First-Year Experience Programs

Great to see University of Virginia's innovative student advising redesign featured in Inside Higher Ed by Joshua Bay – congrats Christa Acampora and team! 👏 🚧 THE OPPORTUNITY: For many research universities, there's disconnect between amazing classes and the advice students get about them. Data from the SERU (Student Experience at a Research University) survey revealed a sobering reality at UVA: while students praised their courses, satisfaction with pre-major advising lagged significantly behind peer institutions. This gap highlighted that the traditional and often inconsistent faculty-only advising model was no longer meeting the complex needs of today’s undergraduates. 💫 THE SOLUTION: To bridge this divide, UVA launched a transformative model that moves advising from a peripheral office into the heart of the classroom. By hiring dedicated professional "Advising Fellows" and integrating them directly into the first-year Engagements / FYE curriculum, the university has turned advising into a form of teaching. These specialists provide consistent, expert guidance within a small-cohort setting, ensuring every new student has a primary point of contact from day one. 🔮 TAKING THIS FORWARD: UVA’s success—seeing satisfaction jump from 55% to 84%—demonstrates that professionalizing advising and embedding it into the FYE curriculum is a scalable path for large institutions. For institutional leaders, the takeaway is clear: advising should not be a transactional afterthought, but a core component of the academic mission. I wonder how folk will then explore ways to further link academic advising with career exploration and professional development? #HigherEd #StudentSuccess #AcademicAdvising #UVA #StudentExperience

What happens when students gain hands-on experience at the start of the degree rather than at the end? Not as an internship or a capstone, but as something built into their first year experience: early, and for credit? This spring, Podium Education ran a pilot with hundreds of first- and second-year students in their new Career Discovery Experience. Students engaged in high-impact experiences designed to help them explore career paths firsthand: ✔️ applied, skill-based experiences tied to real-world work ✔️ conversations with industry professionals, and  ✔️ guided reflection within the academic experience. They rotated through a series of industries tied to core career competencies—across areas like messaging, data, innovation, and project execution—while learning how those skills show up across industries. Even mid-program, a few patterns started to emerge: 67% are identifying what kinds of work interest them (or don’t) 93% report a stronger connection between college and career One student shared: “You’ll discover something new about yourself, or gain a fresh perspective on your future plans.” It’s early, but for me, one thing is clear: This is career exploration gold.💰 Keep an eye on Podium Education—they’ll be sharing more as early career experiences continue to take shape and scale. Aled Owens Lindsey Rosenbluth Caitlyn Canterbury

ASCEND Podcast - Season 3 - Episode 17 In episode 17, Eric Kirby, Ph.D., J.D. and I visited with Dr. Amber Williams from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville about their "New Vol Experience." In this episode, we examine how the New Vol Experience at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is redefining first-year student transition through a comprehensive, multi-phase onboarding model. From online orientation and academic advising to the six-week Big Orange Welcome and first-year coursework, the program is intentionally designed to help students build confidence, connection, and belonging from day one through their first semester. We discuss how extending orientation well beyond move-in week (through more than 600 coordinated events and sustained campus partnerships) has led to remarkable student outcomes, including stronger preparedness, greater resource awareness, and immediate peer connection. This conversation highlights why walking alongside students, rather than simply welcoming them, is emerging as a powerful strategy for student success. You can find this episode of the ASCEND Podcast on your preferred listening platform. Apple - https://lnkd.in/g9FnskmZ Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gdx9WvWJ Website - https://lnkd.in/g_BF2ZSR Or, if you prefer reading about retention and student success strategies, pick up one of our "ASCEND to Higher Retention Rates" books on Amazon.com: Vol 1: https://a.co/d/3mtXiZJ Vol 2: https://a.co/d/8JmOdtx Vol 3: https://a.co/d/gi1uPDh