Fall may not mark the beginning of the calendar year, but it certainly presents an opportunity for growth and change with the beginning of the academic year. Think back to the end of the last semester, or the end of your last assignment – do you feel it went well? Is there something you wish you had done ahead of time to make things easier for yourself, or some project that you felt could have used more work if you had had the time? Work piles up fast, sometimes before you realize what’s happening; use these first few weeks of school to get yourself prepared for the busy season ahead of time.   Get Organized       Spring cleaning isn’t the only time for clearing out space and reorganizing. Whether you’ve moved to a new living situation or work station or you’re returning to the same old office space, organizing now will make life much easier when there are stacks of papers and books to go through later in the semester. When you’re organizing, keep in mind that you should arrange your space in a way that is most efficient for you - your desk may look great cleared off, but if that doesn’t fit in with your working style, your work will probably be undone quickly. Need inspiration? The following image from CCN Money shows how you can organize your desk for maximum productivity. Dedicate a Study Space       Whether you like to work at a desk, in your room, in a library, or another public setting, try to pick a spot and dedicate it just for your work. If possible, avoid bringing distractions like your cell phone and snacks to this space, so that your brain will get in the habit of treating these places as work-only spaces. Try to avoid working on your bed, as this can make it more difficult to concentrate on your work and make it more difficult for you to fall asleep later. In fact, it’s generally better to avoid doing work in your bedroom altogether, though that’s not always possible. Finding a spot, as small as that spot may be, to work consistently will help your brain concentrate when you’re in that space. I used to waste so much time procrastinating on my final papers by deliberating over work spaces, but three of my favorites were the desk carrels in the library, the table in the laundry room, and the floor of my bedroom, when it was too late to use a public space.   Plan Ahead       The great thing about a college syllabus is that it provides a roadmap for how you can expect your semester to go. Most instructors will include the due dates for writing assignments, exams, and even your midterms and finals. Mark these due dates on a calendar, in a journal, or on your phone so that you can keep them in mind when making plans for travel, friends, or extracurricular activities. You can also compare the due dates for different classes, so you can try to get some of the lighter assignments done early when they conflict with larger priority assignments. Also look out for particularly lengthy reading assignments – bring some of the longer works with you when you know you’ll have some reading time, so that way you won’t be cramming it all in at the last minute. If you decide to record these assignments on paper, be sure to use a pencil, as the course syllabus is likely to change as the semester goes on!   Find a Study Buddy / Form a Study Group       Nothing makes preparing for a final exam or writing a final paper easier than having friends in the class to help you brainstorm. During the first few weeks of class, talk to your peers about your ongoing assignments, and see who might be interested in joining you for future study sessions. By reaching out now, you’ll ensure that you have someone to get in contact with if you ever have a question on an assignment that your instructor might not be able to answer right away, and someone to keep you company in the library when writing papers or completing reading assignments.   Note: Unlike the study group in Community, you want to form a group that actually studies. Think Back to Last Semester       If this is your first semester in college, think back to the last time in your life when you were really stressed out with a lot of work piled up. Back then, what did you wish you had done earlier? What do you think could have helped you avoid that stress? Premeditating your future needs and taking proactive measures will help you make this semester as productive and stress-free as possible.   ... View more

When I was a very homesick, unsure, unfocused first-year student, failing most of my courses, one day my political science professor, R.S. Hill, asked me after class “Mr. Gardner, would you like to be a good student?” He really caught me by surprise, that he would ask me anything at all and what specifically he asked me. I stopped and thought about his question and answered that I would, silently acknowledging to myself I had no idea what I would have to do to become a “good student.” His answer astounds me to this day, some 56 years later. He said: “Well, for starters you would start reading a good newspaper.” John: “And how would I go about doing that; what is a good newspaper?” Professor Hill: “Well, of course, The New York Times. There is no other like it. You should read The Times because then you won’t need anyone, including me, to tell you what some politician or judge said or wrote. You will be able to read the full text of what was said or written and then you can decide for yourself what the meaning and the importance of the message.” John: “Ok, sir, well how would I go about doing this?” (I truly didn’t know because I had grown up in a staunch Republican household where my father thought—and said—that The Times was a “communist newspaper” and he wouldn’t allow it in the house.” So, I knew that to read such a paper would be an act of sedition defying my father who was paying to send me to this college where this professor was giving me such advice. Professor Hill: “Come with me, Mr. Gardner, and we will walk right now two blocks to “People’s News” where if you don’t want to read the daily copy in the College library you can have your own personal copy. The Times comes in every morning on the 11.22 Greyhound from Pittsburgh (the bus