriptions of partici-
pants, return and retention, use of
services and campus relationships.

. University 101: Faculty Speak Out:

Faculty areas represented in this
presentation included science/
math, humanities and social sci-
ences, provisional year programs,
and diverse academic fields. In 101,
academic faculty are fully participa-
tory in instruction with matching
peer leaders to support their
endeavors. Interesting approach!

. Challenging, Caring and Connect-

ing: This presentation focused on
the qualities resulting in effective

teaching styles. A fresh approach to
‘classroom instruction.
. Connecting with First Year Stu-

dents: Swing and Brantz of Appa-
lachian State University had stu-
dents singing, swinging and
rappelling to bond and build a
sense of “community” in their first
year experiences. Great fun.

. Recruiting, Training and Retaining

Effective Instructors: This seminar
dealt with keeping instructors and
faculty effective through ongoing
training for freshman seminar
instructors. Enthusiasm and
encouragement!

. Massasoit Community College’s

Freshman Seminar: Building
Community Through Assessment
in the Design and Development of a
Freshman Seminar Course: This
presentation focused on the two-

March 24/94

year college versus the university,
which was applicable to our
situation at Capilano.

In addition to the content sessions,
a number of plenary sessions and
guest speakers completed the pro-
gram. Of special interest was
“RisQue Business”, a talented group
of students who provided the
audience with improvisational
vignettes of student concerns on
sensitive issues: date rape, AIDS,
bulimia, homophobia, drug abuse
and suicide. Not the stuff we dis-
cussed back in the olden days! Great
student connector.

This was truly a memorable
conference.