The Trail Head-First-Year Experience

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Program
First-Year Experience
Degree Type
Program

Program Goals

Part of the Bethany First-Year Triangle of Accountability (Bethany First Year Experience, First-Year Advising Program, Ponton Mentor Program) the Bethany First-Year Experience (BFYE) connects students with their first-year advisor in once-weekly graded courses to ensure students are equipped with essential skills and knowledge necessary to transition from high school to college and thrive academically and personally in the college setting.
 
Through a series of lectures, guest seminars, and activities, students will:
 
  • Become familiar with Bethany facilities, services, resources, and technology
  • Expand their understanding of Bethany student rights, responsibilities, expectations, and policies
  • Learn about Bethany traditions and legacy
  • Establish meaningful priorities and goals,
  • Develop an understanding of the academic catalog
  • Complete the major declaration process and establish a four-year plan
  • Cultivate healthy and effective study habits and skills
  • Acquire additional awareness of wellness issues and improve their ability to recognize and respond to wellness issues,
  • Become familiar with campus organizations and clubs, and
  • Gain a sense of belonging and academic identity as a Bethanian.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will explore identity development, including personal and professional identification.
  2. Students will employ and enhance college-level academic skills through a topic-driven learning experience.
  3. Students will work as a professional learning community to better the campus or community through a service-learning project.
  4. Students will develop an appreciation for and demonstrate areas of personal health and wellness.
  5. Students will increase awareness and knowledge of and utilize available Bethany staff and resources and informational technology.
  6. Students will familiarize themselves with the history and importance of the liberal arts traditions.

Requirements for the Program

All students who meet one of the following conditions are required to complete successfully the First-Year Experience, including:

  • The student has graduated from high school but never attended college, even if she or he has completed college credits while in high school.
  • The student has enrolled in another college and is transferring fewer than 12 credits to Bethany.

Students who have been enrolled as a full-time, degree-seeking student at another institution and who have completed 12 or more credit hours at that institution are considered transfers and are exempt from the Bethany First-Year Experience (BFYE) requirement.

Item #
Title
Credits
1
Sub-Total Credits
2

Note on Completions: Students who do not successfully complete BFYE-001 Becoming a Bethanian will be required to re-take the course the following term. Students who do not successfully complete BFYE 002/003 will be required to re-take the course the following term at additional expense. Successful completion of BFYE 110, BFYE 120, and BFYE 121/122 are required for graduation. Students enrolled in the Bethany Honors program may complete HSEM 101 and HSEM 102 in place of BFYE 120 and BFYE 121/122 but must still complete BFYE 110.

 


 

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