terminal being one block from the news store) and it will be available to you every day by noon. The Greyhound is never late (I had never thought of the Greyhound bus as an agent of civilization and an intellectual lifeline to the rural American heartland in southern Appalachia in Ohio and no one today would extend such a compliment to any airline). And that’s how I started reading the daily Times, which I still do quite faithfully, in the paper edition, even though I also have a subscription for the online edition which I read when I am traveling. And all because a professor introduced me to an adult habit. He explained also to me that “Mr. Gardner, you should know that in addition to you, the other most influential people in the world will be reading that same paper on the same day and will know then what you will know.” And fifty-six years later I still want to know what the most influential people in the world are reading each morning. And I know one who lives during the week at 1600 Pennsylvania who doesn’t like what he reads in The Times. A few weeks later in the term, I had an appointment with my academic advisor, a professor of speech, one Dr. Thomas Fernandez. He reviewed my mid-term grades and made this pronouncement: “Mr. Gardner, you are the stupidest kid I have ever advised!” I left his office and removed the dagger he had inserted in my self-concept. I didn’t quite know if what he said could be true. I knew I wasn’t doing well, failing most everything. But was I really the “stupidest kid” the guy had ever advised?  But I made a decision anyway: to get another advisor. I was pleased it was easy to actually switch advisors, something many of our students probably ought to consider doing. And my successor advisor became one of the keys to my eventual success in college, Professor Kermit Gatten. He really embraced me and I began to flourish. He and his wife had me in their home for visits and meals numerous times. And his advice, which I took, served me incredibly well for the balance of my college career.  I later was told that my first advisor ultimately became a college president in Texas. Wonder how many other people he labeled as “stupid"? Two years later, in another political science course, designated as “American Political Parties,” the professor was lecturing on the legal actions leading up to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs Board of Education, declaring legally segregated schools both unequal and unconstitutional. One of the preceding cases he discovered was one banning the infamous southern “white primaries,” which the Court struck down in 1944 in Smith vs. Alright. The only reason I remember this now is because of what followed. I asked the professor, Eugene Murdock, what the court’s rationale for its ruling was. He replied to me: “Mr. Gardner, I do not know. How would you like to do some research and determine the answer to your own question yourself, and then report to the class what you found?” It was not a rhetorical question. I knew he meant it. I did not think he was trying to pressure me, let alone punish me for asking him a question to which he did not know the answer. I thought he was just being honest. I later realized that he was also being a wonderful role model for the professor I was going to become, but didn’t know that at the time—specifically, when a student were to ask me a question to which I did not know the answer, I would so indicate. Well, I accepted his invitation; did the research; determined the Court’s rationale; and made an oral presentation to my class on what I had learned. In my four years of undergraduate school, other than Speech 101 when I did have obligatory public speaking in class, this was the only presentation I was ever allowed to make in any course in any class. That’s right, one in four years. No wonder it really stood out in my mind and still does. I was nervous about doing this before my peers and my professor. But it went well. Professor Murdoch praised me publicly. And I soon realized that this one gesture on his part had truly given me a sense of empowerment and presence I had never experienced before. On another occasion during college, I was studying in the library and a professor I respected greatly walked by, stopped, and approached my study carrel and said: “Mr. Gardner, I just read your paper and it was truly excellent.” To have unsolicited praise like that from someone whom I knew was REALLY gifted intellectually (unlike me, a neophyte just beginning to learn how to be a college student) that pushed me on to a cloud nine and boosted my confidence and self-esteem. Two weeks before I was to graduate, someone broke into my rental house and stole only my lecture notebooks, for all my courses. What a hostile act. I was in a small college and many of us students knew each other all too well. And I was known as a compulsive note taker for whom his lecture notes were a critical ingredient to his academic success. I was very active in campus politics and, obviously, had made an enemy. I went to one of my professors and asked for an incomplete for the term that would give me time to reconstruct my notes. He agreed and told me he would allow me to take a make-up, take home unproctored final exam—with the words: “Mr. Gardner, I trust you. I know you are a person of honor.” I have been trying to live up to that ever since. One by one my professors were writing the script of my adult life. I didn’t know it then. But I know it now. How are you writing the script for your students? What are the succinct verbal, or written, messages are you sending them that they will remember for the rest of their lives, and that will shape the development of their character and self-concept profoundly? Several months ago, my early forties son related to me his recent professional encounter with a woman in South Carolina with whom he talked about her experiences at the University of South Carolina. He asked her if she had taken University 101 as a first-year student. She said she did. Then he asked her who her professor was. She said she didn’t remember but she remembered things he said and taught her. As she shared an illustration of the professor’s advice to her my son realized that she had to be talking about his father, me. Apparently, the professor admonished the students at the end of the term in December not to make any major life decisions (such as to drop out of college or transfer, or get married or get divorced) as the end of first term of college, especially at holiday time was a very sentimental, often emotional period and not a good context for making rational decisions. She told him that she practices that advice to this very day, over 30 years later. We have no idea what we say to our students that may really sink in at present time or later. We just have to believe that the messages we send them do matter and hence chose our words intentionally and affirmatively. ... View more

