Professors Help Freshmen Get Connected

Utah State University recognized five outstanding faculty members for efforts in mentoring freshmen students as part of Utah State’s ongoing commitment to supporting students in their first year of college.

The new Excellence in Instruction for First-Year Students award was presenteded by USU Executive Vice President and Provost Raymond L. Coward at a dinner Monday, Feb. 26.

 

“The Utah State faculty creates a rigorous academic environment while providing students the personalized support they need to bridge the gap between the past and present,” said Noelle A. Call, director of USU retention and first-year experience. “When a world-class research professor knows your name and really cares, it becomes a springboard to success.”

 

The awards recipients are Kim Corbin Lewis, associate professor in the communicative disorders and deaf education department; Cathy Ferrand Bullock, assistant professor in the journalism and communications department; Lawrence Culver, assistant professor in the history department; Ted J. Alsop, associate professor in the environment and society department; and Scott Ensign, professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department.

 

Winners were selected from a group of more than 100 faculty members who were nominated by freshmen students.

 

“Helping students make the transition to college might mean problem solving in an online tutorial or problem solving in a heart-to-heart chat after class,” said Ensign. “It’s all about relating and making a connection.”

 

Utah State created the office of Retention and First-Year Experience to bring a focused and coordinated approach to helping students transition to university life.

 

“The success of institutional retention efforts ultimately resides in the institution's capacity to engage faculty and administrators across the campus in a collaborative effort,” said Vincent Tinto, chair of the higher education program in the School of Education at Syracuse University and nationally recognized retention expert.

 

USU first-year students participate in the SOAR program, Student Orientation Advising and Registration, a few months before classes begin receiving help from advisors and current students with the registration process.

 

To help orient students with the campus, first-year students also participate in the Connections program that takes place approximately a week before school starts in the fall and continuing with classes taught by faculty and staff once a week for the first three weeks of the semester. The program includes a common literature experience.

 

“At USU we do a good job of preparing incoming students for the fact that college is different from high school,” said Bullock. “I’ve participated in the Connections workshops and the “Strategies for Academic Success” classes that help students with the transition. I strive to give first-year students opportunities to build the support network they need to handle the academic, social and other changes they are facing.”

 

Contact:  Noelle Call (435) 797-1194, noelle.call@usu.edu