On the surface, high school and college may not seem toodifferent; but underneath the parties and extracurricularactivities, college life can become overwhelming if not approachedwith caution.
“It’s fun to have fun but you have to knowhow,” political science professor Joseph Kobylka said.
The First-year Experience Taskforce, a committee composed ofstudents, faculty and staff, created initiatives to make thetransition from high school to college easier.
The committee designed the New@SMU Web site, found atsmu.edu/newatsmu, for incoming first-year students
The website is equipped with information ranging from where tolive and eat on campus to academic orientation and advising.
“SMU 101”, a separate section within the site,familiarizes first-years with the basics of the university.
Another portion provides students with a timeline. “FirstThings First” gives first-year students a month-by-monthto-do list, while “Your Next Move” allows transferstudents to get a better feel for the university and itsdeadlines.
The “Meeting the Demands” section of the site givesstudents an honest look at tips for surviving the transition fromhigh school to university life.
The overall site received several thousand hits this summeraccording to learning enhancement advisor Vicki Hill.
The committee is also trying to make the Choices I Wellnessclass more of a choice than a requirement, Hill said. Enthusiasticfaculty want to make the wellness requirement a place for bondingfor the first-year class, she explained.
To help get students started off on the right foot, incomingfirst-years were introduced to new experiences in AARO (AcademicAdvising, Registration, and Orientation), SMU’s orientationprogram. The new students attended a one-hour academic realitysession where two faculty members and one LEC faculty memberdiscussed behavioral changes students should go through to adapt tocollege life. On the second day, a faculty lunch panel discussedresearch expectations for the university as well as how to achieveacademic success in college.
The committee also wanted incoming students to have one unifyingsubject of discussion. First-years were assigned, for the firsttime in more than five years, required reading before beginningtheir academic careers.
A group of students, faculty and staff selected the book AmusingOurselves to Death, by Neil Postman. According to Hill, the bookwas chosen to help first-years expand their level of awareness.”We really want them to be able to tell the differencebetween informed thought and snap judgment,” Hill said.
The committee has many future goals for the first-yearexperience program, including greater faculty involvement inresidence hall programs and minimizing class size to allow forone-on-one, student and faculty interaction. “In fiveyears,” Hill said, “we want to be able to guaranteefirst-years at least two small, interactive classes.”
Kobylka explained that the goals of the taskforce are all aimedat making SMU even better. “SMU is a nice place — not aclub. It has club-like attributes as all of life does. Butit’s a university and the attributes of that need to be frontand center. It’s fun to have fun, but you have to knowhow,” he said.
Tips for surviving thetransistion
• Attendance in class may or may not be monitored. Startingoff skipping class is NOT a good idea. Studies show that regularclass attendance is a strong indicator of succeeding in theclass.
• Not taking in-depth notes will lead to absolute disaster.The only way to be sure you capture what your professors say inclass is to take extensive notes. Invest in a portable taperecorder and use the tapes to fill in the gaps in your notes.
• SMU professors expect you to take the initiative andvisit them during office hours. Don’t wait until you’rein trouble in their courses.
• The university workload is often drasticallydifferent from your previous experiences. Professors’expectations are high and will require you to focus on schedulingahead, not procrastinating on papers and studying – notcramming – for exams.
