On March 16, 2002, five months before their first official college class, Elon University’s Class of 2006 begins their First Year Experience. Intentional and multi-faceted, Elon’s First Year Experience kicks off with an orientation weekend, where first year students meet the Elon University community, and talk seriously with faculty, students, and staff about course offerings for their first year. Between this orientation session and final exams the following spring, these students engage in academic, social, and co-curricular activities designed to prepare them for lifelong success.

Elon’s First Year Experience weaves the academic mission, student life, and the General Studies program into a challenging learning environment, helping students adapt to their new academic and social worlds, while exposing them to alternative ways of seeing and experiencing the world around them.

The experience begins long before students pack their belongings and say goodbye to loved ones. Spring Orientation offers students the opportunity to meet fellow students, tour residence halls, consult faculty and advisors, and register for classes. Parents attend special sessions helping them see how they can assist the first year adjustment, and develop a strong relationship with their college-age child. From this first moment, Elon focuses on the whole student, recognizing the diversity of factors that influence success during the first year.

The experience continues in the summer, with programs that reflect Elon’s commitment to active and experiential learning. Adventures in Leadership brings 160 first year students into contact with returning students to learn about team building and leadership, two goals of the General Studies program, through adventure activities, like whitewater rafting and rock climbing. Adventures in Environment offers fifteen first year students the chance to learn about environmental issues and teamwork, while working on the Appalachian Trail. PreSERVE introduces new students to Elon’s commitment to service learning and our largest student organization, Elon Habitat for Humanity. Focusing once again on collaborative learning, leadership, and ethical decision making, this experience prepares students for Elon’s Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR), a General Studies requirement recognizing the importance of putting knowledge into practice.

Early in summer, all students receive Destination Elon, an Elon University CD preparing them for the personal and academic challenges ahead. In the area of student life, the CD offers information about meal plans, residence life, and student services. In academics, it presents the Academic Catalog, along with an introduction to academic departments, programs and Study Abroad. Finally, it helps with frequently asked questions, from technology to packing. Each area enables students to arrive better prepared to meet the challenges of the first year.

Fall Orientation, a five day transition period for new students in August, involves nearly everyone in the college community. Orientation Leaders, 90 returning students trained to assist new students during the first weeks of school, and a variety of faculty and staff help students move into residence halls, feel comfortable on campus, hook up computers, and meet their peers. Once the moving process is completed, the orientation shifts to personal and academic development. Students talk about leaving their family, their fears on coming to college, and the challenges that lie ahead. They attend social activities that help them meet their peers and establish strong friendships. An Elon faculty member gives an academic lecture on the kinds of writing and thinking they will do in college. And they meet in small groups to discuss the honor code, coursework, and academic goals they have for themselves.

These small groups become their Elon 101 classes, a course taken by nearly all first year students. In classes of 15, Elon 101 meets during the first semester to discuss issues important to students making the transition to college life. These sections explore a variety of academic, social, and personal concerns. Taught by an Elon faculty or staff member and a returning student, these classes recognize the need to have new students reflect upon the changes they are facing. Discussing them throughout the semester helps students focus on their academic commitment.

The First Year Core, 14 hours of common academic requirements for all first year students, forms the center of the First Year Experience. This core initiates the intellectual and civic challenge that serves as the foundation of every academic program. The Core, based upon developmental educational theories of William Perry, intentionally challenges the dualistic perspectives commonly expressed by first year students and works to produce high level critical thinking by the junior and senior years, a must for advanced course work in any discipline. The Global Experience, a course designed to take advantage of Elon’s mission to prepare “global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good,” works with the quantitative, writing, and wellness courses to guarantee that students have the thinking and writing skills to succeed in any academic area of the university.

Reflection is an essential part of an Elon education and begins in a number of first year programs. A dozen learning communities bring together students with common social or academic interests to design activities relating to those interests. The Emerging Leaders Program offers over 200 first year students the chance to prepare for future leadership. The Service Learning Program helps students realize their role in the larger society and responsibility to help those in need.

Has the First Year Experience been successful? Our first year students tell us it has. According to the 2001 National Survey of Student Engagement, Elon is performing near the top of the nation’s colleges and universities on benchmarks measuring academic challenge in the first year. The Survey reports that 75% of our first year students contributed often to class discussions, 68% worked with classmates outside of class to prepare assignments, 90% completed community service or volunteer work, and 80% reported that Elon offered “quite a bit” of support to help them succeed academically, all significantly above the national averages.

By March, the experience is ready to begin anew. First year students become Orientation Leaders, ready to assist a new class of students, mindful of how the first year has transformed the way they think, act, and perceive. And as they leave Elon for the summer, they are prepared for the many challenges still ahead.