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First-year taskforce delivers final recommendations

First-year taskforce delivers final recommendations

By: Heaven Xiong

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

This spring, the Optimizing First-Year Success Taskforce embarked on envisioning the ideal first-year experience for students at IU Indianapolis. July marked the taskforce’s delivery of its finalized recommendations in the areas of orientation, Bridge Week, first-year seminars, academic advising, and career readiness.

Initially created by Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer Jay Gladden, the taskforce consists of a mixture of faculty and staff whose work focuses on the first-year experience. Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education and Dean of University College Christina Downey co-led the taskforce with Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives in the School of Science Jane Williams.

The taskforce's recommendations encompassed short-term and long-term considerations in curating an impactful experience for first-year students. To maintain proper organization, the taskforce operated under principles of addressing the most crucial student needs, having frequent opportunities for campus input and recommendations, prioritizing the ideal student experience, and acknowledging current data with a commitment to continuous experimentation and result monitoring.

The taskforce operated on an accelerated timeline, meeting weekly throughout the process. As the meetings continued, the taskforce split into several groups to gather specific expertise for recommendations. From there, Downey and Williams prepared the final report for delivery.

We were told by Jay Gladden to think broadly,” Williams said. “‘Don’t think about what the limits are, think about what would be the best thing to have happen.’
- Jane Williams, taskforce co-chair

In alignment with the IU Indianapolis 2030 Strategic Plan, the taskforce aims to increase the number of first-year, full-time students to the top 25% of its peer groups, or at least an 85% return rate of students from their first to second fall semester.

Report recommendations

In curating recommendations, the task force distributed an open-response survey to specific groups of faculty, staff, students, and a few outside parties. The survey prompted respondents to share their observations on the most important factors for first-year student success.

Williams highlighted the significance of including students in the survey.

“Students may not always understand why we would put certain things in place, like Bridge or a first-year seminar, but they can tell us about their experiences about it,” Williams said. “I’ve attempted to initiate things within my role, sometimes thinking, ‘Oh, this is something that students would really respond positively to,’ and then they don't. And I recognize that I’m not an 18-year-old student, and so getting some input from students so we can understand what their experience was in this—what they liked—is really important, so we don’t take out things that are meaningful to them.”

Orientation

The orientation group includes a Student Journey Committee that consists of staff across admissions, orientation, and the first-year experience (FYE). The committee meets to discuss the most effective methods for transitioning students into the first fall semester. Recommendations for orientation included continuing monthly meetings of the multifunctional Student Journey Committee and expanding existing membership of the group to address major aspects of admissions, the orientation program, and the advising process.

The recommendations also encouraged the Student Journey Committee to start the current academic year by re-envisioning the meaning of orientation for IU Indianapolis and ideating prospective tactics for curating a seamless and efficient approach for staff to prepare for students.

Bridge Week and first-year seminar

Bridge Week and first-year seminar recommendations focused on reconvening an FYE Advisory Board comprised of school representatives and key stakeholders to contribute to shared ideas and the creation of collectively-shaped curricular expectations. Members of the group will also carry out several sections of a second semester seminar in the spring for University College students. The Division of Undergraduate Education will sponsor the initiative.

Under the recommendations, FYE-based survey instruments will also be reevaluated to provide effective services and support for students through feedback collected during the first year.

Academic advising

Members of the academic advising group prioritized efforts toward enhancing the overall advising experiences across many facets. Recommendations included:

Initiate a comprehensive review of academic advising for IU Indianapolis with self-study and external considerations
Enhance financial aid and scholarship training to improve the advising community’s approach to addressing diverse student needs
Create shared systems with other campus staff in student support roles
Identify and incentivize methods to increase proactive advising rates between students and advisors
Standardize the role of academic advisors in the first-year experience

Tradara McLaurine, senior executive director of campus career and advising services and a taskforce member in the areas of academic advising and career readiness, emphasized the advising group’s plan to fulfill student needs in a more diverse approach. She also noted the existence of on-campus councils such as the Campus Advising Council and Jaguar Academic Advising Association. Both councils consist of academic advisors and leaders who work to develop plans to serve students.

Training and professional development plans for serving student needs are also in place for staff. Covered topics will include imposter syndrome, frequent questions about student financial aid, and approaches to ensuring smoother meetings with students.

“We’re really intentional about the training and professional development that we’re providing for our staff on campus to make sure they are knowledgeable about how to assist our students,” McLaurine said.

Career readiness

Recommendations for the career readiness group included:

Complete a campus assessment of career-related services across academic units to identify potential service inequities

Design effective methods of communications to students about available career services and knowledge of the career readiness actions students should take

Collaborate with the reconvened FYE Advisory Board and other stakeholders to create curricular recommendations regarding career readiness during the first-year experience

In terms of student outreach, tactics from campus groups like the Career Services Council include plans to bridge the gap to students through formulating an ad hoc committee on marketing to ensure that students are aware of career services from day one.

“We are really collaborative with the academic and career space of making sure that we’re all working together to meet the needs of our students,” McLaurine said.

McLaurine added that the group will likely work with university departments such as financial aid, the registrar’s office, military services, and even off-campus organizations.

Other recommendations of the area included:

Embrace artificial intelligence options available to the campus to create content that aids in answering students’ career questions

Refine marketing and engagement strategies

Offer faculty professional development opportunities to implement key skills in their courses and to propel students to comprehend and practice course concepts

Implementation of recommendations

While the recommendations were developed on the foundation of improving the first-year experience, Downey believes they work as a holistic aid for all students to an extent.

“I think when we design our experience to serve new students well, there are inevitably positive impacts for the experiences of upperclassmen, transfer students, etc.,” Downey said. “Ultimately, our goal is that students will be better prepared for their first year to take full advantage of our amazing campus opportunities for the rest of their college journey.”

Downey and Williams expressed their appreciation and recognition for their experience of being a part of the taskforce.

“It takes a special heart and spirit to dedicate oneself to advancing student success,” Downey said. “It requires acknowledging that even we experts have more to learn, and that if we are going to serve our learners so that they can change their lives, we need to be willing to change as well.”

Williams shared an equal enthusiasm, praising the ability to work in a campus community that is fervent about investing in student success.

“Hopefully the students feel the decisions we make and the things that we put in place,” Williams said. “I mean every single day, every person is working toward how they can make students successful. It feels good to know that I work in a place that really has that as its goal. From faculty to staff, that’s why they come to work every day.”

For more information, contact the Division of Undergraduate Education Office of Communications at duecomm@iu.edu.