Offering a primer on action research methodologies and examples of practice, Students in Transition: Research and Practice in Career Development responds to a dual challenge facing career development educators -- designing cutting-edge career development interventions and demonstrating their effectiveness. Overviews of quantitative and qualitative measures and career development instruments are presented to assist educators in documenting the outcomes of their programs and initiatives. The case studies in the final sections of the volume describe the delivery and evaluation of a wide range of career initiatives offered in diverse settings and spanning the transition from high school to college through the senior year. Career services professionals and educators at all types of institutions will find empirical evidence, research methodologies, and practical strategies to guide program design, implementation, and evaluation.

Published in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges

For the past three decades, American higher education has paid increasing attention to the beginning college experience -- to ensuring that entering students make a successful transition to college. Yet, much of the extant research and practice literature focuses on the experience of first-year students entering four-year colleges and universities. Fulfilling the Promise of the Community College is one of the first volumes to take a comprehensive look at the first-year experience in the community college, examining the unique characteristics of these institutions and the students they serve, barriers to success, and strategies for ensuring that students achieve their higher education goals. Authors describe successful adaptations of faculty development initiatives, first-year seminars, common reading programs, academic and career advising, learning communities, and STEM initiatives in the community college setting.

Published in partnership with the Association of Deans & Directors of University Colleges & Undergraduate Studies

Organizing for Student Success draws on data from more than 50 institutions to provide insight into how university colleges are organized, the initiatives they house, and the practices in place to ensure their effectiveness. Twenty case studies from 15 different campuses offer an in-depth understanding of institutional practice. Ultimately, university colleges are not only a structure for organizing educational experiences but also a catalyst for creating institutional change. An invaluable resource for first-year experience steering committees, general education reform committees, and other groups or administrators charged with reorganizing and revitalizing the delivery of undergraduate education.

Published in in partnership with Teesside University, United Kingdom

Students around the globe have unique first-year experiences but struggle with many of the same challenges. This monograph focuses on their journeys and provides insights for educators interested in learning about how institutions across the globe provide supports to students dealing with first-year transition issues. Based on the successful Exploring the Evidence monograph series, Nutt and Calderon present the inaugural collection of international first-year initiatives, demonstrating the portability and adaptability of these strategies in a variety of institutional contexts. Cases from a dozen different countries touch on a wide range of topics, including: academic advising and support, early-warning systems for at-risk students, first-year seminars, learning communities, orientation or induction, peer mentoring, retention initiatives, self-regulated learning, and supplemental instruction.

On many campuses, graduate students are a prized resource, supporting faculty research and the undergraduate instructional mission. Yet attrition rates among master's and doctoral students are often alarmingly high. The 50th installment of The First-Year Experience Monograph Series describes the challenges associated with entry into graduate study and offers information about new initiatives and programs designed to ease their transition -- from unique orientations and mentoring structures to transition courses and graduate student centers. The monograph is written for educators concerned about master's or doctoral students and their road to success.

Educators have long been concerned with retaining students and helping them succeed, but their focus has been primarily on first-year students. Recently, this focus has widened to include a frequently invisible population -- second-year students. Shedding Light on Sophomores: An Exploration of the Second College Year turns our attention to this often-forgotten student population. This volume draws on campus-based and national research to describe the second college year and the initiatives designed to support it. Campus case studies offer a more detailed look at programs designed to help sophomores succeed, and a concluding chapter offers recommendations for the development of a range of initiatives in the second college year. Shedding Light on Sophomores offers a rich resource for any educator who cares about the status of second-year students and is committed to designing programs and services to support them.

Published in partnership with the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association

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. In this new volume, librarians, classroom faculty, administrators, and higher education researchers come together to explore the potential of the library in shaping the student experience. Chapter authors explore structures and practices for helping students learn to navigate the college library; use the Internet effectively; and find, analyze, and incorporate information into their academic work -- a critical foundation for college success. Thirteen case studies present detailed information on current practice from a variety of campus types.

Common reading programs are becoming a ubiquitous component of first-year experience initiatives. Sometimes controversial, these programs are designed to provide students an introduction to the intellectual expectations of college in an often-informal gathering of college faculty and peers. Yet, truly dynamic and successful programs move beyond book discussion groups to include students, faculty, staff, and the larger community in a wide range of social and intellectual activities. Laufgraben gathers examples from programs across the country to offer a concise and practical guide to planning, promoting, and assessing common reading initiatives.