Recently I was asked by one of my publishers to complete an author survey. And one of the questions was truly impossible for me to answer as requested. It read something to the effect “what was the book that has influenced you most significantly?" What I found impossible was to choose one! I found the exercise interesting and worthwhile not only because of the sheer number of books that I would so classify as having been of “most significant influence,” but what those books were and especially what time of life was I exposed to these written ideas/experiences, and how this would help form my ideas on social justice. So, they began coming to me almost as a crescendo. There were two books in my first-year of college, when I was doing terribly on the academic front and was lonely, homesick lovesick. And they were mandated by one of my first-term professors to read and to be the subjects of an oral examination if I wanted to raise my final grade in Speech 101 from an F to a D. Most valuable D I ever received. He had me read David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd (1953), a book really for academics but one that sold well beyond that for laypeople. Riesman, a Harvard professor, lawyer and sociologist, one of the greatest of the 20 th century, and also a scholar of the American college and university presidency. The Lonely Crowd was an argument that America produces two kinds of people: the Inner Directed Man and the Outer Directed Man (the direction being in reference to who and what are our influencers, inner vs outer oriented stimuli. My professor wanted me to examine that question for myself. What kind of person was I—was I becoming—or could become? Riesman analyzed a number of our culture’s favorite stories for children and he forced me to think about how I had been influenced by the stories I had read as a child. And nineteen years after being made to read his book, Riesman wrote me an unsolicited letter in 1980 raising some questions with me based on an article of mine he had read in the Journal of Higher Education, about one of my—and as it turns out—his favorite subjects. Riesman was also the founder of Harvard’s first-year seminar, in 1959, two years before I became a first-year student. The other book was Escape from Freedom, by Erich Fromm, a German psychoanalyst, who escaped from the Third Reich and wrote a compelling analysis of why the German people, at the time the most literate of any of the European democracies, had voluntary given up their freedoms in 1933. The book was really about what for some of us is the burden of freedom, the challenge of making decisions on our own. And there I was, as the professor knew full well, a young man who had abused his freedom by overcutting this class, six times in fact. Why do some college students, for example, voluntarily decide to give up a number of their freedoms to join certain groups that make many of their decisions for them (such as with whom to associate), groups especially like fraternities and sororities? This book invited me to consider the uses, the choices, albeit the abuses, I was making with my freedom. And I concluded that I needed to reconsider some of those choices. And it was several years later, also while in college, that I read Fromm’s perennial best seller, The Art of Loving, which argues that before anyone can love anyone else, they have to be capable of self-love, meaning self-respect. And then there was my reading of Plato’s Republic in the fall of my junior year, in a political philosophy class. We examined some of the most important questions that any society has to constantly be in the process of deciding: who should rule? Plato was having Socrates argue that philosophers should be kings. And the related question, that my whole adult life has been in pursuit of: what is justice? By then I was getting the idea that what was really happening to me in college is that I was learning that the questions can often be more important than the answers. To have a meaningful life you have to be asking and pursuing the right questions. In this same course, on the day of class that the professor was going to lead us through Plato’s argument about “who should rule” our class was interrupted by the shocking news of the assassination of President Kennedy on November 20, 1963. And then also that fall, in a course on Transcendental American writers, I was taking a very deep dive in the complete works of essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I have never been the same since reading Self-Reliance. Thank goodness. I was really ready to receive Emerson’s call to intellectual individualism. And I was so fortunate I had a professor who knew just how to do that so skillfully. I didn’t go to college expecting that I would come to love Emersonian prose but that’s exactly what happened. The course influenced me to do a research project to ascertain what might have been the influence on Emerson of New England Unitarianism. And I thought that to understand this question and possibility even more thoroughly I should try to grapple with it experientially. I did so be joining a small handful of other congregants who attended the weekly service of the Marietta, Ohio Unitarian Church. I learned that that faith was all about what my college experience had become: a search for the truth, my truths, which were being discovered