Learn Change

Develop

Expe

rien

ceon the

First Year

Focusing

February 16, 2011

A campus-wide discussion for faculty, staff, and administrators

Conference LogisticsSessions: Feel free to attend any sessions

offered. All are held on the third floor of Coffman

Union. Presenters are encouraged to send

session materials to ofyp@umn.edu following the

conference. These materials will then be posted

on the conference website for all participants to

access.

Lunch: If you pre-registered for lunch, the

conference name tag you received at check-in

serves as your lunch pass. If you did not pre-

register, but would like to stay, ask about space

availability at the registration table.

Restrooms: Men’s and women’s restrooms

are on the west and east ends of each floor,

respectively. They are also located at the north

end of the Great Hall. A gender neutral restroom is

located on the west end of the second floor.

Evaluations: An overall evaluation will be

emailed to you after the conference. The presenters

will distribute session evaluations in their session.

Return session evaluations to the presenters before

leaving the breakout room.

Conference Reading Material: All conference participants have access to three

articles provided by keynote and guest Shane

Lopez. The articles, The Economics of Wellbeing (Rath and Harter), Hope and Academic Success in College (Snyder, Shorey, Cheavens, Pulvers,

Adams, and Wiklund) and The Principles of Strengths-Based Education (Lopez and Louis) are

available online on the conference website.

Throughout the day please stop by the information

table in the Great Hall for additional materials

provided by the National Orientation Directors

Association, National Resource Center for the

First-Year Experience and Students in Transition,

The Global Community for Academic Advising,

and Gallup. Following the conference materials

provided by conference presenters will be available

on the conference website.

www.ofyp.umn.edu/fyconference

Schedule at a Glance8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Great HallCheck-In & Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Great Hall Welcome and Keynote

10:15 – 11:05 a.m. Third FloorEducational Session I

11:15 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. Third FloorEducational Session II

12:10 – 1:15 p.m. Great HallLunch

1:20 – 2:10 p.m. Third FloorEducational Session III

2:20 – 3:10 p.m. Third FloorEducational Session IV

3:20 – 4:30 p.m. Theater

Discussion with Shane Lopez and University of Minnesota Representatives*Refreshments served

Learn Change

Develop

Expe

rien

ce

8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Conference Check-In & Continental Breakfast Great Hall

After you receive your materials at conference

check-in, enjoy the continental breakfast before the

conference begins.

8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Conference Welcome & Keynote Address Great Hall

CONFERENCE WELCOME

Beth Lingren Clark, Director, Orientation & First-Year Programs

Thomas Sullivan, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

James Liberman, Coordinator, Orientation & First-Year

Programs

MAkiNG RippLES: HOW HOpE AND WELLBEiNG pROMOTE ACADEMiC SuCCESS

Shane J. Lopez, ph.D.

Shane J. Lopez is research director and a member of

the Board of Directors for the Clifton Strengths School.

He is an architect of the forthcoming Gallup Student

Poll, and he directs the annual Gallup Well-Being

Forum, which convenes scholars, leaders and decision-

makers to discuss topics such as global well-being,

human strengths and health care.

Dr. Lopez leads the research on the links between

hope, strengths development, academic success

and overall well-being. He collaborates with scholars

around the world on these issues, and he specializes

in hope and strengths enhancement for students from

pre-school through college graduation, advocating

a whole-school strengths model that also builds

the strengths expertise of educators, parents and

youth development organizations. He has provided

strengths mentoring to thousands of college students,

including academic, career and life planning, and

he advises schools, colleges, and universities on

these issues. He co-wrote the statistical reports for

the Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Clifton Youth

StrengthsExplorer.

Dr. Lopez has

published nearly

60 peer-reviewed

articles, 34

chapters and 7

books, including

Positive Psychology: Exploring the Best in People and The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology.

With C.R. Snyder, he

published Positive Psychology: The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths, which

won the Sage Press Book of the Year Award; Positive Psychological Assessment: A Handbook of Models and Measures and The Handbook of Positive Psychology.

With Cynthia Pury, he also co-edited the book

Courage, which was released in 2009.

Dr. Lopez is the past associate editor of the Journal

of Social and Clinical Psychology, editorial board

member of the Journal of Positive Psychology, and an

ad-hoc reviewer for numerous psychology journals. He

is a licensed psychologist, a Fellow of the American

Psychological Association and educational advisor for

Discovery Television.

Strengths: Futuristic, Maximizer, Arranger, Ideation,

Strategic

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10:15 – 11:05 a.m.

Educational Session I

Third Floor

uSiNG STRENGTHS WiTH STuDENTS: WHAT’S HAppENiNG HERE AT THE uNivERSiTY OF MiNNESOTA, TWiN CiTiES Location: Mississippi Room

Robin Stubblefield, Director, Student Engagement and Co-Curricular Learning

Grant Anderson, Program Director, Housing & Residential Life

Linnette Werner, Coordinator, Office for Student Affairs

Chad Ellsworth, Program Director, Office for Fraternity and Sorority Life

Anna Mraz, Assistant Academic Adviser, College of Education and Human Development

katy Hinz, Coordinator for Student Programs, College

of Science & Engineering

Student Learning and Development Outcomes provide

a common guiding framework for the undergraduate

experience. The specific curricular and co-curricular

paths students will take towards achieving these

outcomes will vary widely. No two paths will look the

same as each student is unique in their backgrounds,

interests, values, behaviors, strengths, personalities and

experiences.

