Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - Georgia Gwinnett College is one of 12 four-year institutions selected to participate in a national higher education project this year known as "Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year," President Daniel J. Kaufman said Thursday.

The project, sponsored by the Policy Center on the First Year of College, uses a model of excellence for the first college year that is used by colleges and universities to develop and refine their overall approach to educating first-year students. GGC's initiative has been named First Year Matters.

Research indicates that new students who are successfully integrated into college are much more likely to succeed. Many colleges, therefore, work especially hard to create a first-rate experience for new students.

"First Year Matters represents our commitment to student success," Kaufman said.

"Student engagement is critical to make certain that first-year students have a successful transition into college. As GGC grows dramatically, we will systematically ensure that we don't lose our first principle - student success."

Nine separate campus-wide committees will spend the fall semester collecting and analyzing data about all facets of the first-year experience for students. They will then make recommendations for enhancements that will be considered by a steering committee headed by Stas Preczewski, vice president for academic and student affairs.

"It's great that we don't have to change anything," Preczewski said. "As a new college, we already have put the infrastructure in place to support these students, and with First Year Matters we will just enhance what we are doing by implementing a campus-wide systematic approach to student success."

To learn more about First Year Matters, go to www.ggc.edu/firstyear.