by me through reading and interaction with the interpreters of those readings, my professors. What powers they had over me. And I allowed them to help me discover my own powers for discovery, and then to influence others. In my junior year, I took an elective biology course in a course titled “Conservation.” We were required to reach Rachel Carson’s The Silent Spring; the work that is generally credited with launching the now more than fifty-year-old “environmental” movement. Before this book, I had not given one thought to what I and my fellow men and women were doing to our environment. This work really changed me. In my senior year, I read Joseph Heller’s first novel, Catch-22. Sadly, Heller was a one author great thinker. Try as hard as he did in a succession of following books, all of which I faithfully read, none of them did for me, let alone any of the critics, like what Catch-22 did. The first time I read Catch-22, I really didn’t get it, the “it” being the power of his satire of the insanity of bureaucratic life and thinking, as personified by Heller in the US Army of World War II. But two years later when I was on active duty in the US Air Force, and read Catch-22 again, then it hit me. He had finally showed me how bureaucracies work, often making some of their members literally crazy, by the non-rationality of some of their arbitrary rules and processes. So, as I was recalling what I had read of greatest influence, and when I did that reading and thinking, that all these greatest influencers had come during undergraduate school. How could this be? This doesn’t mean I stopped reading upon graduating from college! Absolutely not. But I can’t think of anything that I have read since college that had the same level of formative influence on my most important understandings—of myself, my work, my culture, my role in society, human group and individual behavior—you name it. I can only conclude then that I was in a unique period of openness to new ideas, to being influenced, to self-discovery. But that openness had to be facilitated, nourished, encouraged, reinforced. And my professors and a few fellow students were the ones who did so. I was developmentally ready, hungry even. And the college experience was there for me, ready for me, able to develop me in only ways that it could. I am so thankful. I have often asked my workshop audiences what they remember reading that had some influence during their first-year of college. Almost to a person, each group member can recall something specific. Maybe this is just because I work in the world of the academic bubble. These people liked being in college and so they have stayed in it for their adult lives. They truly were influenced. I know that once I experienced this influence I never wanted to leave it. I have had much less success asking my students, particularly first-year students, what it is they read before college that has influenced them. They struggle with this, in part because no one has asked them this before. In conclusion, I ask you: what were the great written works that influenced you? And what do you have your students read with the hope that this work and your guidance of them to and through it will be of significant influence? I know, it took me a long time here to get to my question. And the question for you should be much more important than the answers I have offered, just as has been the lasting impact of some of the questions I learned to ask in college, especially: what is justice? My whole adult professional life has been devoted to that question. Originally published on jngi.org on May 10, 2017. ... View more

John N. Gardner has over forty years of experience directing and teaching in the most widely emulated first-year seminar in the country, the University 101 course at the University of South Carolina (USC), Columbia. John is universally recognized as one of the country's leading educators for his role in initiating and orchestrating an international reform movement to improve the beginning college experience, a concept he coined as "the first-year experience." He is the founding executive director of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at USC, as well as the Policy Center on the First Year of College and the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (www.jngi.org), both based in Brevard, N.C. John is the author of Your College Experience, Understanding Your College Experience, and Step by Step to College and Career Success with his co-author and wife, Betsy O. Barefoot. Tell us about one initiative you are currently working on that you are really excited about. My most important work is as the leader of a non-profit higher education organization which is immodestly named for me, the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. We are 18 years old. Our current signature work revolves around a national effort to reduce the appalling scale of student failure rates through so-called "gateway courses"...including college success courses. What motivates you to work in college success? I remain highly motivated by my fifty year career drive to accomplish more educational justice for undergraduate students especially first-year and transfer students. What advice would you have given to your younger self as you embarked on your first year in college? Break off the romantic relationship with the girl back home. Instead that took three years to remedy. And instead of taking all new courses in unknown disciplines, to stick with what I knew and had done well with in the past, like Latin instead of Russian (the latter which I failed), and chemistry instead of geology (which I also failed).  