A research based program, StrengthsQuest™ is an

online assessment tool that helps students increase

their awareness of their talents so that they can further

develop those talents into strengths. StrengthsQuest™

has been used by over 850,000 students at 600

campuses in North America; thousands of those

students are right here at the University of Minnesota,

Twin Cities.

Students on our campus have had opportunities to

discover and apply their strengths, both inside and

outside the classroom, in areas including leadership,

conflict resolution and interpersonal relations, team

building, career and internship exploration and

planning, and major exploration and planning. They are

learning about themselves and others around them, a

part of progressing towards successful achievement

of outcomes as self-awareness, appreciation of

differences, and independence and interdependence.

During this session, panelists representing various

colleges, Housing & Residential Life, Office for

Fraternity and Sorority Life, Career Services and

other areas will discuss how they have integrated

StrengthsQuest™ and strengths-based approaches into

their curriculum and/or programming.

THE ROLE OF COMMuNiTY ENGAGEMENT iN ENHANCiNG OvERALL ACADEMiC ENGAGEMENT AMONG FiRST-YEAR STuDENTS Location: President’s Room

Andrew Furco, Associate Vice President for Public

Engagement, Office of Public Enagagement

The findings from recent research reveal a positive

link between student community engagement

experiences and their overall academic success. For

example, students who participate in service-learning,

internships or study abroad activities are more likely

to persist to graduation and be more motivated to

involve themselves within the academic environment

(Astin, 2000; Astin and Vogelgesang, 2001; Gallini and

Moely, 2002; Bringle, Hatcher, and Muthiah, 2009).

For first-year students, community engagement

experiences often provide opportunities for them to

build important relationships with peers, to establish

relationships with faculty and other adult mentors, to

examine more fully their own talents and interests, and

to situate themselves as a citizen of the institution and

community (Eyler and Giles, 1999; Boyle-Baise, 2002;

Moely, McFarland, and Miron, 2002).

This session will explore the latest research on

students’ community engagement experiences

and implications of this research on the first-year

experience. The session also explores the public

engagement agenda at the University of Minnesota

and the ways this agenda promotes the engagement

of students in community-focused issues from the

time they enter the University as first-years students.

Included in this portion will be a description of the

University’s student community engagement.

2

Following the presentation, participants will have

a dialogue about how the University can create

intentional pathways for students’ engagement during

the first-year as a means for enhancing students

success at the University. Participants will also have a

chance to react to and discuss the recent results from

the community engagement section of the University’s

Student Experiences in the Research University

(SERU) survey. The survey provides responses from

over 1,100 undergraduate students at the University

of Minnesota, Twin Cities, regarding their attitudes

toward community engagement and the role that it

plays in their overall educational experience.

FACiLiTATiNG STuDENT DEvELOpMENT iN 30-MiNuTES OR LESS Location: Room 303

Lisa Novack, Academic Adviser, College of Biological Sciences

Nikki Letawsky Shultz, Director, College of Biological Sciences Student Services

Stefanie Wiesneski, Academic Adviser, College of

Biological Sciences

Like many colleges, the College of Biological Sciences

requires a 30-minute first-year checkback appointment

with an academic adviser. In this session we will review

best practices with required first-year appointments

and discuss strategies for assessing and enhancing the

appointments to ensure student needs and institutional

goals are being met.

SuppORT AND OuTREACH FOR FiRST-YEAR STuDENTS: LiBRARiES BEYOND THE BOOkS Location: Room 319

kate peterson, Information Literacy Librarian, University Libraries

Jody Gray, Diversity Outreach Librarian, University

Libraries

One role of the University Libraries is to support the

academic growth of first-year students. Two major

trends facing Minnesota colleges and universities are

changing student demographics and a decrease in

funding and librarians.

The percent of Minnesota’s population that is non-

white or Latino is projected to grow from 14 percent

in 2005 to 25 percent in 2035. The numbers of Latino,

black, and Asian Minnesotans are projected to more

than double over the next 30 years. According to the

Minnesota State Demographic Center, all regions of

the state will continue to become more racially and

ethnically diverse than they are now.

Due to ongoing decreases in school funding, an

increasing number of schools in Minnesota have lost

librarians--a quarter have lost their jobs in the past

decade. These disparate but related trends result in

many incoming University of Minnesota, Twin Cities,

students unprepared for academic research in their

first-year courses. The identity and experiences of

this group have a major impact on outreach efforts

and services provided. In this interactive session, you

will learn more about the research challenges facing

first-year students and the libraries efforts with First-

Year Writing and Student Excellence in Academics

and Multiculturalism (SEAM) courses, Peer Research

Consultants, partnerships with the Multicultural Center

for Academic Excellence (MCAE), and more. You

will leave with ideas and strategies to apply in other

campus programs and outreach efforts.

