Reframing the First Year Experience

How can FYE programs organize their curricula and programming around the “why” of higher education to create learners with strong habits of mind? Join Harrison Kleiner, Heidi Kesler, and Matt as they explain how to reframe your FYE program around three “Big Questions” that take all that we do in FYE and connect it to the meaning and purpose that students need to understand in the first year of col...

 Another example of a common reading that addresses students' most pressing concerns is Cultivating Habits of Mind by Harrison Kleiner. Join Matt Sanders and Harrison Kleiner as they explore how this common reading helps students realize that college offers them more than just information and credentials. Higher education helps students cultivate intellectual and behavioral habits of mind that aff...

One example of a common reading that addresses students’ most pressing concerns about meaning and purpose is Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education by Matthew Sanders as a common read. Join Heidi Kesler and Matt Sanders as they explore how this common reading sparks critical conversations about learning, challenges students’ assumptions about college, promotes intentional actio...

Common reading programs can foster a valuable shared intellectual experience, but only when the topic and content students read is truly common to all students and their most pressing concern as they begin college:  meaning, purpose, and the “why” of higher education. How could FYE change if we had a truly common reading for all students and faculty over time? Join Harrison Kleiner, Heidi Kesler,...

FYE seeks to change students’ mindset and readiness so they will persist to graduation. But what is the model of change we are using in our FYE programs? And is that model of change intervening at the level of meaning or at just the level of “what’s” and “how’s”? Join Matt Sanders and Heidi Kesler as they explore different models of change and how FYE programs can intervene at the level of meaning...

FYE programs exist at nearly every institution. But as we lead and teach in our programs, do we ever ask ourselves what the organizational function of FYE actually is? We face countless choices and demands on our curriculum and programming, making it difficult for FYE programs to stay focused and aligned for both students and faculty. Join Matt Sanders and Lisa Simmons as they examine FYE’s role a...

College students face a significant crisis of meaning. They struggle to understand and articulate the “why” of higher education. As public confidence in the value of higher education continues to decline, FYE programs should take a first-principles approach and organize around the meaning and purpose. Doing this will reshape FYE to meet students' growing need for meaning. Join Matt Sanders and Har...