What are some trends and developments you are currently seeing in the college success/FYE course? This work is very cyclical as I have followed it since my being involved in the founding of University 101 at the University of South Carolina in 1972. Currently the rage is all around peer leaders, which it should be, and around the psycho-social elements of successful transition into college, which, while very important, may end up neglecting the core academic skills necessary for success in college. What did you enjoy the most about writing Your College Experience, Understanding Your College Experience, and Step by Step to Success in College and Career Success? Working on these books with my co-author and wife, Dr. Betsy Barefoot. On a personal note... What book has influenced you the most? Either Plato's Republic; Riesman's The Lonely Crowd; Emerson's Self-Reliance; and Fromm's Escape from Freedom and The Art of Loving. What is something you want to learn in the next year (related to higher education or otherwise)? How to say "no." If you hadn't pursued your current career, what do you think you would have done? Perhaps continued my Air Force duties--but as a psychiatric social worker! What is your ideal vacation? Attending an international arts festival like the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, or the Spoleto Festival with my wife (there is no vacation without her). Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that not many people may know. I have spent fifty years working on one subject so I doubt there is much to find interesting about me beyond that (seriously). ... View more

Learning more about the College Success course over the past two years has helped me recognize the tools and strategies I use that have contributed to my success in my career. One of the things I truly pride myself on is organization, and I use various tools in my daily life to help me manage my projects. Last time, I shared my bullet journal, which has helped me organize personal and professional to-do lists in one place. But for large, long-term projects, I find Trello incredibly helpful in keeping everything in order and on track. So what is Trello? According to Trello’s help site, “Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, Trello tells you what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process.” Basically, you can use a board to plan a large project with multiple people. Beyond its application to managing projects in the professional world, Trello could be a very useful tool in college for both instructors and students. For example, Trello can be used as a digital/visual syllabus that would help structure your course and help your students stay on track with their assignments. Below, I will outline how to set up your own Trello board as a course syllabus to share with your students! For the purpose of this tutorial, I’m going to use a board without multiple people. Setting up your Trello board as a syllabus: Get yourself a Trello account. It’s easy and free! You can sign up for a business account too that gives you more options, but in my opinion, you’ll get everything you need out of the free account. I have a free account, and I used that to create my images for this tutorial. Create a board and name it appropriately. For creating a digital/visual syllabus, I would suggest naming it the course name. For example, “UNIV 101.” Make sure to mark your board as public. This is how you will be able to share it with your students later. Create your columns. These are where you’ll organize your syllabus items. You can see in the image how I organized my board. Here’s what each column means: General Information: My favorite column that I add into all of my Trello boards is the General Information column. It helps me organize important links, documents, and other stuff that is helpful during the process of completing my project. Course Assignments: This is where you can put week to week what students will be doing. You can divide this up in any way that you want! Have a card for each week, each class, or each assignment. In Progress, Completed, and Questions for Class: These next three columns are for your students once they copy your course syllabus to their own Trello account. As they move through the class, they can move cards to In Progress and Completed to easily (and visually) track their progress. I also included a place for them to note questions they may have. This lets them quickly jot down the question so they don’t forget it. Add in your cards. Your cards should be individual pieces of the semester. You can see that I made a card for every week of class. All of your cards should start in Course Assignments. Share your Trello with your students. Once you’ve set up the shell of the syllabus in Trello, you can share with your students so they can copy the board into their accounts. If you marked your board as public when you created it, click Show Menu on the right side> More. There will be a link to the board. Copy and paste that to share with your students. Your students can copy the board by following this tutorial. If you didn’t mark your board as public when you created it, click Show Menu on the right side>More>Copy board. Change the privacy of your new board by clicking Change after “This board will be Private. Change.” Then follow the steps on the new board I listed above. Start using your board! On their boards, students can drag and drop the cards or course assignments into new columns as they move from “Not Started” to “In Progress” to “Completed.” Cards will be a handy way for them to keep track of their progress, but they can also add in important links, attach documents, create due dates, take notes, and make check lists. See below for more on how to use cards! How to effectively use cards Once you share the Trello board with your students, they can use it to stay on top of their assignments and deadlines through using cards. Cards on a Trello board represent one individual piece within a project. In this example, I used the weeks of the semester, but you could also create a card for each individual assignment, each day the course meets, or anything else that makes sense for you! Cards also have a ton of functionality that can help you keep the various tasks in order while completing a course. Here are just a few of my favorite card functionalities. Include important links. I typically use a card in my General Information column for important links. These can be anything from your online course information to items you need to keep referencing throughout the semester. Attach documents. This is a great way to keep all