MAkiNG SpACE FOR MAkiNG MEANiNG: DEvELOpMENTAL REFLECTiON CuRRiCuLuM iN THE COMMuNiTY ENGAGEMENT SCHOLARS pROGRAM Location: Room 323

Laura Dammer Hess, Coordinator, Community Engagement Scholars Program, Community Service-Learning Center

katie peacock, Service-Learning Coordinator, Community Service-Learning Center

Lolla Mohammed Nur, Undergraduate Student

Whitney Weber, Undergraduate Student

Reflection is the act of making meaning from our

lived experiences and is critical to best practices in

community engagement.

3

The Community Engagement Scholars Program is a

co-curricular experience for undergraduate students

committed to working with community-based

organizations to the meet needs of the community.

Students in the program complete 400 hours of

community work, eight credits of service-learning

coursework, a capstone project and seminar, and

six reflection assignments on a variety of themes

important to community work.

This presentation focuses on the reflection curriculum

that is woven throughout the program from when

the student joins (freshman or sophomore year) to

graduation. Over the last year, we have designed and

implemented a reflection curriculum to respond to the

wide range of developmental levels, academic interests

and passions for community work that students bring

to the Scholars Program. The curriculum is based on

a year-long research project done in conjunction with

the Center for Writing. This session will briefly describe

that research project, its findings, best practices in

designing and leading reflection assignments and

activities, and how we have implemented these in the

Scholars Program. We will also discuss how we created

developmental entry points into the curriculum so that

first-year students can access the content without

being overwhelmed, while more experienced students

can still be challenged and supported.

The session will then engage conference participants

to think about the variety of factors in the student

population they work with, how to create assignments

appropriate to their developmental level, and how

to support and encourage students to create a

reflective practice that can be carried throughout their

undergraduate careers and beyond.

MAppiNG THE ACADEMiC AND SOCiAL ENGAGEMENT OF FiRST-YEAR uNDERGRADuATE STuDENTS AT THE uNivERSiTY OF MiNNESOTA, TWiN CiTiES Location: Room 324

krista Soria, Administrative Fellow, Office of Institutional Research

Michael Stebleton, Associate Professor, Postsecondary Teaching and Learning

Ronald Huesman, Associate Director, Office of

Institutional Research

Nationally, student attrition is more likely to occur

in a student’s first-year of college (Pascarella &

Terenzini, 2005). Retention literature often points to

the importance of academic and social engagement

of students in their persistence and completion

of college (Kuh, 2009). This study examines the

academic and social engagement of first-year students

at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Academic

engagement factors, such as preparedness for

class, time spent reading and studying for class, and

contributions to classes will be explored. Additionally,

social engagement factors, such as participation in

clubs or organizations, time spent socializing with

friends or partying, and sense of social belonging will

also be examined. The data is drawn from the 2010

Student Experience in the Research University (SERU)

survey, which was completed by approximately 2,000

first-year students in spring 2010.

In addition to developing a picture around first-year

students academic and social engagement, this study

further explores the relationship between academic

and social engagement and students’ cumulative

grade point averages. For example, preliminary

findings indicate that academic disengagement

behaviors, such as turning in assignments late and

skipping class, have a negative relationship with

grade point average, while positive engagement

behaviors, such as revising papers before submission

and contributing to class discussions, have a positive

relationship with grade point average. Finally, this

study will examine the extent to which University of

Minnesota, Twin Cities, first-year students may differ

from other first-year students from other Association

of American Universities institutions on related factors.

This presentation will provide participants with an

enhanced understanding of the academic and social

engagement of first-year students at the University of

Minnesota, Twin Cities.

4

HELpiNG STuDENTS ACHiEvE HEALTHY LivES Location: Room 325

Jolynn Gardner, ph.D., Faculty Instructor, Epidemiology

Tayne DeNeui, MpH, Director of Outreach and

Operations, Epidemiology

The School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology

and Community Health is launching a new initiative,

The Rothenberger Institute for Innovative Health

Education. The Rothenberger Institute was established

in memory of James H. Rothenberger III, Morse Alumni

Teaching Instructor of Public Health, to continue his

legacy of providing students with knowledge and

skills to lead healthy, productive and balanced lives. A

healthy life is a key component of a successful college

career.

The ultimate aim of the Institute is to provide a

suite of innovative courses that address a variety of

important health issues faced by college students.

For example, the Institute staff is currently working

on the development of a course on healthy stress

management. Other courses will be created in the

future.

The Institute currently offers two successful one-credit

on-line courses to the students at the University of

Minnesota, Twin Cities, and seven partner campuses.

These courses, Alcohol & College Life and Sleep, Eat,

and Exercise, are highly interactive and engaging.

Information in each is based upon current research

and students are encouraged to apply the information

to their own lives. Each course employs a peer-

education model in which certified peer educators

serve as teaching assistants. Thus, the students receive

feedback, suggestions, and encouragement from

someone with whom they can relate. They also receive

instruction and guidance from a faculty instructor.

This presentation will highlight the mission, goals, and

work of the Rothenberger Institute and provide other

members of the University community an opportunity

to become familiar with our courses. It is our hope to

reach as many students as possible in order to help

them achieve healthy, balanced lives during their time

at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and in the

future.

