Abstract
Local level leadership of the first year experience (FYE) is critical for engaging academic and professional staff in working collaboratively on a whole of institution focus on student transition and success. This paper describes ways in which local informal leadership is experienced at faculty level in an institutional FYE program, based on interviews with faculty coordinators and small grant recipients. Initial analysis using the distributed leadership tenets described by Jones, Hadgraft, Harvey, Lefoe, and Ryland (2014) revealed features that enabled success, such as collaborative communities, as well as faculty differences influenced by the strength of the external mandate for change in the FYE. More fine-grained analysis indicated further themes in engaging others, enabling and enacting the FYE program that fostered internal mandates for change: gaining buy-in; being opportunistic; making use of evidence of success and recognition; along with the need for collegial support for coordinators and self-perceptions of leadership being about making connections, collaboration, trust and expertise.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Highlights
Successful student first year experience requires a whole-of-institution approach that ensures that students are supported inside and outside the curriculum (Kift & Nelson, 2005; Nelson, 2014; Thomas, 2012; Zepke, 2013)
Past and present First Year Transition Experience (FYTE) coordinators were interviewed by the central first year experience (FYE) coordinator, using the Action Self-Enabling Reflective Tool (ASERT) matrix as a trigger to reflect on FY practice within their faculties
While analysis using the distributed leadership tenets described by Jones, Hadgraft, et al (2014) revealed features—such as collaborative communities—that supported success, and highlighted differences across faculties, the more fine-grained analysis indicated some key themes, focused on in engaging others, enabling and enacting the FYE program
Summary
Successful student first year experience requires a whole-of-institution approach that ensures that students are supported inside and outside the curriculum (Kift & Nelson, 2005; Nelson, 2014; Thomas, 2012; Zepke, 2013). This involves collaboration between academic and professional staff across traditional institutional boundaries. It requires top-down, bottom-up and middle-out leadership that recognises contributions made by people on the basis of their contexts and expertise. This paper analyses the ways in which distributed, informal leadership is enacted in an institutional-wide FYE program, focusing on common themes and on different leadership practices in different local contexts.
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