1. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
Issues Centered On Student Retention
Northern Virginia Community College Office of Institutional Research published Student
Retention at NVCC and Strategies for Improvement Report. After reading this report there are
six key critical indicators that need to be address as it concerns retention.
I. Critical Information needs to be clearly and effectively communicated to new
students
II. Must increase retention in Hispanic and Black Students
III. Expand programs to assist students with work and family obligations, so that they
may reach their academic objectives
IV. Barriers of inadequate financial resources hinder retention
V. Little change in academic practices designed to promote higher levels of student
retention
VI. Academic and social involvement is important
These key indicators will be addressed in the development and implementation of the First Year
Experience Program at Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge Campus.
Building A First Year Program
Developing any program you first must consider your audience. Secondly you must take in to
consideration your current resources available to the program and future resources needed. It is
extremely critical that you know who your external and internal consumers. First Year
Experience Program of any college major premise is to build a community of students, faculty,
and staff that are able to foster support on many different levels. The common characteristic of
the First Year Experience program is that the students chose to be in the program. The student
should never be force to participate. During the development stage of the program you should
consider the following in your designed:
I. Themed Learning Communities are important element to enhance student success
II. Learning Communities enhances the educational experience
III. Learning Communities helps to reach goals, objectives and learning outcomes
IV. Helps the student maintain a successful grade point average which in terms help the
student in being persistence
V. Strength of the program that it can be replicated at any campus and designed
specifically to meet the needs of any target group of students
VI. Sample Learning Community
A. Freshman English
B. Introduction to Sociology
C. Strategies for College Success
D. Introduction to Computers
Remember that like most of anything that you must leave room for change. In education it is
about reaching the student from the level that they are on and developing that student into a

2. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
scholar and good citizen. The world of education is constantly evolving because people are
constantly evolving…so that means your program have to constantly evolved to meet the
demands of the students.
Benefits of Effective FYE Program
First Year Experience Program will enhance the schools retention because it will be a true
benefit for first in time college students. During the development and implementation stages
administration must ensure that the program is not only reaching the college’s retention goal but
it also benefits the students. Below is a list of some basic benefits that should be considered
when developing the program:
I. Provide students with a holistic education
II. Help students to understand how college intertwines with real life
III. FYE find a supportive environment to ease transition to college
IV. Students have the same block of teachers
V. Help to overcome learning difficulties because of faculty consistency
VI. College Service will be provided more efficiently
VII. Learning Communities facilitate active over passive learning, team work and
cooperation as opposed to competition and foster a sense of community
VIII. Learning Communities provide positive student-faculty interactions, interactions with
peers and course involvement
IX. Learning Community students exert more effort in their coursework and in their
interactions with faculty members and students
X. Learning Community participation is strongly related to student engagement…which
leads to educational gains
XI. Grades Do Improve When Students Are in Theme Learning Communities
Impact That Faculty Have On The First Year Experience
The goals and objectives of Student Service department is to support students through there
development in their quest for knowledge. There are many different components to Student
Service Department to help aid in the success of a student’s transition into higher learning.
However, the Student Service Department can only be as strong as the faculty of the institution.
In developing your First Year Experience Program if you do not have the proper faculty support
then your program success rate is going to be hindered. Here are some reasons why it is
important to have the Academic Divisions to support the First Year Experience Program:
I. Interaction with faculty significantly predicted academic performance
II. Satisfaction with faculty significantly predicted overall satisfaction
III. Sustain informal interaction between faculty and students is considered essential for
achieving academic and social integration of first year students
IV. Faculty define the life of the college or university and should therefore be
meaningfully involved in working with the newest persons joining the campus
V. Formal and informal contact between faculty and students generally affected student
outcomes and informal interaction usually have a greater impact

3. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
VI. Freshman to sophomore persistence was positively and significantly related to
amount of student-faculty non-classroom contact and particularly to frequency of
interaction with faculty to discuss intellectual matters
VII. Faculty can and do shape student performance by what they themselves value and do
VIII. Students who are satisfied with the amount of faculty contact perceived more growth
in general knowledge, knowledge of particular field, and analytical and critical
thinking skills
IX. Interaction with faculty significantly predicted students first year cumulative grade
point average
Some of the strategies that will help enhance faculty involvement with students are:
I. Monitor Students’ Academic Performance Early In The First Semester And Invited
Students At Risk To Meet With Volunteer Faculty To Discuss Their Academic Concerns
II. Create Informal Social Opportunities For Students To Get To Know Faculty
III. Create Inviting Student-Faculty Lounge Areas In Academic Buildings Where Students
Can Meet Informally With Faculty Outside of Class and Office
The faculty and student relationship is the key in all aspects of the education community…if you
do not have students for the school then you cannot exist and if you do not have faculty to teach
the students you cannot exist. Faculty/Student relationship is the key maintaining a successful
institution of learning.

4. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
Workshop Title Workshop Description
“Gear Up For
Finals”
This workshop will provide strategies that students can use to do well academically. The presenter will share techniques on
how to study, communicate with professors, and how to engage in self-reflection to identify strengths in an effort to
increase students’ academic success.
“IT For
Dummies”
Students will learn how to navigate educational technology like Blackboard and gain a better understanding on how to
utilize educational apps associated with I pads, Tablets, and Cell Phones to enhance their academic success.
“Learn To Juggle”
The goal of this workshop is to assist students in identifying strategies on how to prioritize and organize their schedules, in
an effort to increase efficiency and prioritization. Students will be able to recognize the importance of time management and
organization and the impact that it can have on their school work while helping to attain a work-life balance.
“So You Think
You Can Read”
This workshop is designed to assist students with reading at the collegiate level. They will be given strategies on how to
read through texts and retain information. Students will leave this workshop having learned 2-3 new techniques to enhance
their reading skills at the collegiate level. Students will also learn practices to decipher and understand key information in
readings enhancing their critical thinking skills.
“Be All You Can
Be”
The goal of this workshop is to teach students how to establish goal setting techniques. Students will learn benchmarking
strategies while establishing academic and personal goals, and identifying steps necessary to accomplish goals. Lastly,
students will be able to recognize resources NOVA offers regarding advising, counseling, tutoring, etc. to help them attain
academic success.
“Show Me The
Money”
Students will receive an overview on financial aid. Students will gain understanding on why it is important to meet
financial aid deadlines. Students will gain full understanding of how you get on SAP. The students will understand the
difference between warning and prohibition.
“PARADE OF
STARS”
Divisions will showcase their majors and show direct link to the types of jobs that you will be able to receive on completion
of that particular degree. Students will be encouraged to visit the career center to gain further knowledge about each career
associated with that particular major. This will aid students in deciding on the proper major based upon their career goals.
FYE Honors
FYE Students with a 3.5 or higher grade point average from Fall semesters are recognized in February for this great
accomplishment. FYE Students with a 3.5 or higher grade point average in Spring Semester are recognized in May for this
great accomplishment and are mailed a certificate.
FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE ACADEMIC SUCCESS WORKSHOPS

5. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
FYE Laser Tag Team Building Students who show great commitment in being a student leader or civic leader should
participate in this event…seminar should be given on building effective teams and being an
effective team member.
FYE Essay Contest Will require a committee to develop worthwhile research topic…we should give a gift to
the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place winners of the contest…It would be nice to have a scholarship for
the next year but that might not be feasible based upon NOVA business operational
practices
First-Year Service Will require a committee to come up with a service project in Prince William County or at
NOVA to bring students together to let them know that the importance of giving back.
FYE POETRY SLAM Try to book as many of FYE Students for a Poetry Slam…English staff to do a poetry
workshop the Thursday before the event and have the Poetry Slam on that following Friday
night.
First Year Mix and Mingle This will be an event for FYE Students, Faculty Advisers, and Key Staff…this will help
students with their networking skills and being able develop a rapport NOVA Staff
First Year Experience Block Party/Grad
Party
Would like to see if a local radio station would come out and provide music and give a
ways… would like to provide food and NOVA Give A Ways
NOVA Gear Day FYE students will have a day set to show school spirit by wearing NOVA Gear
Dean’s Coffee and Dessert FYE students will have the opportunity in the evening to have dessert and coffee with the
Dean of Student Services and Coordinators of Student Services (Provost if schedule
allows). This will allow our evening students to network and mingle.
FYE Movie Night Have a movie night were the push is to get FYE students to come out and fellowship with
each other
First-Year Reading Initiative A Series Of Books Will Be Chosen And Have A Book Club with discussion… this will
require some lite refreshments to encourage student participation or to be an off campus
event in a nice local coffee house
FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE Extracurricular Activities

6. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE FUNDING FOR ACTIVITIES
TOTAL CURRICULUM STUDENTS MINUS TOTAL FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE STUDENTS (GPS)
THEN
DIVIDED TOTAL FYE STUDENTS (GPS) BY TOTAL CURRICULUM STUDENTS MINUS FYE STUDENT (GPS)
THEN YOU WILL HAVE THE PERCENTAGE OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES BUDGET THAT SHOULD BE DEDICATED
TO FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE PROGRAM
FOR EXAMPLE: IF YOU HAVE A TOTAL OF 8,500 CURRIUCULUM STUDENTS AND 1,500 STUDENTS ARE
CONSIDERED FYE (GPS)
8,500-1,500 = 6,500
1,500/6,500 = 23%
THEN AT LEAST 23% OF STUDENT ACTIVITY FEE BUDGET SHOULD BE DESIGNATED FOR FYE PROGRAM

7. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
MULTIPLE SDV SECTIONS FOR
GPS POPULATION
CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
(FYE FACULTY ADVISORY
BOARD)
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
(PREMIER CLUB)
PEER LEADER PROGRAM
FIRST YEAR
EXPERIENCE

8. First Year Experience Program Proposal
May 14, 2014
Works Cited
Cornell, R., & Mosley, M. (2006). Intertwining College with Real Life: The Community College
First-Year Experience. Association of American Colleges & Universities, 23-25.
Delaney, A. (2008). Why Faculty-Student Interaction Matters in the First Year Experience.
Teriary Education and Management, 227-241.
Gabriel, G. (2002). Student Retention At NVCC And Strategies For Improvement. Annadale:
Northern Virginia Community College.
Pike, G. R., Hansen, M. J., & Lin, C.-H. (2010). Using Instrumental Variables to Account for
Selection Effects in Research on First-Year Programs. Association for Institutional
Research , 194-214.
Rocconi, L. M. (2011). The Impact of Learning Communities on First Year Students' Growth
and Development in College. Research in Higher Education, 178-193.