5

NOTES

Study, the action steps we have taken or are planning

to leverage best practices and to address hitherto

unmet first-year student needs, and the general

strategies we have developed for moving more quickly

and effectively from data-overwhelmed to information

and knowledge management.

THE COST OF COMiNG TO SCHOOL AND OF AGE; MYTHS AND REALiTiES ABOuT STuDENT RESpONSiBiLiTiES Location: President’s Room

Mark karon, Director, University Student Legal

Services

University students are adults. They must understand

how poor judgment and bad decisions may impact

them for the rest of their lives.

Those in attendance will learn and understand how

they can assist students in becoming responsible,

involved members of the University community and

how to help them avoid issues that may disrupt their

lives. By minimizing the adverse affects of troublesome

issues and conduct, students will be able to focus on

their educational pursuits.

This program will discuss and explore the legal rights

and responsibilities of students. What they can do as

an adult and what collateral consequences may result

from their decisions and actions. The areas of impact

that will be addressed include: credit card use and

abuse, social networking concerns, Internet fraud,

identity theft, alcohol, drugs and parties, false I.D.’s,

and the impact of criminal convictions on education

and employment.

COLLEGE OF BiOLOGiCAL SCiENCES FiRST-YEAR iNTERNATiONAL STuDENTS: THEMES, TRENDS, AND iMpLiCATiONS Location: Room 303

Diep H. Luu, Academic Adviser, College of Biological Sciences

Beth isensee, Undergraduate Student Services Coordinator, International Student & Scholar

Services

6

11:15 a.m – 12:05 p.m.

Educational Session II

Third Floor

BRiNGiNG HOME THE LESSONS OF THE LEAvERS STuDY Location: Mississippi Room

Chris kearns, ph.D., Assistant Dean, College of Liberal Arts Student Services

Colin DeLong, Coordinator of Technology & Analysis, College of Liberal Arts Assistant Dean’s Office

Every student services professional working to

improve support for first-year undergraduates is

confronted with the problem of how to distinguish

facts from lore. In an era of stringent outcomes

measures, rapidly expanding local and national

data resources, and emergent business intelligence

strategies, doing our jobs effectively means that we

have to develop better and more timely ways to

differentiate high-impact practices and innovative

ideas from untested intuitions, institutional myths, and

outright errors in judgment.

Using the Leavers Study as our example, we break the

general question of distinguishing facts from lore into

four components: First, how can individuals and units

choose the right questions or problem to be addressed

by quantitative and qualitative data? Second, how

can we get the right data to answer our questions and

clarify our problems? Third, what pragmatic steps can

we take to adopt the best analytic strategy for working

with data? Fourth, how can data help us design and

implement a more effective, outcomes focused action

strategy?

It is against this background that our session examines

a study of first-year attrition in the College of Liberal

Arts our Leavers Study - from the perspective of a

simple but powerful question: How can we best learn

about first-year students from the data available, and

what are the key lessons that data teaches?

By the end of the session, participants will know the

specific lessons we have drawn from the Leavers

Most international students report some degree of

culture shock when they arrive and begin their studies

(Lewthwaite, 1996; Olaniran, 1996, 1999; Sarkodie-

Mensah, 1998; Wei et al., 2007). That shock is typically

manifested as stress, anxiety, depression and feelings

of powerlessness, rejection, and isolation (Wei et al.,

2007).

First-year students in the College of Biological

Sciences (CBS) at the University of Minnesota, Twin

Cities, are not immune to culture shock. CBS is one

the smallest colleges at the University that enrolls

1800 students. In addition to having rigorous major

curricula, CBS admissions is competitive. As a result,

the academic rigor can be demanding especially for

those students who do not have good study and time

management skills. International students in CBS are

a particularly high risk population not only due to

adjustment issues but also high academic pressure and

demand.

This first of two presentations will examine the data of

the first-year CBS international students collected from

the CBS Office of Student Services. Themes, trends,

and implications will be drawn from advising notes

and academic transcripts. Furthermore, participants

will have an opportunity to share their observations

of themes and/or trends from their own colleges or

departments.

The second part of this session will be presented

during Educational Session III, Room 319.

THE TROuBLE WiTH REWARDS, iNCENTivES, AND pRAiSE Location: Room 319

David Downing, Residence Director, Housing & Residential Life

Juan Wilson, Residence Director, Housing & Residential Life

Jessica Gunzburger, Residence Director, Housing & Residential Life

Participants will actively examine how recognition is

utilized in their environments and what alternatives

they could use by exploring current research and

engaging in discussion. Participants will better

understand the detrimental effects that recognition

can have and how they hinder our efforts to engage

individuals in work that is sustainable.

This program relates to first-year students as

incentives and recognition are a form of motivation

that have been a part of their development.

This program is important to generate thought

and discussion about shifting the paradigm that

recognition, incentives and praise are necessary to

motivate and develop students. This program was first

presented at the Upper Midwest Region - Association

of College and University Housing Officers conference,

a conference for Housing and Residential Life

professionals, this past November.

In the first part of the presentation, participants will

be exposed to research on the negative effects of

rewards, including the harm they do to relationships,

the damage to a person’s intrinsic motivation, and their

negative impact on creativity (Kohn, 1993). During

the second part of the program, participants will be

actively engaged both individually and in small groups

to reflect and examine how rewards are used in their

work environments or how they themselves use them,

and what alternatives they could use to promote more

meaningful work that is sustainable without rewards,

incentives, and praise.

