The growing Latino population is directly affecting institutions of higher education. Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), whose stated missions do not specifically address Latinos, are becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). As HSIs continue to emerge across the country, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are also responding to demographic shifts, especially in Texas. Although their historic mission focuses on educating African Americans, some Texas HBCU presidents and administrators maintain that their supportive campus environment could serve as a possible opportunity for Latino student success. HBCU outreach efforts offer a variety of areas for further investigation, but the intent of this study was to examine the first, critical year and perceptions of sense of belonging. Furthermore, since Mexican Americans represent the majority of Latinos in Texas, indeed the country, this qualitative study specifically focused on the first-year experiences of Mexican Americans in a Texas HBCU. The primary methods for data collection included two semi-structured one-on-one interviews, a student questionnaire, campus observations, and analytic memos. Thus, the current study sought to fully document the first-year experience and perceptions of sense of belonging as recounted by second- to fifth-year Mexican American students enrolled in a Texas HBCU. / text

With the increase of first-year initiatives throughout postsecondary education around the world, student affairs personnel are becoming more involved with the programs and strategies of the First-Year Experience. This report focuses on the First-Year Seminar (FYS), one of various strategies that could be used as a part of an institution’s First-Year Experience. Student affairs personnel are increasingly being asked to instruct and take part of an FYS course. In this endeavor, these individuals sometimes lack the background and knowledge to begin the process for planning, developing, and teaching such a course. This report provides theoretical foundations, case studies, and descriptions of general considerations for future development of a FYS course by student affairs personnel. / text

February 2003 was the inauguration of the Foundations of Excellence project with an open invitation to chief academic officers at approximately 900 of both the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) member institutions. The Policy Center on the First Year of College, under the direction of the Executive Director, John N. Gardner, invited the various campuses to develop standards and guidelines for the first year, which were termed as Foundational Dimensions or simply Dimensions. As a result, over 200 member institutions agreed to participate in the project by establishing campus-wide task forces to look at the initial list of six Dimensions developed by the Policy Center and Penn State research partners. These Dimensions were designed to be essential characteristics of institutional effectiveness in promoting the learning and success of every first-year student. This is a case study of one of the founding institutions of the Foundations of Excellence endeavor, Public State University (PSU). In particular, this study utilizes the Foundations of Excellence Dimensions Statements as a basis to assess Public State University’s first-year experience collaboration efforts. Furthermore, this research is specifically grounded in the 2nd Dimensions Statement of the Foundations of Excellence, looking at what the Public State University first-year experience program looks like through academic affairs and student affairs collaborative partnerships. This study specifically examines PSU’s established partnerships within the First Year Orientation and Advising Committee (FYOAC) and the University College Advisory Council (UCAC) and determines what participants mean by collaboration. Through the use of a rubric, the analysis of the data resulted in a significant finding in reference to collaboration literature. The findings indicated that the literature on academic and student affairs collaboration should include information on institutional culture and investigate whether the underpinnings of institutional culture are actually social systems that are inextricably tied to their external environments, which in turn have a direct impact on foundational benchmarks on collaboration for First-Year Experience programs. Implications of this study’s results are addressed, limitations of this study are discussed, and recommendations for future research are given.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in the Faculty of Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The research question that guided this doctoral study is: How do pre-entry academic and non-academic factors influence teacher education students’ first-year experience and academic performance? The study was designed within the qualitative research paradigm and employed a case study strategy to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative approach included a questionnaire that was completed by 195 respondents. The qualitative data was obtained from one-on-one and focus-group interviews with eight participants that were purposively selected. The conceptual framework developed for this enquiry took into consideration the significance of student diversity in understanding first-year experience and thus employed concepts from two sociological models, Tinto’s (1975; 1993) integration model (social and academic integration) and Bourdieu’s (1984; 1990) theoretical tools of capital, habitus and field. Six key themes emerged from the data: determination, self-reliance, fitting-in, out-of-habitus experience, positioning oneself to succeed and challenges. The unequal distribution of economic, social and cultural capital created disparities between students’ habitus and schooling experiences which influenced the way they integrated into their first year at university. The study revealed that more mature students than school-leavers and gap-students are entering higher education. Further, the majority of first-year students are unable to fund their studies and source external funding or engage in part-time employment. Students pursued financial aid before focusing on academic activities. Engagement in the social domain remained marginal. Students’ determination to change their economic circumstances was the primary factor that influenced their attitudes and actions at university. Higher education needs to consider student diversity, financial constraints of disadvantaged students, first-year curriculum planning and delivery, and the high cost of university studies. It needs to move away from viewing entering students from a deficit model, to capitalise on their qualities of determination, optimism, enthusiasm and openness to learning, thereby creating an inclusive first-year experience that could encourage retention and student success.

