Elon University is among 13 colleges and universities highlighted in a new book that analyzes excellent programs for first-year students. The book, titled “Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College,” was edited by Betsy O. Barefoot, co-director of The Policy Center on the First Year of College, and John N. Gardner, executive director the center.
The book contains case studies of the 13 schools chosen as “Institutions of Excellence.” The studies illustrate and analyze best practices in teaching, assessing, and retaining first-year college students. Research for the project was underwritten by The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Lumina Foundation for Education.
Gardner is best known for initiating an international reform movement in higher education in 1982 to call attention to and improve what he has coined “The Freshman Year Experience.” His efforts gained national and international attention, and inspired the popular Elon 101 courses that acclimate freshmen to life at Elon. His son, Jonathan, is an Elon alumnus.
Authors Libby V. Morris, interim director of the Institution of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, and Randy L. Swing, co-director of The Policy Center on the First Year of College, praised Elon’s “intentional and comprehensive approach to the first-year experience.”
They note that Elon helps students make the transition to college beginning with the admissions process and the first visit to campus by prospective students. The process continues with spring orientation and engaging summer experiences and shifts into high gear during fall orientation, described by the authors as a “moving-in extravaganza.”
“During orientation, students are immersed in Elon values, Elon culture, and the opportunities and expectations for student growth and engagement,” wrote Morris and Swing.
Elon’s first-year experience is described as “integrated and individualized,” beginning with Elon 101, a fall semester course that involves small groups of students and helps them launch a successful college career. “The students spoke extensively about the bonds built with faculty starting in Elon 101 and extending to other courses and programs, ” wrote the authors. “They talked of e-mailing faculty members, going to their homes, and being invited for dinner.”
Other benefits to first-year students described in the book are Elon’s common reading program, general studies and core curriculum, a commitment to assessment, leadership by the faculty and administration, a culture of innovation and a strong community.
The book also includes chapters written by Barefoot and Gardner and other associates at The Policy Center on the First Year of College, including research associate Michael J. Siegel; research fellow Marc Cutright of Ohio State University; visiting senior fellow Stephen W. Schwartz; and Charles C. Schroeder of Noel-Levitz, a higher education consulting firm.
Other four-year colleges and universities profiled in the book are Eckerd College St. Petersburg, Fla.; Kalamazoo (Mich.) College; Drury University, Springfield, Mo.; The U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Lehman College of the City University of New York; Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi; Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.; Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.; Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; and the University of South Carolina, Columbia.
The book was published in March 2005 by Jossey-Bass, a division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.