STRENGTHSQuEST™: FROM SkEpTiCS TO ADvOCATES Location: Room 323

Grant Anderson, Program Director, Housing &

Residential Life

In January 2010, Housing & Residential Life

staff participated in a staff development around

StrengthsQuest™. Prior to this, many within the

department were deeply skeptical of this approach.

After going through the development, many

were curious, but took no further action around

StrengthsQuest™ until Gallup did a presentation

on campus in late May. That presentation and a

trip to Gallup headquarters in June sparked a deep

commitment to Housing & Residential Life becoming a

Strengths-based department.

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FRESHMAN SEMiNARS ABROAD: TAkiNG STuDENT LEARNiNG TO NEW HORizONS Location: Room 325

Sarah Tschida, Associate Program Director, Learning Abroad Center

Christine Anderson, Program Director, Learning

Abroad Center

Freshman Seminars on campus have already

demonstrated that they are an integral first-year

experience. Study abroad research illustrates that

students increase their global perspective, world

mindedness and cross-cultural awareness while

overseas. Furthermore, Study Abroad for Global

Engagement (SAGE) found that study abroad was the

most impactful of college experiences. It is with this in

mind that the Office of the Senior Vice President for

Academic Affairs & Provost and the Learning Abroad

Center have partnered to create Freshman Seminars

Abroad. Together these powerful experiences,

freshman seminars and study abroad, have the

potential to enrich University of Minnesota, Twin

Cities, students, faculty, and the institution itself.

In this presentation, the Freshman Seminar Abroad

program model will be outlined. This model has an on

campus portion and an abroad piece during winter or

spring break, or May session, with logistical support

from the Learning Abroad Center. In addition, a priority

of these new programs is to reach non-traditional

students in study abroad. This includes students of

color, parents, males, athletes, and STEM students.

This presentation will outline the benefits of Freshman

Seminars Abroad to these three groups. Students can

increase their learning and developmental outcomes.

Faculty has the potential to enrich their intercultural

competence and international contacts. The University

of Minnesota, Twin Cities, benefits from student

retention, engagement, and increases its international

profile.

The international component of these programs

could include various characteristics such as: service-

learning, guest lectures, mini-research projects, study

tours, and interactive experiences with local students.

Locations include: Rome, Accra, Buenos Aires, Seoul

8

This session will explore why we were skeptical, what

changed our minds, the fact finding that was done,

how we are using Strengths now, and the benefits we

have seen with our students.

SERvE TO LEARN: HOW COMMuNiTY SERviCE AND vOLuNTEERiSM MAY iMpACT ACADEMiC ACHiEvEMENT FOR COLLEGE FRESHMEN Location: Room 324

Daniel Jones-White, Analyst, Office for Institutional Research

krista Soria, Administrative Fellow, Office for Institutional Research

Ronald Huesman, Jr., Associate Director, Office for Institutional Research

Min Young Cha, Administrative Fellow, Office for

Institutional Research

Even though there is existing evidence which supports

the notion that public engagement opportunities (e.g.

service-learning, volunteerism) provide meaningful

contributions to the student experience, there is

currently no consensus on the impact of engagement

on academic achievement indicators, such as grade

point average (Eyler, Giles, and Gray, 1999). Utilizing

data from the Student Experience in the Research

University (SERU) Survey, this study explores whether

there is a relationship between community service and

first-year achievement at the University of Minnesota,

Twin Cities.

Descriptive results suggest that first-year students

tend to participate at levels comparable to their upper-

level peers with just under 50% of those responding

to the survey responding that that they participated

in community service or volunteerism within the

academic year. While the largest single percentage of

students reported to have found their service activities

on their own, nearly half first-year students in the

sample reported to have gotten involved through an

institutional related activity (e.g. student organizations,

related classes, or through an academic department

or program) suggesting that the University may serve

an important role in introducing students to civic

engagement opportunities.

9

or London. This session will be interactive with

participants brainstorming their own freshman seminar

abroad as well as ideas for reaching non-traditional

students in study abroad.

ENGAGiNG FiRST-YEAR STuDENTS THROuGH LEADERSHip EDuCATiON: AN upDATE ON THE CBS DEAN’S SCHOLARS pROGRAM Location: Room 326

Meaghan Stein, Coordinator of Student Engagement and Retention, College of Biological Sciences

The College of Biological Sciences Dean’s Scholars

Program facilitates student leadership development

and prepares students to be active citizens in their

chosen professions and communities. This session will

explore how engaging first-year students in leadership

education positively impacts personal development,

retention, and timely graduation.

12:10 – 1:15 p.m. Lunch Great Hall

Join conference attendees for a buffet lunch. Keep

your name tag visible as this serves as your lunch

ticket. If you do not have a name tag, see the

conference check-in area.

NOTES

or that they did not feel strongly one way or the other.

Less than a quarter of respondents indicated that they

felt that inclusion of the statement in their syllabi was

inappropriate. The results of this preliminary survey

suggest that a majority of students are either neutral

or are in favor of the incorporation of such a statement

into their syllabi.

