Mission Statement
The Office of Freshman and Transfer Students pays particular attention to creating a network of support persons whose intention involves proactive interaction with first year students. As an agent of change, the Office of Freshman & Transfer Students functions in a culture of collaboration with each of the undergraduate schools and academic departments, student affairs staff, faculty, student leadership and alumni. It espouses a student centered approach to program delivery. Students are always to be treated as the reason for any initiative.
The First Year program at Western New England College seeks to lay the foundation for student success. Through intentional construction of a personal support network and sponsorship of educationally purposeful initiatives, the First Year program prompts students to embrace intellectual challenge, acquire a sense of place, engage social connections and develop educational purpose. The first-year program challenges students to recognize the value of college and to discard any notion of mediocrity in performance, so that full academic and personal potential can be attained.
The First Year program values individuality and diversity. It acknowledges that students enter college at varying developmental stages and with unique needs. The First Year program is committed to fostering a highly personal and innovative delivery system in order to prompt students to identify a vision of their future, acquire the confidence to pursue that vision, set realistic goals, maintain motivation and build academic and personal resiliency. It seeks to move students from dependent to interdependent relationships. The program emphasizes interaction with faculty early in the student experience and characterizes peers as highly influential. It embraces community and seeks to quickly integrate students into the campus culture, to formulate a framework of responsible citizenship and to acquire class identity.