First Year Experience Module

Purpose:
The First Year Experience module team will focus on creating a comprehensive first year experience, philosophy, and mission (taking pieces of items that are already in place at OWU, while also considering best practices in the field) for all new students from the time of deposit until the end of their first year on campus. 

Fall 2022 Accomplishment Highlights

• Established FYE Learning outcomes and identified a preliminary set of FYE elements that are designed to meet these learning outcomes (e.g. Camp Oh-Wooo, First-year seminar, residential programming).

• Mapped out timeline of our current FYE and identified areas where the FYE needs further development. For example, most programming for first-year students ends by October of their first year. We need to extend elements of the first year experience until the first day of a student’s second year. 

• Generated ideas for 2-4 new events to pilot in spring, 2023 that will begin to fill in the gaps in the FYE.

• Determined key areas for collaboration with the work of the Holistic Advising and BOBAS teams

Aspirational Goals for the Spring 2023

• Develop and identify assessment tools for FYE learning outcomes.

• We plan to pilot 2-4 new events for FYE events in the spring to begin to fill in programming gaps.

  • Student Org BINGO event focused around FYS and held in Smith Hall.

  • Speed friend dating, drag queen, and craft event during the 2nd week of the semester.

  • Safe Spring Break Send-Off and Wellness Week programming.

  • Pilot peer advising sessions in collaboration with the Holistic Advising team before spring break aimed at first year students (e.g. by department/discipline or for undecideds).

• Design new approach to meet academic and other transitional needs that were addressed in UC160 (in collaboration with Academic Support team)

• Continue to develop elements of FYE that build out spring and summer of the FYE.