mattsandersj

Reframing the First Year Experience

Education EN ↓ 7 episodes

Colleges and universities face a significant crisis of meaning. The declining public trust in higher education and eroding belief in the role and value of a college degree in society is the central challenge to student enrollment, retention, and completion in higher education. All other challenges – while significant and important – are secondary to this crisis of meaning. When we lead FYE programs with the why , we empower the what’s and how’s. If students know the why of college (the first principle), they will move mountains to stay. If they have a crisis of meaning and feel disconnected f...

Author

mattsandersj

Episodes

Reimagining the First-Year Experience Curriculum 29.09.2025 41:54

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...

Cultivating Habits of Mind 29.09.2025 22:12

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...

Becoming A Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education 29.09.2025 27:48

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...

Rethinking the Common Read 29.09.2025 25:39

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,...

Re-Examining Our Models of Change in the First-Year Experience 29.09.2025 24:08

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...

What Is the Organizational Function of the First-Year Experience 29.09.2025 21:48

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...

Without a Compelling Why, the What’s and How’s Don’t Matter 22.09.2025 30:01

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...