FYE eases transition for students, encourages campus involvement
Changing high school to college can be intimidating.
That’s why Central Michigan University offers the class First Year Experience.
FYE is a basic transition class helping students transition from high school to college, said Sabrina Hebeler, St. John’s junior and FYE mentor.
Freshmen who take the FYE class often progress faster than their peers, she said.
“It is proven that students who take FYE have a higher rate of graduating on time and with a higher GPA,” Hebeler said.
Every FYE class has a mentor such as Hebeler who focuses on the student’s individual needs and concerns, as well as an instructor.
Mentor Samantha Thorpe said the class helps students connect with the CMU community.
“Students who are connected with the community and involved are more likely to stay here and have a better future, which is what we aim for,” the Milford graduate student said.
Although Northville freshman Harry Master was unexcited to begin the class, he said the program has been useful so far.
Every week, the class required the students to attend one meeting or activity from a different department of campus and write about their findings, he said.
This series of exposures helps students have a diversity of experiences.
“The class gave me the confidence to go out and get involved even though I’m just a freshman,” Master said.
Hebeler said one of the main focuses of the FYE is to give freshmen a confidence boost.
“We want to help them be more confident about getting involved and taking those first steps towards their career,” Hebeler said.
She said those focuses contribute to why students who take FYE meet more success than those who miss out on the class.
Thorpe said also gives students the tools they need to be academically successful through something called the MAP-Works program.
“It’s an online survey all students have the option to take,” Thorpe said. “It helps students see where their performance is ranked among that of their peers.”
At the end of the survey, Thorpe said students are given a report that tells them what areas of their study habits are lacking and what they can do to improve them.
National relevance
CMU is not the only school to offer a FYE program. Hebeler said freshman-focused programs are prevalent nationally.
Thorpe said though classes like FYE are conducted at universities across the country, CMU’s program is consistently ahead of other schools.
CMU’s program produces its own text and is working on creating a general book to sell to other universities, she said.
“This will be a great way of creating revenue for our program so that we can continue to grow,” Thorpe said.
Master felt FYE was one of the most helpful classes he has taken in his first semester here at CMU.
“I would definitely tell other freshman to take FYE,” Master said.
