I’m afraid to walk into my first class. I won’t know anyone. This is such a hard class. How can I get help understanding this professor?
The Responsible Self: A critical aspect of the First-Year Experience and of the William Jewell College education is the “Responsible Self,” a course all students are required to take in their first semester at William Jewell. Reading texts from the Mahabharata, John Stuart Mills, St. Augustine, and others, the first-year students explore as a class the role of the individual in society and the responsibilities such membership carries from various literary, historical, and cultural perspectives. Relationships within the class are fostered, in part, through Orientation and the Mentor program. Mentor groups are formed from members of the same “Responsible Self” class—and typically led by a Mentor who took the “Responsible Self” from the same professor. Mentor groups participate in the team-building Adventure Day leadership workshop, and the numerous other activities during Orientation. Thus, when they enter class on Monday, they have already developed respect for and friendship with their student colleagues, establishing comfort from the start and fostering open conversation and free thought.
If I need something or have a question, where do I go? Will anyone really care about me and how I’m doing?
The first semester: The Associate Director for Student Development Programs interviews the majority of the first-year students during the fall semester. Students having difficulty acclimating receive, of course, subsequent interviews. At the same time, she receives feedback from faculty, students, and families on each first-year’s progress in this regard. Level-I general education instructors provide the names of students who are struggling academically in their classes and the names of students who are excelling. The latter receive a letter of commendation from the Associate Director for Student Development Programs and the Associate Dean of General Education. Of those who are struggling, the Associate Director meets with each personally, and helps him to find the resources to pull himself through his difficulties. A comprehensive database is maintained to track each first-year student identifying key factors such as her network of resources (mentor, RA, shepherd, advisor), level of attendance at Orientation Weekend events, summary of individual interviews, advisor meeting attendance and feedback, organizational involvement, etc. This database is used to study student needs, track responses and identify those statistically at high-risk so that early intervention can be most effective. Confidential communication takes place between the Associate Director and a student’s network of resources to best serve each individual.
I’m really ready to see my family now. I have so much to share with them about my new home.
First Year Student Adjustment Survey: The Office of the First-Year Experience sends a letter to each first-year’s parents that includes a series of questions for them to use in exploring their children’s success in adjusting to college. Typically, the student who remains on campus during the initial weeks and weekends of the first semester is well acclimated within six weeks of school. Homesickness occurs but at the same time as other students. Students experiencing this together help each other get through those difficult times. Fragmenting that time with visits home separates the student from the growing process that is occurring with their peers.
I’m ready to get involved, but I’m just a first-year.
Emerging Leaders Conference: Among the most significant events in the second semester of the First-Year Experience is the Emerging Leaders Conference. First-year students who possess leadership skills and an interest in developing and exploring those skills—particularly those students typically not placed in leadership positions—are nominated in November by faculty, staff, administration, and student alumni of the Conference. Nominees may submit an application and references and interview to be among those chosen for the Conference. The program includes a weekend retreat focusing on self-examination and personal growth socially, intellectually, and ethically; a team-building/leadership development exercise on the College’s Tucker Leadership Lab; a paper read-in event at which students read a short essay describing a leadership role model; a service project completed from inception to implementation by the entire group, leaving a legacy for the William Jewell College community; and a culminating Honor’s Banquet, to which students may invite their parents and a faculty or staff leadership role model. The primary goals for this program are to encourage developing leadership skills and begin relationships among a network of future student leaders.
Pryor Leadership: William Jewell’s acclaimed experience-based leadership program, which incorporates leadership studies, real-world application, volunteerism, a major service project, and an Outward Bound experience in the Florida Everglades conducts its interviews for new members among the first-year students. The Pryor Leadership Studies program builds on the leadership development in the Emerging Leaders Conference to teach students leadership beyond the collegiate-level.
I didn’t do as well academically as I hoped I would. Am I still welcome here and how do I bring my grades up?
Still Struggling: The Associate Director for Student Development Programs meets intensively with each first-year student who was placed on academic probation during the first semester. She assures they are making the necessary progress and developing the necessary skills to lift themselves from out of the margins and into academic stability.
My mentor made all the difference for me when I started school this year. I want to do the same for the new students coming in next fall.
Mentoring (Part 2): First-year students receive the opportunity to repay the favor to the mentors who worked so hard the previous summer, throughout Orientation, and during the school year by themselves becoming mentors. The application process begins in February, and interviews and selection in March. The students selected to be mentors undergo an intensive training session in April and then, shortly after summer begins, begin contacting their incoming first-year students. In August, just before new first-years arrive on campus, the mentors will attend a two-day training seminar and then, of course, guide their first-years through the activities of Orientation.
Wow, I made it through my first-year and I did well. I wonder if anyone noticed.
Alpha Lambda Delta: Qualifying first-year students are invited to join the first-year honor society, Alpha Lambda Delta. An induction ceremony takes place for students and families in the fall.