African American men’s graduation rates from institutions of higher education are among the lowest of any demographic group in the United States. I interviewed African American men who shared their narratives on how they lived out their manhood on a mid-western public regional four-year university campus. The purpose of the study was to garner insights from their stories, and to see how the lessons learned from their lived experiences could be applied to improve the first year experience for this segment of the student population. The combination of phenomenological and grounded theory research paradigms helped me to analyze the lived experiences of African American men in an institution of higher education milieu. The main themes that I identified after analyzing the collected data, using critical race theory as a key theoretical lens, were Black Masculinity, Being Seen, Brotherhood, Support Groups, and Ideations of Success. African American men’s complex and multi-dimensional masculinities called for a sense of commitment and responsibility to community, family, and brotherhood. The respondents’ goals of graduating are similar to all other student groups, and they are most likely to thrive in their first year of college if their Black masculinities are centered; they most likely will seek assistance when made to feel valued and seen by institutional and familial support systems. Keywords: Black Masculinity, Progressive masculinities, African American college men, African American men’s first year experience, critical race theory, regional campus, PWI

Low retention rates among 1st year students plague many community colleges in the United States, including the study site used for this research. Preparing 1st year community college students both academically and socially are key aspects of combating this issue and enhancing student success and persistence. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the influence of the First-Year Experience (FYE) course in improving student retention and promoting student success. Rodger’s student development theory and Tinto’s theory on retention guided this study. A causal-comparative design was used to examine the difference in retention rates and GPA between students enrolled in the FYE course and students who were not enrolled in FYE. A total sample of 19,511 1st year students were enrolled in 3 academic semesters in fall 2011, spring 2012 and fall 2012 of which 761 were FYE students and 18,750 were non-FYE students. A series of t tests and chi-square tests were conducted to compare the 2 student groups for the 2 dependent variables. Results showed no statistically significant difference between FYE participation and retention rates for the 2 semesters spring and fall 2012 (p = 0.69 and p = 0.32 respectively) but there was a statistically significant difference for the fall 2011 semester (p < 0.001). The GPA was significantly higher for the 1st year students who completed FYE compared to those who were not enrolled for all three semesters fall 2011, spring 2012, and fall 2012 (p < 0.001, p = 0.15, and p = 0.94 respectively). The results indicate that the FYE course can improve students’ GPA consistently but not their retention. A more detailed investigation into the influence on retention is needed. This study promotes social change by encouraging further research that will benefit the development and improvement of FYE courses.

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Traditional measures of student success like retention and graduation rates are dismally low among community colleges. One of the most commonly used strategies to increase these bleak success rates is through the incorporation of first-year experience (FYE) courses. However, data indicate that their impact on such measures of student success are mixed and what’s more, many of these studies are limited by their use of predominantly quantitative methodologies that aggregate outcomes across students, masking the features of the FYE that may be more and less effective in promoting academic success among diverse students. Application of identity theories can help to fill this gap in understanding by offering theoretical frameworks from which to study this diverse population and deepen our understanding of their experiences. However, studies of identity with community college students are even fewer in number and often focus only on one narrow aspect of identity, such as racial and ethnic identity or age. Thus, they fail to fully capture the dynamic, complex, multifaceted, and context-dependent construct of identity. In this dissertation, I explore the unique experiences, challenges, and needs of four community college students taking the same FYE course at a large metropolitan community college in the Northeast United States and offer information about the course's features that most promoted development adaptive college student role identities (CSRIs) among participants. In this study, I conceptualize students' experiences in the FYE course as based in their emerging identities as community college students and adopted two theoretical frameworks to guide this study. The PRESS model designates the professor as an agent for prompting identity exploration among her students by creating triggers the students designate as self-relevant, creating a sense of safety in the classroom, and scaffolding exploratory activities while the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) explicates the content, structure, and formation processes of identity and how they relate to experiences and actions. Utilizing a case study approach, one section of an FYE course was selected, and from it, four participants, and the professor, were interviewed. Course artifacts, such as homework assignments, were also used for data analysis. The findings from the PRESS analysis showed that many aspects of the course organically promoted many of the model's four principles; however, some were observed more often than others and they were not as meaningful for all participants equally. The findings from the DSMRI analysis revealed some commonalities among the four components of the model across participants but more so, the data revealed variations and divergence in their CSRI exploration and formation in the FYE context. The study ends with implications for theory, practice, and future research. / Educational Psychology

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