Designing First-Year Success: Mentorship, Community, and Engagement
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-11-2025
Abstract
This paper describes an innovative first-year experience program that supports students’ academic and personal success through mentorship, community engagement, design thinking, and guided personal development. A study on the efficacy of this program revealed significant gains in students’ sense of community, campus engagement, preparedness for life at the university, and confidence in securing an internship, in addition to positive feelings about faculty mentors. These results suggest the program’s effectiveness in strengthening early college experiences and promoting student confidence in navigating university life and career development.
Publication
College Teaching
Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Pages
1-8
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Peer Reviewed
1
Recommended Citation
Lehman, M., Powers, S., & Kiser, B. E. (2025). Designing First-Year Success: Mentorship, Community, and Engagement. College Teaching, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2025.2600450
