First Year Program
Whether living on campus or off, in the First Year Program you will be welcomed and supported by our team of professors, administrators, and upper-class student mentors committed to helping you make your first year on campus your best year yet!
The First Year Program offers support in the following ways:
- Building student confidence
- Identifying a network of educational and emotional support
- Determining specific goals for academic, physical, and personal accomplishment
- Encouraging involvement and participation in campus life
- Monitoring academic progress and encouraging academic engagement
- Fostering awareness of the value of a college education
- Creating a commitment to community
- While our program for first year students begins at Summer Orientation and Registration, it continues throughout the entire first year.
As you view the site, click the arrow buttons on the side of photos to view slideshows of events and activities for first year students.
First Year Overview
Peer Advising
Peer Advising is a part of the First Year Program where upper class students assist incoming students with their transition to the University both academically and socially. This is valuable both for incoming students and the Peer Advisors, as many skills are acquired throughout the intense training process to become a Peer Advisor.
First Year Seminar
To enhance the first-time student's acclimation to collegiate study, the University provides opportunities to develop the skills and methods that will promote academic success and personal development. In the First Year Seminar courses (LA 100, BUS 101, ENGR 102) students explore such topics as goal setting and decision-making, time management, personal mission statements, critical thinking, information literacy, public speaking skills, personal identity, and an introduction to a major, or exploring fields of study.
Freshman Council
Meet people and plan events for your class as you learn key skills of delegation, teamwork, and compromise. Freshman Council is an organization intended to foster a sense of class identity and provide a gateway to community engagement. Freshman Council meets weekly and normally consists of approximately 20 to 25 members who function within a laboratory of leadership, program development, and organizational change.