Background: First-generation (FG) college students have been a popular subpopulation to study within educational literature as these students experience many unique challenges in their academic careers causing them to drop out within their first year. This gives courses with high first-time freshman numbers such as introductory psychology courses…

College student persistence is of the most challenging issues currently facing higher education. This study is an exploration of grit, tenacity, and perseverance as demonstrated by 43 first-year students at a small, teaching-intensive university in South Texas in response to two required exercises assigned in a first-year seminar. Student…

First year college students are challenged both socially and academically in their transition to college life. The literature suggests that social and emotional competence skills can help with this transition. This article describes the course content for a University freshman seminar that teaches skills in social and emotional competence in order…

Three faculty members from three different professional disciplines outline strategies to engage first-year students in a team-taught, multidisciplinary first-year experience course. The theme of the discussed section is titled food for thought...and action. Assignments are grounded in theories of cooperative and experiential learning. Tentative…

While the library is at the center of many campuses physically, it is often an overlooked and underused resource in improving the learning and success of first-year college students. Librarians, classroom faculty, administrators, and higher education researchers come together to explore the potential of the library in shaping the student…