Statement of
Philosophy
FYE Faculty Task Force
The First-Year Experience must set a proper academic
tone. Such a tone fosters an individual ethic that values the life of
the mind, and thus launches first-year students down the road to
becoming successful university students and lifelong learners.
Articulating an academic ethic indicates to incoming
students that Georgia Southern University has serious expectations of them,
and this is an important first step. Fostering this ethic requires
high levels of support from faculty, administration, and staff early in
students’ collegiate careers. While one of the goals of the first year
should be for students to work towards becoming self-directed learners, many
if not most students are far from this goal when they enter the University.
While setting clear expectations, the University community must meet
students where they are and be prepared to intervene at the earliest sign
that a student is at risk for failure or disengagement from the educational
process.
Too often, the First-Year Experience has been seen as
an administrative or staff responsibility operating on the fringes of the
academic life of the institution. Absolutely crucial to the success of the
First-Year Experience is the meaningful participation of the faculty. Such
participation must be recognized, supported, and rewarded by the
University.
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