First-Year Experience Program

Susan Marshall, Ph.D., Faculty Director of General Education

Office: Mary Stuart Rogers Educational Services Gateway Building (MSR) 363
Phone: (209) 664-6764

The First-Year Experience (FYE) Program forms learning communities among interested students who take thematically related General Education classes and seminars together during their first semester. These learning communities, which have between 25 and 30 students in each, generate sustained interaction and foster bonds between students and faculty. Students are mentored by a peer leader — a successful CSU Stanislaus student who can help them adjust to campus. They also become better acquainted with campus resources and learn strategies to become successful students.

Research shows that students in the FYE program do better in class, make friends more easily, are more active on campus, and relate to faculty on a more personal level. In their assessment of the FYE program at CSU Stanislaus, students indicate that after the experience they want to return to this University for the next fall term; would recommend this University to a friend; view their college experience as a positive one; and are encouraged by the program to work together with other students.