Last week I wrote to thank all of you for a great start to the academic year.I’d like to continue my reflections on some of the collaborative work that is contributing to an enhanced first-year experience for our newest students and an enriched overall experience for our college community.
For years, we have talked as a community about how to respond to long-standing research showing that students develop their college work patterns in the first few weeks of their academic careers. More recent research shows an even more challenging picture: that first-year students at colleges and universities of all types come to college with higher expectations for challenge than are met by their experience.
A recent analysis of the results of the NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement)--correlated with results from the newer BCSSE (Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement)--reveals that “three fifths [of American college students] expected to spend more than fifteen hours a week studying, but only two fifths did so” (Peer Review, Winter 2007).
Other areas of concern: 32% of entering students spent no time in co-curricular activities. Four fifths “expected their institution to emphasize academics to a substantial degree and expected to attend campus events and interact with students from different backgrounds” but these expectations were not fulfilled. If you are interested in learning more about student expectations and experiences, the full text of this sobering article, based on substantial data, can be found at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4115/is_200701/ai_n19198110
As many of you know, this year we undertook several new initiatives, recommended by our own First-Year Experience Task Force, to improve the experience of new students. Early reports from students, while anecdotal, suggest that they are more than just satisfied with Stonehill’s focus on their transition. They describe excellent meetings with faculty advisors and the importance of making a connection with that advisor in the early days of their experience. Students also recount how the extended first-year orientation has resulted in tight bonds of friendship that are sustaining many of them in this new environment.
In addition, we know that early interventions by faculty advisors--or the upper-division student mentors assigned to advising groups--have helped students with difficult social adjustments. So I want to recognize and thank the 60+ members of the faculty and administration who have spent so much time in these early weeks of the semester ensuring that our first-year students make a successful adjustment and that they maintain high expectations for their learning; I have listed their names at the end of this post.
I also can’t overemphasize the importance of the peer mentors to the success of these new endeavors. We know that an essential part of building an intellectual culture on campus involves not just faculty work, but students inspiring each other. This year we eliminated the “Cultural Encounters” course that attempted--with mixed success--to involve students in co-curricular activities and to introduce them to an array of college resources. The student mentors have stepped in to assist new students with finding these resources--and they have even taken on other important roles, such as gathering their advising groups to conduct discussions of the first-year summer reading assignment.
I think we send a great message to incoming students when they see that older students at Stonehill expect to discuss books, ideas, and issues outside the classroom environment. I know the first-year faculty advisors will thank these students for the leadership they have shown in these and other areas.
I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to mention the event that dominated this past week: Ishmael Beah’s compelling talk on Wednesday evening. Just seeing 1200 people stream into the Sports Complex was enough to make my heart leap up. But I was not prepared for rapt attention and the overwhelming reaction of everyone present to this 26-year-old man’s reflections on his experiences and on the value of a liberal education.
He reminded students that they have the privilege of attending the kind of college that offers faculty-student interactions that are powerful and sustaining. He reminded them that they have a responsibility to use that education to engage in greater global understanding and to create social change. He told them never to think that they are too young to have ideas or plans that are truly significant.
Our students asked insightful and sensitive questions, and not one of them was a “plant.” After two standing ovations, at least half the crowd lined up to have Beah sign books--and the last in line waited an hour and a half to meet the author. The whole atmosphere was charged: many students were overheard talking about how exciting it was to have the author of a book--a book they read and loved--speak directly to them. Many thanks to Lori Hagerty and Joe Favazza and to Jen Hodgdon of the Advancement Division for making arrangements that were gracious, warm, and welcoming.
These and other campus initiatives to enhance student experience are ultimately enriching for all of us. Thank you for your role in this enrichment and for the seriousness of purpose with which you approach our common work. I look forward to working with you as we continue these efforts.
Best regards,
Katie
photo credit: Nicki Pardo