of your documents in one place. You can either use a file sharing service to add a link or just upload the documents directly onto the Trello site. Create due dates. I have found it helpful to set up due dates for items about a week before they are due. You can even set up Trello so you get an email reminder for these tasks. Take notes. One of my favorite uses of Trello is taking notes on individual cards throughout a project. This lets you keep all of the relevant information in one place, plus you can even print this out using some cool apps within your browser. This site is my favorite way to create a notes sheet from my Trello board. Make check lists. We all know that not all tasks can be finished with a single step. Sometimes including a checklist helps you know what you have done and what needs to happen before moving a card into the Completed column. You can check off the items as you go along, and you get a satisfying progress bar that helps you know what you have left to do! What else can Trello do? I only talked about basic Trello functionality in this post, but you don’t need to stop here. Beyond using Trello as a course syllabus and general project management tool, Trello has many other applications for you and your students. In fact, you can get some great inspiration by going to https://trello.com/inspiration. They even have a section on education! Trello’s Help Site is additionally filled with great tips and tricks to help you figure out how to best use Trello for your specific purpose. Also, search for Making the most out of Trello. You’ll see a lot of great articles that can show you how to use Trello to manage everything from a blog to a party to a group project. Have fun! How do you see yourself using Trello? Can you see this being an effective tool for you? What about for your students? ... View more

Jamie H. Shushan is the Associate Director of the Crimson Summer Academy (CSA) at Harvard University where she works to increase access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and helps them succeed once they arrive on campus. In her work at CSA and beyond, she teaches numerous classes focused on college success, engages students in career exploration fieldwork, and serves as an advisor and advocate for students at colleges and universities throughout the United States. Jamie is the author of A Pocket Guide to College Success. Tell us about one initiative you are currently working on that you are really excited about. I have been working on creating an alumni network of first generation college graduates from my program who can serve as mentors and advisors to our younger students from similar backgrounds who are both applying to college and who are in college. There is such power in learning from the experiences of others, especially from those who really understand where you come from and what challenges you may face. What motivates you to work in college success? All students, no matter their background, deserve college success and yet not all students have the information that can truly help them achieve college success. In my work, I have recognized the power of information, i.e. sharing basic and sophisticated knowledge about college—from what to expect on campus to how to study effectively—and everything in between. With this knowledge, students are better able to achieve their goals and can make the most out of their precious time in college. What advice would you have given to your younger self as you embarked on your first year in college? That getting help in college is a noble act, not something to shy away from or be ashamed of. In fact, building a strong support system early in college is as important as working hard in class. What are some trends and developments you are currently seeing in the college success/FYE course? There is a great emphasis on helping students understand their motivation for going to college as well as what will motivate them to pursue their academic and career goals. This is really important so that when obstacles and challenges present themselves, students have already determined what can help them persevere rather than giving up.  What did you enjoy the most about writing A Pocket Guide to College Success? I enjoyed articulating the importance of critical thinking in a way that I hope is more understandable and tangible for students. There is so much talk about needing to be a “critical thinker” in college and yet students often have no idea what to do practically to help push their thinking in this way.  And on a personal note… What book has influenced you the most? Lincoln by David Herbert Donald. Abraham Lincoln has always been an inspiration to me. He persevered in the face of such adversity and continued fighting for what he believed to be right against all odds.   What is something you want to learn in the next year (related to higher education or otherwise)? I hope to learn more about the power of mindfulness and meditation in relieving anxiety and stress. The pressures of today, especially with technology being a constant presence in our lives, can be quite challenging, and I hope to understand more about these two areas to offer additional strategies for students who are dealing with anxiety and trying to better manage their stress levels. If you hadn't pursued your current career, what do you think you would have done? I would have pursued a career path that involved working with students in the Deaf community be becoming fluent in American Sign Language and finding ways to help educate the general population about the Deaf culture. What is your ideal vacation? Sitting on a remote beach with sun, sand, water and lots of good books. Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that not many people may know. I love to sing, act and dance (tap dancing is my favorite) and plan to get involved in community theater when my children are older and I have a few more minutes to myself! ... View more