STuDENT SERviCE’S ROLE iN FACiLiTATiNG A STRENGTHSQuEST™ CuRRiCuLuM AS pART OF A COMpREHENSivE FiRST-YEAR ExpERiENCE iNiTiATivE iN THE COLLEGE OF EDuCATiON & HuMAN DEvELOpMENT Location: Room 303

Anna Mraz, Academic Adviser, College of Education and Human Development

Anthony Albecker, Academic Adviser, College of Education and Human Development

Carole Anne Broad, Academic Adviser, College of

Education and Human Development

For the past two years, Student Services has

incorporated a StrengthsQuest™ curriculum as part

of a comprehensive First-Year Experience initiative

in the College of Education and Human Development

(CEHD). In collaboration with the Department of

Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, and, as part

of a required First-Year Inquiry course, student

service professionals (academic advisers and career

counselors) facilitated a StrengthsQuest™ curriculum.

This presentation focuses on student service’s role

in the development and implementation of this

StrengthsQuest™ curriculum model. Key themes that

will be addressed in this presentation include: student

services, department, faculty, and central university

collaboration, strengths based advising, assessment

results of student and staff feedback on this initiative,

and, benefits, limitations and challenges of maintaining

this particular model.

10

1:20 – 2:10 p.m. Educational Session III Third Floor

WORkiNG TOGETHER FOR STuDENTS’ FiNANCiAL FuTuRES Location: Mississippi Room

Julie Selander, Associate Director, One Stop Student

Services

“Live Like A Student Now, So You Don’t Have To

Later” is an outreach campaign with the goal to

raise awareness of the financial concerns unique to

campus life, and to remind students that smart money

decisions during college will benefit them for years to

come. First-year students, in particular, are in a time

of transition toward independence and are becoming

more self-reliant and self-sufficient. We all have a

role in helping to provide these students with the

tools, resources, and support to make sound financial

decisions. Learn more about the campaign and be

a part of the discussion on how we can expand and

improve the financial literacy of our students.

STuDENT OpiNiONS OF A MENTAL HEALTH SERviCES STATEMENT Location: President’s Room

Will Menzel, Junior Scientist, Microbial and Plant Genomics Institute and Department of Horticultural Science

Ashley Brueske, AmeriCorps Benefits and Employment

Coach, Rise, Inc

We present the results of a survey of 400 university

students regarding the incorporation of a mental

health services statement into course syllabi. The

statement directs students to relevant mental health

resources on campus. The survey was a poll of

undergraduate and graduate students at the University

of Minnesota, Twin Cities, enrolled in classes ranging

from nursing to electrical engineering. A total of 88.7%

of respondents indicated that they were either glad to

see the mental health services statement in their syllabi

iNTERNATiONAL uNDERGRADuATE STuDENTS’ CLASSROOM ExpERiENCES AND iMpLiCATiONS FOR pRACTiTiONERS Location: Room 319

Beth isensee, Undergraduate Student Services Coordinator, International Student & Scholar Services

kate Martin, Education Specialist, Center for Teaching and Learning

Mike Anderson, Director, Minnesota English Language

Program

Join us as we share survey results from 232

international undergraduate students regarding

their academic experiences in their first year at the

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Additionally, a

discussion will be facilitated around how these results

inform our work and strategies for assisting students in

a successful first year.

DEvELOpiNG STuDENT LEADERS iN SuSTAiNABiLiTY (OR OTHER SuBSTANTivE AREAS) Location: Room 323

Beth Mercer-Taylor, Sustainability Education

Coordinator, Institute on the Environment

How do we expand students’ substantive opportunities

for leadership, in areas such as sustainability and

the environment, starting in the first year? Join

a conversation on answers and ideas. We know

that some students find meaningful involvement

in policymaking and advocacy through student

organizations like MPIRG, Campus Beyond Coal and

EcoWatch. Other students find hands-on projects,

trips abroad and opportunities to engage with new

technology through Engineers Without Borders,

Active Energy Club and the Acara Challenge. Many

student organizations and departments involve

students in communications, event planning and in

research projects on sustainability. Some students

become sustainability leaders who truly drive change

on campus and beyond, but at the same time wish

that opportunities for leadership had been available

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at earlier stages in their academic career. What

program and activity models on campus help students

achieve leadership earlier? How could we collaborate

to support even more leadership opportunities, in

substantive areas like sustainability, for first year-

students?

NEW STRATEGiES FOR iNTRODuCTiON TO CLA STuDENT LiFE COuRSE Location: Room 324

Carl Brandt, Director, College of Liberal Arts Student Services

Meaghan Thul, Coordinator of Engagement, College of Liberal Arts

kathleen peterson, Academic Adviser, College of Liberal Arts

Jennifer Endres, Academic Adviser, College of Liberal Arts

Madhu Bhat, Academic Adviser, College of Liberal Arts

Wendy Nicholson-kotas, Academic Adviser, College

of Liberal Arts

For several years the College of Liberal Arts has

offered multiple sections of CLA 1001, “Introduction

to CLA Student Life.” These are one-credit courses

that have typically been offered as part of various

First-Year Interest Groups, and thus closely aligned

to existing academic programs. This year, however,

we piloted five stand-alone sections of the course,

targeted at particular groups of students we believed

would benefit from extra support. We offered sections

for students interested in Nursing, Health Sciences,

Business, and Engagement and, finally a section for

international students. The sections filled very quickly,

leading us to conclude that we had identified areas

that were indeed relevant. We present our results and

lessons learned and invite discussion on what others

are doing in this arena and what new possibilities

might be pursued in the future.

