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academically, to get them the help they need before it’s
too late. Dr. Roy Amore, associate dean of administrative
affairs in FASS, says he hopes that by providing advice
before the voluntary withdrawal deadline, students perform
better and have a more successful first year.
“Sometimes first-year students don’t know what to do
if they’re struggling academically,” says Amore, a political
science professor. “We’re a university that takes care of our
students and tries to help them succeed.”
The long-term goal of these FASS initiatives, says Dr.
Cecil Houston, dean of the faculty, “is to create a more
positive first-year experience and improve a student’s
chances of returning for second year.”
Hard evidence supports the FASS investment. The
retention rate from first-year entry to second year in FASS
has reached 90 per cent.
To leverage this success, FASS sought and received
$135,000 in Strategic Priority funding over three years for
the learning strategist position. Professor Natalie Atkin
was appointed to the position, which she says is valuable
“because it helps to deliver key resources, services, and
courses to students in the important first year of university,
setting them on a path to academic success.”
In the role, she teaches, “Understanding the
Contemporary World”, an introductory course with many
valuable resources embedded into it, including library
instruction, advising, and guidance from the Centre
for Career Education. Atkin also provides academic
counselling to every one of the more than 200 students
in the course.
First-year student Olivia Greenhow found the course
far different from what she expected when she took the
class in fall 2011.
“I really thought that because it was a required course,
it might be a bit boring,” she says. “It ended up being my
favourite course – one that I really wanted to attend. Dr.
Atkin made it so interesting and really encouraged us to
ask questions and participate.”
Greenhow entered first year of university without
declaring a major because, “I didn’t know what to do with
my life and put off the decision as long as I could.”
However, Atkin’s academic counselling helped her
realize, “that if you follow your interests, you can end up
in a career you love. It really opened up my horizons.”
Greenhow has now selected history as her major with
drama as a minor and is even considering law school as a
possible option.
Atkin’s role is also to work with faculty members to
determine the best way to engage students.
“Even in large courses with several hundred students,
professors are increasingly open to different ways
of delivering materials,” says Atkin. “That includes
mentorship and providing opportunities for smaller-group
engagement. It makes materials more accessible – it’s not
just someone on stage lecturing.”
She has helped train faculty for the Gateway program’s
admissions process. The training and assessment provide
opportunities for professors to meet first-year students and
to understand where they are coming from.
FASS also proposed a second winning SPF project: the
Student Mentor Program, which will receive $20,000 over
two years to support the expansion of the existing program
that provides mentoring and instructional help for students
in their first year. In September 2011, the mentoring
program served 90 per cent of FASS’ first-year students.
First-year students walk away from the mentor
experience with self-confidence in their abilities, says Dr.
Tina Pugliese, who co-authored the proposal with Tamsin
Bolton, of the Leddy Library. “They also develop insights
into how to have a successful university experience,” adds
the dramatic art professor.
“This well-established, hands-on, face-to-face
mentorship approach is far reaching,” Pugliese adds. “It
connects student to faculty and the University as a whole
and, perhaps most importantly, the process is largely
student facilitated.”
The program trains student mentors, who in turn,
provide one-to-one peer leadership to other students. The
cornerstone is the “Mentorship and Learning” course, which
introduces students to the skills they will need to be mentors.
Fourth-year political science student Giovanna Roma
