ESFY
Foundations of Excellence® in the First College Year Self Study
Foundations of Excellence Town Hall Meeting – September 26, 2007
The University of Wisconsin Colleges has been named one of 10 two-year "Founding Institutions" selected to participate in a national project known as the "Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year." This exciting project, sponsored by the Policy Center on the First Year of College and endorsed by the American Association of Community Colleges and the League for Innovation in the Community College, will develop and test a model of excellence for the new student experience. This model can be used by two-year institutions to develop and refine their overall approach to educating new students. Funding for this project has been provided by Lumina Foundation for Education.
The Foundations of Excellence Project will provide us with the resources and support for an in-depth self-study of our first-year experience. Our selection as part of the Foundations of Excellence project is an honor and will bring our institution national attention. The Foundations model that we pilot will help us reach for excellence in providing our own students with a solid first year of college. Our experiences in this pilot also will help improve the first year of higher education for students across the country. The Project will be directed by a task force consisting of 16 faculty, staff, administrators, and students from throughout the institution.
The Task Force's work will have three phases. During phase one, the Task Force will conduct an inventory of current practices in regards to first-year programming, committees that address various aspects of the new student experience, high enrollment courses, and existing data and assessment efforts. Campus Engaging Students in the First Year (ESFY) coordinators and Assistant Deans for Student Services will be key resources during this part of the project.
In phase two, the Task Force will use the data collected during the Fall 2005 to develop reports on key features of the first-year experience. Knowing as Foundational Dimensions, these features include Philosophy, Organization, Learning, Campus Culture, Transitions, All Students, Diversity, Roles and Purposes, and Improvement. During this time, we will be visited by Betsy Barefoot, co-founder (with John Gardner) of the Policy Center on the First Year of College and our Policy Center Consultant.
During phase three, the Task Forces will review the Dimension reports and develop an improvement plan that will help shape our ESFY initiative in key ways.
Members of the Task Force are Cindy Bailey (Marinette, Assistant Campus Dean for Student Services), Deborah Cureton (Richland, Campus Dean), Pat Eby (Fond du Lac, Associate Dean), Jeffery Fredrickson (Fox, President of UW Colleges Student Government), Mary Hoeft (Barron County, Professor of Communication and Theatre Arts and World Languages and campus ESFY coordinator), Greg Lampe (Central Office, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs), Jeff Meece (Marshfield/Wood County, Assistant Campus Dean for Student Services), Keith Montgomery (Marathon County, Chair of Geography and Geology Departments), Nora McGuire (Central Office, Chief Student Affairs Officer), Tom Neal (Baraboo/Sauk County, Assistant Professor of Chemistry), Martha Nelson (Washington County, Assistant Campus Dean for Student Services), Gregg Nettesheim (Central Office, Senior Information Manager), Tom Peneski (Sheboygan, Chair of Math Department), Cassie Phillips (Waukesha, Associate Professor of English), Kristin Runge (Fox, Lecturer of Communication and Theatre Arts and campus ESFY coordinator), Barbara Stinson (Central Office, Director of Distance Education), and Christel Taylor (Waukesha/UW Colleges, Assistant ESFY Coordinator).
If you would like more information on the Foundations of Excellence project, please contact Greg Lampe or Chris Taylor (co-liaisons between the Task Force and the Policy Center) or visit the Foundations website.