The mission of the First Year Experience Department is to work cooperatively and creatively with academic and support services to offer students a comprehensive first-year experience that empowers them as engaged learners, integrates them into the college community as meaningful participants in campus life, and facilitates their successful transition into future transfer and career pathways.
The FYE Department provides centralized collaboration for first year courses and efforts at Butte. The many excellent student and transfer success programs across the campus have a contact point as they seek to coordinate efforts around the first year experience of our students. The FYE department houses the following courses and programs: � Life Management (LM40) � College and Life Success (CSL20) � Career & Life Planning (CLP30) � Other Counseling classes as offered. The FYE "student success courses" (with common SLOs and ongoing faculty collaboration) include: � College and Life Success (CSL20) � Career & Life Planning (CLP30) � Health and Wellness (HLTH2) � Life Management (LM40). The FYE department collaborates with the following courses, programs, departments, and committees: � Health and Wellness (HLTH2) � New Student Orientation � Reg2Go � Recruitment, Outreach & Student Life � Center for Academic Success � Student Success Committee � Counseling (provides group academic advising to FYE classes each semester) � Assessment � Numerous other departments across the campus. The FYE Department ensures consistency across the FYE student success courses as they address mutually agreed-upon common core curricula (see SLOs).
More tech in classrrom.
No specific data at this time.
More classes for incoming freshmen over summer second session. More support and connections to support in FYE sections.
Add or delete sections as needed for students.
The Validation Team recommended that the FYE department hire a full-time faculty member to teach and serve in a future leadership role. The department hired a full-time faculty member in Spring 2016 but that member last taught at Butte in 2019 and has now left the College. The program is now down two full-time faculty members that are needed to grow the program and keep it viable.
The Validation Team recommended that the FYE program target groups that they can effectively serve with existing program offerings. For example, to facilitate their success, readmitted, disqualified students might be allowed to register as continuiing students for FYE and Basic Skills courses for their first semester post-readmission. This recommendation is still being addressed during Guided Pathways discussions.
The Validation Team recommended that the FYE program ensure that they are offering the most appropriate and effective course offerings, based on students' needs. The team suggested possibly offering a three-week FYE class in August for students new to Butte College. The FYE department looks forward to working with Summer Bridge, Student Equity, and othe Student Success Initiatives to meet Butte College Students' needs. FYE has added a summer and winter class and more online classes to serve the college and a wider range of students.
More classes still need to be added and more instuctors hired to staff these sections including more late start and summer sections.
Support students with online support and Covid situation. Increase contacts with students via online/ Zoom and other formats.
Strategy 1 - Collaborate Strategically with Departments, Groups, and Individuals
The FYE department will make strategic, broad-based collaboration with groups, departments and individuals across campus as part of its ongoing focus.
The FYE department has come up with the following ideas for collaboration;
1. Possible Cohorts or Linked Classes: FYE class with a Math, English, or Reading class
ENGL 3/ LM 40, CSL 20, CLP 30
MATH 116/LM 40, CSL 20, CLP 30
Math 11/LM 40, CSL 20, CLP 30
The FYE department has made some progress by creating flyers and power points to inform student and staff of the beefits of FYE classes. These flyers were also made into mailers and sent to incoming students and their families.
Strategy 2 - Support Use of Online Environment to Enhance Learning
The FYE department will continue to work with colleagues to explore ways to ensure that first year students receive appropriate training in digital literacy,as needed. The department encourages the use of Canvas in all courses and has all FYE instructors using Canvas including gradebooks and some using the attendance option on Canvas.
Numerous conversations and meetings over the past several years have reinforced the need for students to be prepared to succeed in an increasingly digitized and technological world. As Canvas is used in virtually every class at Butte College, and as faculty broaden requirements for students' use of technology in instructional settings, new students need to be equipped with at least basic digital competency skills. FYE is currently working to use attendance on Canvas and have all instructors use the grading options in Canvas.
Strategy 3 - Increase Student Access and Success
The FYE department will seek to ensure that all students, especially disproportionately impacted students, have access to FYE Student Success Classes, including CLP 30, CSL 20, HLTH 2, LM 40.
If, as is consistently seen in excellent FYE programs across the country, Butte College hopes to make FYE Student Success classes a pivotal “jumping off” place for our new students, we obviously must offer enough sections to accommodate student need. When First Year students are successful, the entire campus is more successful. According to Butte College data, students who complete a FYE class are approximately 20% more likely to achieve their academic goals.
The department created an online versions and hybrid version of CLP30 and will continue to look to expand both formats.
The FYE department plans to participate actively in campus-wide discussions about the possiblity of developing Guided Pathways at Butte College. Ideally, each Guided Pathway will include at least one FYE class option.
All FYE section now use OER books so that there are no textbook costs for students.
The FYE department would benefit from dedicated classroom space.
The FYE department has a Life Management Foundation Account (from LM40 workbook fees, for LM program development use only). As of 2020, the Foundation account balance is $6,653.83