Center for First-year students
Adjusting to College
“What should I do about a roommate who won’t get off the phone?”
“Why won’t my professor give me more time to work on my paper?”
"Does everyone else have this much trouble, or am I the only one?"
First-Generation Students
Questions like these make the transition from high school to college hard for all students, but especially for those who are the first in their families to attend college. When they call home, their parents and siblings may not know how to answer. You can ease their transition through your gifts to the Center for First Year Students: DONATE
Our Center can help as they adjust to college.
- Students need to get to know themselves as individuals, apart from their families.
- Scheduling and time management also often trip them up.
- And after years of having teachers warn them about tests and homework, operating from a syllabus (“The paper’s due today?”) takes some practice.
Career Exploration
Students who know what they want to do following graduation also have an easier time keeping their grades up and staying in school. Because of that, our seminar course for freshmen includes a career exploration workshop and exposure to interest inventories.
Retention
To find the Brilliant Future that UIS offers them, students have to be with us long enough to do so. That’s what we’re here for. To improve retention, we want to offer intensive developmental retention advising to students with academic needs, offer more cultural experiences.
Leadership
We also want to prepare first-year students to mentor others, take leadership roles, and contribute to the work done at UIS.
If you are interested in supporting the Center for First-Year Students, please use the Donate link above. Your gifts will enable UIS to offer coordinated and comprehensive services for first-year students to foster increased student retention and success.
Questions?
Please use the Send Us Your Question link or contact our office directly.
Are you a student who has appreciated the Center for First-Year Students?
We'd love to hear your story.
- What would you say to someone contemplating UIS?
- How would you encourage donors to give?
- What have you appreciated most about the Center?
Please send your comments to our web writer, Marilyn Kok, mkok2@uis.edu. We would love to add more graduates' comments to this site.
We look forward to hearing from you.