Good to Know

Conversations on First Year Student Success

A collage of faculty and staff members interacting with students.

For Faculty and Staff

Conversations

Conversations on First Year Student Success provides a forum for faculty and staff to discuss major issues affecting the success of first year students within our campus community. The program sessions will take place in the Indiana Memorial Union or the Kelley Dining Room of the DeVault Alumni Center, and refreshments are provided. Throughout this academic year FYE and the Leadership Stakeholder’s Committee are partnering to bring you a wide variety of topics and speakers for these events. Whether your schedule permits you to attend only one session, or many, we look forward to creating an excellent dialog that will increase participants’ ability to serve first year students more effectively.

Please see below for a full list of events for the 2012-2013 academic year, and check back in the fall for details on sessions for the 2013-2014 academic year.

  • Sept. 25, Mental Health and First Year Student Success

    Kelley Dining Room, DeVault Alumni Center
    Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 3:30-5pm

    Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will discuss trends in student mental health issues at Indiana University, as well as explaining services available to students on campus and how faculty and staff can best make referrals to students who seem to need psychological assistance.

  • Oct. 22, Combating Hate on Campus

    Georgian Room, Indiana Memorial Union
    Monday, October 22, 2012, 3-4:30pm

    This session will discuss ideas for empowering first year students (as well as staff and faculty) to speak out against oppressive, uncivil, and hateful behavior on campus. Doug Bauder and additional members of the Commission On Multicultural Understanding (COMU) will also speak about the recent launch of the "IU Won't Stand" campaign and its larger implications for the Bloomington campus. This session will be in a roundtable format, and attendees are highly encouraged to actively participate in the development of small conversations with others at their table during the event.

  • Nov. 27, "Once a Hoosier, Always a Hoosier"- First Year Students and IUAA

    Kelley Dining Room, DeVault Auditorium
    Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 3:30-4:30pm

    A new home and new life in Bloomington are exciting for first year students and once they become part of the campus community, they will always be part of Hoosier Nation. Although graduation seems like a lifetime away for these newly acclimated students, the IU Alumni Association is doing more and more to reach out to current students to help them understand the concept that they're "an alum from day one." 

    As faculty and staff, learn how we can bridge the gap between the student and alumni experiences by creating a culture of "Student Today, Hoosier Forever." Whether that might be keeping them engaged with your organizations/school or simply introducing them to Hoosiers in new cities, IUAA wants you know how to foster all students' relationships as active, engaged alumni before leaving Bloomington. You'll also hear about the results of the Alumni Attitudes Survey, responses and behaviors of young alumni and how it affects what we are doing in and outside of the classroom.

  • Jan. 22, First Year Student Military Veteran Transition

    Dogwood Room, Indiana Memorial Union
    Tuesday, January 22, 2013, 3-4:30pm

    A panel discussion regarding the transition experiences of first year students who are military veterans. This conversation will explore the needs of this specific student population, and give advice to faculty and staff for how to assist veterans with their transitions to the collegiate environment. Panelists will include Margaret Baechtold, Director of Veterans Support Services, Lydia Wilkes, Assistant Director of Elementary Composition in the English Department, and current student veterans.

  • Feb 22. Social Media and First Year Student Success

    Georgian Room, Indiana Memorial Union
    Friday, February 22, 2013, 3-4:30pm

    Social media expert, Dr. Sarah Smith-Robbins, will address ways to reach out and connect with first year students through social media. Attendees will also be encouraged to think creatively about how their own offices or departments can leverage social media to increase contact with first year students and bolster first year student success. Sarah Smith-Robbins is the Director of Emerging Technologies at Kelley Executive Partners, and a member of the Marketing department faculty at Kelley School of Business.

  • Apr. 3, The Culture of Care Initiative and First Year Students

    Walnut Room, Indiana Memorial Union
    Wednesday, April 3, 2013, 3-4:30pm

    The Culture of Care Initiative is a student-led initiative aimed at increasing helping behavior among students and raising awareness about issues of mental health, sexual well-being, civility, and substance use.  Student leaders, as well as staff involved in the initiative, will provide you with an overview of the initiative and Culture of Care programs aimed at preventing problematic behaviors, and will also review upcoming initiatives providing support to students, as well as ways to get involved.