ENGAGiNG STuDENTS iN THE FiRST YEAR: A MuLTiDiSCipLiNARY AppROACH Location: Room 325

Murray Jensen, Associate Professor, College of Education & Human Development

Michael Stebleton, Assistant Professor, College of Education & Human Development

Brady Johnson, Graduate Research Assistant, College of Education & Human Development

Allison Mattheis, Graduate Research Assistant, College of Education & Human Development

As faculty members from three different disciplines, we

inevitably have varying viewpoints about pedagogical

philosophy, curriculum design processes, and student

assessment and evaluation. We intend to talk about

how we made decisions, compromises, and maintained

a sense of independence while working collaboratively

together. Decisions about texts, evaluation of written

projects, and topics will be included.

We intend to share content-related details about

the course, but the ways in which we designed this

collaborative process for students will likely be of more

interest to participants. How did we make decisions

about content? How did we create an interdisciplinary

activity focused on a central topic? What did we do

when disagreements surfaced in the planning process?

Sharing the development, implementation, and

evaluation of the capstone project and the intended

outcomes will be discussed.

Any sustainable program needs to have ongoing

evaluation. We will highlight the features of our FYE

assessment and evaluation process. In particular, we

will share results from an evaluation of the group

capstone video project that was conducted in light

of the U of M’s Student Learning and Development

Outcomes. The project required groups of students

to make a short public service announcement video

informing the public one of Michael Pollan’s food rules

(e.g., eat food, mostly plants, not too much).

We intend for this program to allow some time near

the conclusion for participant dialogue and exchange

of best practice ideas. We would like to hear from

other participants.

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MuLTiCuLTuRAL kiCkOFF: FOCuS ON BuiLDiNG COMMuNiTY, CONNECTiONS, AND ACADEMiC SuCCESS FOR MuLTiCuLTuRAL FiRST-YEAR STuDENTS Location: Room 326

Ah vang-Lo, Coordinator for Academic Support Initiatives, Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

Multicultural first-year students typically are the first in

their family to go to college, attend orientation alone,

and are left to navigate the University on their own in

hopes to complete the next four years as a successful

college student. The Multicultural Center for Academic

Excellence (MCAE) was able to identify the need of

this specific population of students by creating what is

now known as MCAEs signature welcoming event, the

Multicultural Kickoff (MKO).

By connecting with upperclassmen peers who

also represent their population, known as the MKO

Ambassadors, the students are given the opportunity

to build a sense of community with each other. The

MKO Ambassadors undergo an intensive leadership

training in order to provide these first-year students

a strong sense of community and trust. In addition,

the first-year students are introduced to the diverse

faculty of color on campus across disciplines as well

as given opportunities to build their leadership skills

by connecting with the MCAE program and academic

support offering. MCAE provides a much needed

connection and builds a sense of community for these

students as they prepare for the start of their college

career.

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NOTES

14

BiG CHANGES iN AiD ON THE WAY! Location: Room 303

kris Wright, Director, Office of Student Finance

Significant changes will be made to student financial

aid awards in fall 2011. The changes will affect

incoming freshmen, transfers and continuing students

differently. Be sure you understand the changes and

the reasons behind them, so you talk to students

knowledgeably. In addition, get a first look at what

financial aid packages will look like for freshmen and

transfers for fall 2011.

CHOOSE YOuR MiNDSET: CuLTivATiNG FiRST-YEAR STuDENT SuCCESS Location: Room 319

phoebe Smith, Academic Adviser, College of Biological Sciences

Suzi pyawasay, Transfer Coordinator, College of Biological Sciences

Psychologist Carol Dweck, Ph.D., believes everyone

has two mindsets: fixed mindset (belief that talents

and abilities are predetermined) and growth mindset

(belief that talents and abilities can be developed and

cultivated). By understanding and identifying student

mindset patterns, we can improve our interactions with

them.

pEER iNFLuENCES ON WEiGHT GAiN: A NEW LOOk AT THE FRESHMAN 15 Location: Room 324

Jhon Wlaschin, Ph.D. Candidate and Graduate Instructor, College of Liberal Arts

Young adults are vulnerable to rapid weight gain and

have recently experienced the greatest increases

in obesity prevalence. Obesity may be spreading

among the population through social contact that

reinforces norms of unhealthy eating and sedentary

behavior. This study investigated how newly formed

relationships might influence three specific behaviors

that could lead to weight gain: snacking after dinner,

2:20 – 3:10 p.m. Educational Session IV Third Floor

uNDERSTANDiNG THE uNivERSiTY OF MiNNESOTA, TWiN CiTiES, TRANSFER STuDENT Location: Mississippi Room

katie Granholm, Assistant Director, Orientation & First-Year Programs

Transfer students make up approximately one-third

of all undergraduates on the University of Minnesota,

Twin Cities campus, yet little is known about the

transfer student experience. This session will provide

an overview of national trends relating to transfer,

share findings from recent University of Minnesota,

Twin Cities, surveys, and present best practices when

working with transfer students.