Wade Leuwerke is an associate professor of counseling at Drake University. Wade’s research focuses on the assessment and development of student and employee noncognitive skills. He also studies the factors that predict college retention, the impact of computer-assisted career guidance systems on academic planning and career exploration behaviors, and the role of technology in career development processes. Wade is the author of Connections: Empowering College and Career Success with Paul Gore and A.J. Metz.   Tell us about one initiative you are currently working on that you are really excited about. I am working on a proactive advising project that infuses noncognitive assessment data into efforts to proactively reach out to students before any problems arise as they start college. This program seeks to help students build critical college success skills through goal setting and action planning. Students are also encouraged to apply their skills in their initial college classes and make use of the range of available campus resources. What motivates you to work in college success?   I entered college academically prepared but woefully underprepared with respect to study skills, problem solving strategies, and discipline. I nearly ended up on probation after my first term and spent the next three years digging my GPA out of the hole I created the first term. I am motivated to help students avoid this stressful start to college.   What advice would you have given to your younger self as you embarked on your first year in college?   Make use of campus resources! Go talk to your professors and adviser. Stick around after class and get to know your first-year experience instructor. What are some trends and developments you are currently seeing in the college success/FYE course?   I think there is even more emphasis on looking at data and connecting the efforts of FYE/student success to tangible outcomes. Budgets are tight and the focus on retention is increasing and I think FYE is uniquely positioned to be a great ROI and impact retention. Collecting data to make this link continues to be a trend in the field. What did you enjoy the most about writing Connections?   My favorite parts of the text are the Voices of Experience and the multiple features in the book that explicitly draw the link (or connection ) between content in the book and the skills/strategies that students will need in the world of work.  My hope is that once students understand, as clearly as possible, that the skills they learn in this course are the same skills they will need at work, they will be more motivated and engaged in class.   On a personal note… What book has influenced you the most?   Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol What is something you want to learn in the next year (related to higher education or otherwise)?   I want to learn how to use Google docs and the related suite of products. If you hadn’t pursued your current career, what do you think you would have done?   Building contractor or economist What is your ideal vacation?   Any beach in a tropical location Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that not many people may know.            I survived a very large tornado during my last semester of college. It sounded just like a train running past the house!     ... View more

Betsy O. Barefoot is a writer, researcher, and teacher whose special area of scholarship is the first year of college. She currently serves as senior scholar at the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. In her Institute role, she led a major national research project to identify institutions of excellence in the first college year. She currently works with both two- and four-year campuses in evaluating all components of the first year. She is the author of Your College Experience, Step by Step, and Understanding Your College Experience. Tell us about one initiative you are currently working on that you are really excited about. Recently, I have joined a team as part of the John Gardner Institute to work with NACADA, the National Association for Academic Advising, to develop an exciting process for evaluating and improving the process of academic advising at colleges and universities in the U.S. and other countries.  This process will help not only first-year students, but also students at all levels in the undergraduate experience. What motivates you to work in college success? The factors that motivate me the most are my teaching experiences at the University of South Carolina in the college success course, University 101, and my work as a consultant for hundreds of other colleges and universities – mostly in the U. S. but also around the word. In spite of their many differences, the institutions I have visited share in common a desire to improve the learning, success, and retention of first-year students.  Over the years, I have found that well-designed college success programs can actually transform students, instructors, and host institutions by giving them a laser-like focus on what matters most – student readiness for collegiate learning. What advice would you have given to your younger self as you embarked on your first year in college? My advice to me would have been to understand how my university experience was going to be vastly different from my high school experience.  I was minimally prepared for college, even as a high school valedictorian, and I found my initial grades demoralizing and frustrating.  My first year could have been so much more engaging and enjoyable if I had relaxed a bit and given myself time to adjust to a different level of expectations. What are some trends and developments you are currently seeing in the college success/First-Year Experience course? The most constant characteristic of first-year seminars is change.  Institutions are constantly trying to find the balance between what students need and what faculty, staff, and administrators are willing to provide in a credit-bearing course.  Existing data show a trend toward more courses based on an academic theme, more contact hours (fewer one-hour courses and more that are three-credit hours), and more use of new methods of teaching including flipped classes and online components.  