FYE Newsletter
February , 2015
New data report on First year Students at Sacramento State:
Students who took 15 units or more during their first semester at Sac State had a statistically significant higher GPA than students who took either 12-14 units or under 12 units. Additionally, students who take 15 units or more are retained at a higher rate than students who take less than 15 units per semester. Using a regression model to holding other factors (HS GPA, Gender) students who completed 15 units in their first semester were 1.6 times more likely to graduate within 6 years than those who did not. Of course, each student is unique, and different backgrounds in terms of college readiness need to be considered. If you are interested in this information, I can send you a report from OIR.
Information on Sac State First year Students:
- One third are the first to attend college - 19% of their father and 17% of their mothers did not finish high school
- 23% did not speak English at home
- 45% of First years expect to graduate in four years (actual four year graduation rate is 7-10%)
- One third of first expect to study less than 10 hours per week
If you would like to see a copy of this survey report just let me know at
Study of First Year Students on Social Media:
Reuben Greenwald, a graduate student in Higher Education Leadership is conducting a study to see how social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) are being used by first year students on campus and if these sites help them to build community and become more engaged at Sac State. He plans to contact faculty from the First Year Seminar courses to find atime to visit each class and deliver the survey to students. Thesurvey will require 10 minutes to complete and studentparticipation is entirely voluntary.
Any questions? Contact Reuben directly at
Interdisciplinary, Collaborative General Education: workshop
Dear Colleagues,
What if the first two years of college were problem based, integrative introductions to disciplinary habits of mind? What if they explicitly taught students how to problem solve from distinct disciplinary perspectives and made visible the need for multi-disciplinary approaches to complex “wicked problems”? What if these G.E. programs were developed collaboratively across disciplines and institutions, so that students experienced a coherent transition from lower-division to upper division courses, from community college to university?
What would it take to make this vision a reality?
If you are interested in pursuing this question, join interdisciplinary CSU and CC faculty on March 6, 2015 (at San Jose City College; click HERE to register) for a 1-day (9:00-4:00) “Threshold Concepts and Wicked Problems” workshop.
The Threshold Project is a community of practice working on:
- Envisioning innovative, integrated General Education curricula based on “Threshold Concepts and Wicked Problems”;
- Exploring the pedagogical implications of this approach; and
- Building relationships and meaningful collaborations across disciplines and educational segments.
Please forward this invitation widely. Feel free to invite local high school and UC colleagues as well. The 1-day workshops are designed as an introduction to this community of practice; upon completion, participants may wish to put together a campus team to apply to participate in the more extensive Threshold Concepts and Wicked Problems Leadership Institute (forthcoming July 2015).
We hope to see you soon!
Nika Hogan, Pasadena City College and Kim Costino, CSU, San Bernardino, Threshold Project coordinators
Nika Hogan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English, Pasadena City College
Community College National Coordinator,Strategic Literacy Initiative/ WestEd
Coordinator,Reading Apprenticeship Project,and Threshold Project, 3CSN
909-855-5326
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Jullien Gordon New Year Guide:
Jullien Gordon, our FYE speaker last semester, has his New Year Guide available for free on his website: helps to plan, envision, and appreciate their work and their goals.
Writing Partners Wanted:
The Community Engagement Center is looking in increase the number of Writing Partner groups.This project is where college students write letters to local Title I school students. The goal is two fold – exposing kids to college, and turning our First Years into local role models for kids. The programs starts with the letter exchange, then the kids visit campus. When they arrive, they are given gift bags (provided by the CEC), and a campus tour (provided by your students). CEC will be providing ideas for the campus tour, mailing envelopes, and training for this Writing Partner group.
Last semester, I did the event during our final exam time. It was a great way for me to check in with my First Years. We spent the time on the tour with the kids, and talking about the semester. Very positive end to the class!
Interested? Just email Dana Kivel, Interim Director of the CEC () or Francine Redada, Administrative Staff of the CEC (). Their goal is to make this experience as easy as possible.
College: Making it Happen 2015 Volunteers Wanted: Please share with students
Sac State, Office of Admissions & Outreach, is looking for student volunteers for College: Making it Happen 2015! This is a great opportunity for them to “give back” to the community.
"College: Making It Happen" is intended primarily for 6th through 9th grade students and their families, and provides practical and easy-to-understand information on how to prepare academically and financially for college. TheSaturday, April 11, 2015program, being held at Sacramento State is intended to help reaffirm the message that college preparation begins many years before the final year in high school, and that college planning is a family affair.
We need volunteers from 7:00 am – 2:00 pm in the following areas…
· Greeters
· Room monitors
· Check-in/registration
· Food service monitors
· Runners
We will offer a FREE Sac State t-shirt to all of our student volunteers.
Please have interested students email Chao Vang, Volunteer Coordinator by Friday, March 27.
Spanish and Hmong speaking students also needed.
Please click on the link for more information.
First Year Seminar Retention
This semester we ran a quick report to see how many students who took First Year Seminar in Fall 2014 did not return for Spring 2015. Of the 1170 students who took First Year Seminar in Fall, 49 did not return (4%). We have emailed the peer mentors and several faculty with names and emails of students who did not return. Just in case you would like to contact them. Of course, any suggestions for improving our program are always welcome!
So Much for Bachelor's Degrees Not Having Value
It's become fashionable among some pundits and politicians to question the economic value of the bachelor's degree. But the latest unemployment figures, which show good hiring trends across the board, suggest to Bloomberg Business that there is one possible labor market problem for bachelor's degree holders: there may not be enough of them. The article notes that the unemployment rate for bachelor's degree holders is now down to 2.8 percent (compared to 5.7 percent for the adult population as a whole). The rate for bachelor's degree holders is the lowest since September 2008, and the article says that this level makes it conceivable that the job market will run out of bachelor's holders to hire.