{"id":12089,"date":"2025-03-13T09:27:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T14:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=12089"},"modified":"2025-03-13T09:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T14:27:01","slug":"first-year-experience-course-drives-record-high-freshman-retention-rate-at-uw-superior","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/first-year-experience-course-drives-record-high-freshman-retention-rate-at-uw-superior\/","title":{"rendered":"First-year experience course drives record-high freshman retention rate at UW-Superior"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

After a successful launch in Fall 2024, the newly redesigned first-year experience course at the University of Wisconsin-Superior has proven to be a game-changer in supporting first-year students. Data from the first semester of this new approach shows a meaningful jump in fall-to-spring retention rates to 90 percent \u2013 a significant milestone in student success.<\/p>\n

The course was revised by the\u00a0Health and Human Performance Department<\/a>\u00a0to provide first-year students with science-based health and wellness information while fostering a sense of social belonging on campus.<\/p>\n

Through engaging lesson plans led by various student support campus partners, students learned essential skills for academic success and developed habits that promote a healthy and productive college experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe redesign of the HHP-102 course has allowed our first-year students to see that UW-Superior wants them to be successful and that there are services in place to help them be successful,\u201d said\u00a0Kim LeBard-Rankila<\/a>, chair of the Health and Human Performance Department. \u201cCombining campus services with lectures that expand students\u2019 understanding of individual health, functional wellness, and mental wellness allows them to begin to self-assess their own behaviors and move towards optimal individual health. Retention is about students feeling seen, heard and cared about \u2013 along with quality course content that is relevant to their future careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curriculum includes practical strategies for time management, stress reduction, and self-care, ensuring students build a strong foundation for both their academic and personal well-being.<\/p>\n

Instructors play a pivotal role in guiding students through the transition to college and helping them connect with vital campus resources. According to\u00a0Jen Bird<\/a>, associate Dean of Students, this has made an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see and hear the \u2018ah-ha\u2019 moments as students shared their experiences of transitioning to college,\u201d said Bird. \u201cAdditionally, I had students make appointments with me after that class who specifically said they came because they had met me and knew our office could help.\u201d<\/p>\n

HHP 102 is offered both on campus and online every semester at UW-Superior and is required within a student\u2019s program of study within all majors.<\/p>\n

\n

Written by UW-Superior<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwsuper.edu\/about\/news\/first-year-experience-course-drives-record-high-freshman-retention-rate\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a successful launch in Fall 2024, the newly redesigned first-year experience course at the University of Wisconsin-Superior has proven to be a game-changer in supporting first-year students. Data from the first semester of this new approach shows a meaningful jump in fall-to-spring retention rates to 90 percent \u2013 a significant milestone in student success. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":12092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[110],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-12089","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-superior"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/12089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=12089"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=12089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}