AALHE 2018 Annual Conference

This proposed session is relevant and timely as colleges across the United States work to provide underprepared students with the supports needed to shape them into educated college graduates who can combine content knowledge with thinking skills. Many colleges are implementing high-impact practices of all sorts to reach these goals. We all recognize that the efficacy of these practices is not always evident. This presentation discusses how one institution has developed a first-year experience program carefully and deliberately over the past eight years. How Academics and Campus Life used assessment data and worked together cooperatively and intensely. The audience will be encouraged to discuss how their campuses have advanced similar interactions. Our implementation incorporated innovation with existing campus culture. The audience will be welcome to contribute their trials and tribulations of advancing new approaches with the traditional ways. We will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the transformation, including the audience's own challenges on their campuses. Presentation and discussion of actual collected data of retention and student learning and their analysis should also engage the audience as should opportunities for dialogue and exchange of ideas on best practices and not-so-good practices.