Using Data to Expand Programming on Campus: Data Driven Decision-Making and Institutional Collaboration in First-Year Only Courses at UNI

Following UNI’s Foundations of Excellence® (FoE) First Year” self-study, in partnership with the John Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (John N. Gardner Institute, 2014), Cornerstone (UNIV 1000 and UNIV 1010), a first-year experience course, was established. Cornerstone is a year-long course that satisfies the writing and oral communication requirement within UNI’s Liberal Arts Core (LAC). Each Cornerstone section has, at minimum, one peer mentor embedded in the course. The First-Year Cornerstone course was piloted in fall 2010 with 9 First-Year Cornerstone sections and 11 peer mentors. This model then expanded to include “first-year only” (FYO) courses in the Liberal Arts Core (courses ranging from Math in Decision Making to Religions of the World). The FYO courses have promoted a collaborative environment with both faculty and staff, affording greater significance to the Liberal Arts Core and resulting in the formation of a cohort of First-Year Liberal Arts Core faculty