First Year Experience Advising Task Force Report

	The First Year Enhancement Task Force was appointed by Provost Krendle, to examine the first year of college at OU, and to make recommendations on what the university can do to better support student success and high standards. I chair that task force with Dr. Joe Burke, Director of Residence Life. Some 50 individuals have been involved in committee work.
	The task force intends to make a report to the provost by this summer, a report with perhaps a five-year time horizon. In the meantime, the task force is issuing a more short-term report to the provost, with actions recommended for this coming academic year.

A few highlights of these short-term recommendations include:

• Strengthening UC 115 through more interdisciplinary content and Group I faculty involvement.
• Expansion of supplemental instruction and other support for introductory courses with lower success rates.
• Extending strong orientation programs to all students, including transfers and students who begin studies throughout the year.
• Establishing a regular cycle of first-year student assessments, including those that will make early identification of at-risk students.
• Supporting and rewarding faculty advisors of first-year students.
• Expanding successful academic intervention programs.
• Identifying, recognizing, and supporting current successful efforts at the departmental and college levels.
• Linking the university’s first-year enhancement efforts to the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) effort.

Joe and I are grateful for work that many individuals have devoted to this effort. We believe that the effort will pay rich rewards. 

— Dr. Marc Cutright and Dr. Joe Burke