First Year Courses & Experiences

First-year Courses & Experiences introduce new students to the academic and campus culture of Salt Lake Community College. First-year experiences encompass courses and co-curricular programs aimed at increasing the academic preparedness and retention of new SLCC students. To merit high-impact, first-year experiences must engage new students with three or more integrated HIPs, including courses and first-year programs (e.g., Service-Learning, Writing Intensive, Diversity, Peer Mentoring, etc.). This initiative should spread across a period of time that begins with pre-college outreach services and ends when students transition to their second year of college.

Examples of First-year Initiatives include:

First-Year Courses:

• Courses that help new students increase their academic readiness for higher education and create opportunities for meaningful connections/interactions with faculty and peers.
• Courses that stress frequent writing, critical inquiry, information literacy, collaborative learning, service learning, or other high impact pedagogy.
• Experiences that teach students how to learn through exploration of college-success strategies, and “non-cognitive” skills (i.e., persistence, self-discipline, focus, confidence, teamwork, help-seeking behavior, etc.)

First-Year Programs:

• Programs that help develop new students’ institutional navigational skills, as well as intellectual and practical competencies such as new student orientations programs or introductory workshops.
• Initiatives that strengthen and advance the quality of student learning, such as pre-college bridge programs, academic support and advising, peer mentoring, and academic alert interventions.

For support in developing FYE courses and programs, contact the Orientation & Student Success Director.