Freshman Interest Groups create sense of community

By Laurie Mellas-Ramirez

Part two in a series about recent changes at UNM made to boost retention and create a "freshman experience," a holistic approach to assist students entering college life. See accompanying story about summer academies, p.3.

Without a lifeline and unprepared to deal with the intricacies of a research university many first year students are at risk to fail.

Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs), a new initiative in University College, uses existing human resources and takes a personal approach to help students adjust to UNM.

Hard-pressed to find individual support in lecture courses with 200-plus student enrollments, entering freshmen will be thrown a life preserver in the form of a one-credit course on how to succeed at a research university.

Groups of 18-25 students who are enrolled in one or two large lecture classes will take an additional one-credit seminar together.

Taught by professional UNM staff or graduate students, 20 seminars arranged around themes such as “The Spoken Language,” “Law and Order,” and “Small Town America” begin in the fall.

Each has a unique syllabus, but emphasis is placed on the art of learning, the culture of higher education, problem solving, and using university resources effectively, including tutoring, financial aid, advisement and information technology.

The FIG concept is working elsewhere.

Peter White, dean of University College, says at the University of Texas-Austin, also a research university, of the 8,000 freshmen last year about 4-5,000 enrolled in a FIG.

“The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) calls for 400 students to one advisor. In some colleges, we have about 1,400 students to one. FIG leaders help fill the advisor role.”

Student Affairs staff, most of whom have master’s degrees and work regularly with students, as well as experienced graduate students, applied for the leadership positions. Those selected have knowledge of retention issues and experience implementing freshman programs.

The seminar leaders attended an orientation in May led by FIG Coordinator Dan Young. Guest speakers addressed diverse learning styles, what UNM has to offer, and leadership qualities. The group learned they would be required to hold office hours and report regularly on student progress.

Young says if freshmen trust that they have someone at UNM to lean on they will begin to feel a sense of community.

“People stay where they feel they belong,” he says. “If students don’t think this is an institution they can belong to then they may go elsewhere or nowhere.”

The program leads the way for staff who aspire to be faculty.

“I’ve always wanted to teach,” says Jocelyn Gamble-Mims, senior student program advisor at African American Studies. “It’s a nice opportunity to get started. I think it will be a fantastic experience for me, and hopefully, for the students.

Gamble has earned two degrees from UNM, including a master’s in counseling. She is teaching a seminar on the African American experience at predominantly white universities. African Americans are two percent of the UNM student body.

“You are the pioneers on this deal,” White told the FIG leaders at orientation. “Their lives to some small degree are in your hands. Make them feel a part of the University. Student success is our goal.”

Of the new programs in place to help freshmen succeed, White says, “All this is going to make a difference in the next five years. It’s got to.”