RESOuRCES FOR uNDECiDED FiRST-YEAR STuDENTS: A TRAiN THE TRAiNER SESSiON Location: President’s Room

Center for Academic planning & Exploration (CApE) Staff

Most first-year students begin college without a clear

idea of their academic major. Within our own entering

class of 2009, 59% stated they had no idea what to

major in or intended to do more exploring. To help

students find their academic home at the U, we need

staff and faculty across campus to have the tools and

resources necessary to assist these students.

Over the past year, the Center for Academic Planning

& Exploration (CAPE) developed resources to guide

students through the major and career exploration

process. This interactive session will introduce you to

CAPE resources and how you can use them in your

own work with exploring students. CAPE coaches will

highlight several of our most useful and popular Action

Guides. By the end of the session, you will come away

with knowledge of accessible, online CAPE resources

for you and your students.

15

skipping breakfast and sedentary behavior. Two

hundred previously unacquainted college roommates

reported their diet and sedentary behavior at three

monthly intervals during their freshman year.

A student’s perceptions of how much his or her

roommate valued healthy eating and regular exercise

predicted changes in after dinner snacking and

skipping breakfast. Specifically, beliefs that one’s

roommate valued eating healthy predicted significant

reduction in one’s own after dinner snacking over

time. Changes in a student’s sedentary behavior

was predicted by his or her roommate’s amount of

weekly moderate exercise. Many of these effects were

moderated by gender such that women were more

likely to be influenced by their roommate than men.

At the beginning of the academic year roommates

showed a high degree of concordance in their snacking

which subsequently declined over time suggesting an

impression management effect. Skipping breakfast

became strongly congruent for roommates who

were dissimilar in body size. Skipping breakfast was

likely viewed as an effective means to lose weight

and to reduce weight related discrepancies between

roommates. Sedentary behaviors were not correlated

at baseline but concordance increased significantly

at subsequent time points suggesting a socialization

effect.

Overall, freshman roommates were motivated to

change their weight related behaviors to the extent

that it benefited the relationship.

ExCELLENCE FOR ALL: STuDENT LEARNiNG AND DEvELOpMENT Location: Room 325

Rhiannon D. Williams, Research Associate, College of Education and Human Development

Rashne Jehangir, Assistant Professor, College of Education and Human Development

As retention efforts focus on institutional design,

one example of a first-year experience program

designed to support all students in their learning and

developmental growth in the College of Education &

Human Development will be presented. The audience

will be presented results analyzed from a diverse group

of students showing growth in university learning and

development outcomes.

One such initiative is the First-Year Experience (FYE)

in the College of Education and Human Development

at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. FYE has

two required components, a first-semester freshman

seminar, First-Year Inquiry (FYI), and a second-

semester learning community (LC). All incoming

students are required to enroll in both an FYI and LC

course their freshman year.

“Research is increasingly attentive to the positive

impact for all students of conceiving diversity as

a process toward better learning rather than as an

outcome a certain percentage of students of color,

a certain number of programs to be checked off a

list” (Bauman et. al, 2006, p.iv). As a result of this

shift in attention, faculty and practitioners within

postsecondary institutions are increasingly attending

to how specific curriculum design and pedagogical

practices support and benefit under-represented as

well as majority populations within the classroom as

well as within the larger institution. The main question

that was asked of the data was, broadly, how did these

two populations of students express their growth and

struggles with respect to university student learning

and development outcomes?

At several different points in the semester of fall

2008, fall 2009, and spring 2010, first-year students

were required to respond to questions in reflective

journals. The questions were informed by the research

which suggests the intersections of interdisciplinarity,

active learning pedagogy, and explicit support for

academic and social integration, when implemented

in an intentionally reflective manner, can foster deep,

integrative learning, and, ultimately, support retention.

These sets of reflective questions were subsequently

collated, cleaned and analyzed.

In this session, we will give a brief overview of the FYE

model. The remaining portion of the time will be spent

on discussing the findings with audience members.

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3:20 – 4:30 p.m. Discussion with Shane Lopez and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Representatives Theater

Join us for a panel discussion with Dr. Shane Lopez and members of the University community as we explore the well-being of first-year students on our campuses. Light refreshments will be provided.

panel Representatives:

Shane Lopez, Special Guest and Keynote

Ronald Huesman, Associate Director, Office of Institutional Research

Robert McMaster, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education

Jerry Rinehart, Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Moderator: Laura Coffin koch, Associate Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education

NOTES

www.ofyp.umn.edu/fyconference

For more information regarding first-year programs at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, check out www.ofyp.umn.edu.

The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

This publication is available in alternate formats upon request. Please call 612-624-1979.

A special thanks to those who helped make this conference possible:

• All Session Presenters and Panelists

• Special Guest and Keynote: Dr. Shane Lopez

• Co-Hosts from OFYP: James Liberman Nicole Grosz

• Office of Undergraduate Education

• Office for Student Affairs

• University of Minnesota Bookstores