Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College Carney Strange Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College by Betsy O. Barefoot, John N. Gardner (ed.), Marc Cutright, Libby V. Morris, Charles C. Schroeder, Stephen W. Schwartz, Michael J. Siegel, and Randy L. Swing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005. 480 pp. Cloth $45.00. ISBN 0-7879-7151-0 This 16-chapter volume documents the implementation of the policies and practices of a select sample of postsecondary institutions determined to exemplify excellence in First Year of College programs. Chapters 1 and 2 offer a methodological overview, where the reader learns of the five criteria applied to the nomination and selection of the sample institutions, snapshots of the 13 final institutions included in the study, and descriptions of site-visit protocols used to collect institutional data. Chapters 3 through 15 present the findings in the form of institutional case studies (one chapter each), categorized by institutional mission and size: (a) two two-year colleges (The Community College of Denver and LaGuardia Community College); (b) two four-year institutions with fewer than 2,000 students (Eckerd College and Kalamazoo College); (c) three four-year schools with 2,000 to 5,000 students (Drury University, Elon University, and West Point Military Academy); (d) two four-year institutions with enrollments between 5,000 and 10,000 students (Lehman College of the City University of New York and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi); (e) two four-year institutions with 10,000 to 20,000 students (Appalachian State University and Ball State University); and (f) two four-year institutions with more than 20,000 students (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and University of South Carolina). The book concludes with a list of 12 findings, or working hypotheses, drawn [End Page 245] from the study team's observations. These are mostly obvious points emphasizing the prioritizing of first-year initiatives, involving leadership at multiple levels, encouraging experimentation, and providing assessment, as well as the importance of institutional mission, faculty involvement, attention to pedagogy, the creative use of resources, a willingness to learn from others, the role of intentionally supportive curricular structures, and cross-divisional collaboration. These observations are followed by six recommendations for the use of this study's findings by campus planners and practitioners to conduct institutional evaluations and to create discussion and task groups that can capitalize on a review of these materials. In response to a desire among educators for "best practices" in first-year programs, this work offers a helpful compendium of institutions that do this well. Readers will find here a rich resource of strategies and programs situated across a range of institutional contexts serving a common purpose—welcoming and engaging students in the first year of college. The research on college students has long underscored the importance of the first-year transition for student success, so administrators, faculty, and staff alike would do well to pay attention to the practices modeled in these schools. With that said, though, several limitations come with such a work. First, by all measures, this seems to be an unusual collection of institutions. Some are visible and well known in higher education circles (e.g., University of South Carolina) while others are not (e.g., Lehman College of the City University of New York). The goal of a study like this is to offer a maximum range of transferable examples for those sharing similar circumstances. Inevitably, the choice of any combination of 13 institutions will leave some readers short of satisfaction in drawing any conclusions about what goes on in the field. Certainly, there are many recognizable forms of institutional mission and size represented here; however, as with a new CD, the reader must purchase the whole disc but may be drawn to only a few selections. A particularly unusual choice is an anomaly that perhaps survived the selection cut from shear force of impression—West Point Military Academy. The uniqueness of its mission and the impact of congressional appointments would eliminate at least 99% of all other institutions in comparison. The descriptions of the remaining schools, though, will speak to many readers. In doing so, this...