Also, we are happy to note the increasing use of peer leaders – student co-teachers of college success courses who can make a tremendous positive difference in student attitudes about the course. What did you enjoy the most about writing Your College Experience, Step by Step, and Understanding Your College Experience? Writing these books helps keep me informed about what’s happening in higher education, the characteristics of students who are coming to college today, and the intersections between students and institutions.  Today’s students are not necessarily the students we used to have or want to have or believe we were like.  Rather, they are students with complex lives and experiences who need more help than ever on academic, social, and personal matters.  I enjoy thinking creatively about how to blend the needs of our students with the expectations of higher education in ways that are relevant and encouraging. And on a personal note...   What book has influenced you the most? I am a constant reader, mostly of fiction, but also of books that explore ideas and historical perspectives.  The most influential book I have read in the last year is The Road to Character by David Brooks. What is something you want to learn in the next year (related to higher education or otherwise)? In the next year, I want to learn more about other countries and cultures.  I intend to do this through travel to places around the globe. If you hadn't pursued your current career, what do you think you would have done? In addition to my current career as a writer and editor, my other career has been as a mom and grandmom.  But in terms of a work life, I believe I would have ended up somewhere in higher education, possibly as an administrator or as a full-time faculty member. What is your ideal vacation? I can think of two: the first – a beach where I can relax, read, and walk; and the second a “festival” of music, film, or more generally the arts in a lively and interesting city Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that not many people may know. I love movies – even children’s movies – and I can sometimes be found (by myself) at the latest “children’s” film, which, I believe, can be delightful for anyone of any age who is willing to suspend reality for a short time.                ... View more

Time management and organization are important skills to be successful, and finding a system that works for me has been a struggle. I often find that my to-do lists either get too cluttered to be effective or I lose them. I wanted to find a system that allows me to mesh together my personal and professional to-do lists in a way that makes sense. Nothing ever seemed to work until I found the Bullet Journal system. Here are some images of my bullet journal. If you haven’t heard of a Bullet Journal before, it’s a pretty simple concept. It’s an analog organizer where you write tasks, events, and other things as bullets. Sounds like every other organizer, right? The major difference is that this isn’t a bunch of post-it notes with to-do lists scribbled on them. This is a formal way of writing to-do lists, events that have happened, and taking a quick note. It combines all of these important daily items into one place. My professional and personal life can be combined here too. No more keeping lists for work and at home. The Bullet Journal lets me keep everything in one place. I first came across the Bullet Journal through a Buzzfeed article. It seemed easy enough, and it also appealed to my creative side. This article was a great guide on how to get started and also provided a list of  good resources, including Ryder Carroll’s guide to start your own Bullet Journal. Ryder actually created the Bullet Journal system, so his site is a great reference. Here’s how I got started:     Found my journal – Carroll says all you need is a notebook and a pen. My first step was already done! I already had an Arc journal lying around, so I decided to use that. It is customizable, so I was able to add any extra sheets I want to put in the journal and it allowed  me to use my own paper with the Arc punch I already owned.      Bought my markers – Since I wanted my Bullet Journal to be colorful like all of the ones I saw on Pinterest, I needed markers. I got a pack of 12 dual-tipped markers for $3. Thank you, Target One Spot!      Decided on a layout – Carroll lays out a pretty simple layout, but I wanted to go off the ideas on saw on Pinterest to give my journal more flair. You don’t have to do this, but I liked the addition of doodling and making my pages look fun. Since I use an ARC journal and punch my own paper, I actually created a template using Whitelines Link template and Photoshop. I love that I can make changes from month to month though. I am actually thinking about trying something different for December.      Pinned ideas from Pinterest – If you search Bullet Journal Layout, Header, Ideas, etc. on Pinterest, you will find a ton of resources that will help you get started, too. I’ve been keeping my journal for three months, and I really think it’s the perfect blend of professional and personal organization. After doing a Bullet Journal for three months, what have I learned? 1. My brain is always on. ALWAYS. I need a system to keep me organized. Using the Bullet Journal helps clear my brain before I go to bed at night and gets me ready to tackle the next day. 2. Looking back on what I've done is surprisingly fun. I like being able to look back at what I accomplished as well as the little things that happened throughout my day. You’re not only writing things that need to get done, but you also can write in lunch dates that happened, what TV shows you watched that evening, and when you finish a good book. 3. I’m so good at being an adult! I like that I feel like I manage my time more effectively with my Bullet Journal. I see what I’ve accomplished as well as plan for the next day. It’s a handy tool that keeps me focused. If you have any questions about how to start your own Bullet Journal and why I found mine to be helpful, let me know! I love talking about how to be more organized, and hearing more from other people on how they stay organized as well. What are some of your favorite organization tips? ... View more