A. Administration

1. At your institution, is there a single individual or unit with primary administrative and/or coordinating responsibility for first-year co-curricular programs? Findings

B. Admissions

2. What is the administrative reporting line for the admissions/enrollment management function(s)? Findings

3. Are admissions and financial aid functions linked administratively? Findings

4. At your institution, do admissions counselors generally have continued contact with first-year students after the beginning of the term? Findings

5. What is your best estimate of the percentage of first-year students who meet one-on-one with a faculty member during the recruitment and admissions process (prior to matriculation)? Findings

C. Orientation

6. Does your institution conduct pre-term orientation for new students? Findings

7. What is the administrative reporting line for new student orientation? Findings

8. Does the orientation for full-time, first-time students comprise (Select the best answer.) Findings

9. When is orientation scheduled for first-year students entering in the fall? (Please check all that apply.) Findings

10. Is some form of orientation required for all new degree-seeking first-year students? Findings

11. Does your institution offer special orientation sessions for family members (e.g., parents, children, siblings, and partners)? Findings

12. Does your institution offer special orientation sessions for any of the following students subpopulations? (Please check all that apply.) Findings

13. Apart from placement testing and formal academic advising, does orientation include academic activities such as the following? (Please check all that apply.) Findings

14. Do new students at your institution pay a separate fee to participate in orientation? Findings

15. Is your orientation program regularly evaluated, and if so, by whom? (Please check all that apply.) Findings

16. In your opinion , what is the overall level of student satisfaction with orientation activities? Findings

17. Please select the following statements that describe faculty involvement in orientation at your institution. (Check all that apply.) Findings

D. Student Activities and Athletics

18. Does your campus offer opportunities for first-year students to participate in activities designed for them as a unique population? (Please check all that apply.) Findings

19. What percentage of your first-year students participates in an intercollegiate sport? Findings

20. Does your campus require first-year student athletes to participate in an academic support program? Findings

21. How does first- to second-year retention for varsity student athletes at your institution compare with other students? Findings

E. Comprehensive Questions

22. Does your campus offer any first-year course, program, activity, or structure – either curricular or co-curricular – that you believe to be exemplary, a “benchmark” program of its kind? If so, please describe. Findings

23. What, in your opinion, is the most significant problem or difficulty at your institution that affects first-year students? Findings

24. In comparison to peer institutions, how would you rate your institution’s ongoing practice of assessing first-year outcomes? Findings

25. Please check the statement(s) that apply to your institution. (Please check all that apply.) Findings

The following sections E and F concern residence life and Greek life. If residence life and Greek life do not apply to first-year students at your institution, please move to the bottom of this page and click the SUBMIT button

F. Residence Life
(Please respond to this section only if your institution has residence halls)

26.What is the administrative reporting line for residence life? Findings

27. Are traditional age (17-20 years old), unmarried, first-year students required to live on campus? Findings

28. What percentage of first-year students lives in campus residence halls? Findings

29. Where do residential first-year students live? (Please check all that apply.) Findings

30. If your campus has first-year residence halls, how do those halls compare to residential accommodations for upper-level students with respect to facilities, support services, furnishings, and overall condition? Findings

31. Does your campus link residence life to academic programs/structures by means of any of the following? (Please check only those structures/activities that involve first-year students.) Findings

32. Describe the level of faculty involvement in residence halls that house first-year students. (Please check all that apply.) Findings

33. What is the ratio of resident assistants (RAs) to undergraduate residential students? Findings

34. What is the ratio of resident assistants to first-year students? Findings

35. Does your campus offer first-year students the option to live in “substance-free” halls? Findings

36. Check if your campus has assessed any of the following residential life outcomes. (Please check all that apply.) Findings

G. Greek Life
(Please respond only if first-year students are permitted to join Greek social fraternities or sororities on your campus).

37. What percentage of first-year students on your campus join Greek- letter fraternities or sororities? Findings

38. When is the earliest time that rush is scheduled for new members of Greek organizations? Findings

39. Does your institution conduct formal research investigating the impact of Greek membership on the following first-year outcomes? (Check all that apply.) Findings

40. Within the past two years have there been any instances of hazing on your campus involving first-year students in Greek organizations? Findings

41. Over the past five years, has membership (headcount) in Greek organizations increased or decreased at your institution? Findings

About this Survey
This survey is one part of a larger national survey initiative designed to investigate the first college year in American higher education. A separate section of the survey investigates curricular programs, policies, and practices and is currently being forwarded to academic affairs administrators for completion. (To view the companion survey on co-curricular programs, visit the Policy Center Web site click here. This research project is funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts and is being administered by Betsy O. Barefoot, Randy L. Swing, and John N. Gardner at The Policy Center for the First Year of College, Brevard College, Brevard, NC. Survey results will be reported in aggregate and will not identify any individual respondent or any institution by name or city/state. Results will be reported by institutional type, size, and by accrediting region. A report of findings will be available on the Policy Center Web site by December 15, 2000. For more information about this survey or other activities of the Policy Center, please contact Betsy Barefoot (barefoot@fyfoundations.org).