As you know, the University College is the academic unit with primary responsibility for working with students in their first two years. Given the importance of our freshmen to the entire university, all departments, offices, administrative units, and personnel must be supportive of the Freshman Year Initiative. The Freshman Year Initiative envisions a network of support that includes all units of the university, as well as the community, working together to provide a learning environment that will motivate students to develop their full potential as students and as human beings. One of the most important tasks of the University College Advisory Board will be to ensure university wide involvement in and support of this initiative. The attached graphic illustrates the vision of the Freshman Year Initiative.
Students are at the center.
All components of the university provide support and motivation for students. The different units of the university are united by their concern for students. The Freshman Year Initiative has been developed in response to the crisis we face in the retention of freshmen and the academic performance of first-time students. Since the Fall of 1993, the retention rates of first-time freshmen have been declining, and of those freshman returning for year two, an increasing number of them have GPAs of less than 2.0. We cannot permit further declines in retention rates and student academic performance.