Role at the Center:
Dan Friedman is the Director of University 101 Programs at the University of South Carolina, where he provides leadership for over 170 sections of Univ 101 annually. In addition, he is responsible for the sophomore (U201), residentially based (U201), and senior (U401) seminars. Dan oversees faculty recruitment and development, conducts and applies assessment and evaluation, manages the budget, and leads a staff of four administrators, four graduate assistants, 170 faculty, and 160 peer leaders.

Prior to coming to the University of South Carolina, Dan served as Director of Freshman Seminar at Appalachian State University and Assistant Professor of Higher Education. He taught graduate courses on college finance, American higher education, and organization and administration of higher education.

Dr. Friedman’s area of research has centered on the First-Year Experience and he has made numerous presentations and published several articles or monograph contributions on this topic. Dan has conducted a wide-range of assessment initiatives aimed at better understanding the efficacy of the first-year seminar. Dr. Friedman has served as an invited faculty of the Summer Institute on First-Year Assessment and for the Institute on First-Year Seminar Leadership, both sponsored by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. He has also served as a faculty member and practicum advisor for the Kellogg Institute on Developmental Education and on a SACS Accreditation Team as the Lead Reviewer of a Quality Enhancement Plan focused on learning communities and a first-year seminar.

Publications:

• Friedman, D. & Alexander, J. (2007). Investigating a first-year seminar as an anchor course in learning communities. Journal of the first-year experience and students in transition. Volume 18, No. 1, (pp 63-74).
• Friedman, D. (2005). Appalachian State University. In B.F. Tobolowsky, B.E. Cox, & M.T. Wagner (Eds.), Exploring the evidence III: Reporting outcomes of first-year seminar (Monograph No. 42) (pp.13-17). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
• Friedman, D., Marsh, B., & Brantz, R. (2007). New connections: A handbook for Freshman Seminar, 5th Ed. Kendall-Hunt Publishers.
• Friedman, D. (2005). Assessing the First-Year Experience. In Implementing a student success course. CD-ROM. Mc-Graw-Hill.
• Authored two versions of the test bank for P.O.W.E.R. Learning Instructor Resource Manual, published by McGraw-Hill, 1999 and 2005.

Recent Presentations:

• Invited Faculty for First-Year Seminar Leadership Institute (April 13-15, 2008).
• Invited presentation: “Assessing STEM programs” for National Association of Multicultural Engineers (November 1, 2007).
• Invited Web Seminar: “Assessing First-Year Seminars” for Academic Impressions (September 2007).
• Invited Presentations “Targeting Approaches to Developmental Education: First-Year Seminars and Learning Communities” and “Best Practices in First Year Seminars: Faculty Development and Assessment” at the Advanced Kellogg Institute (July 31 & August 1, 2007).
• Invited Presentation: “Assessing the First-Year Seminar” at the Summer Institute on First-Year Assessment (June 11, 2007).
• Invited Presentation: “Applied Assessment Techniques” at the Summer Institute on First-Year Assessment (June 27, 2006).
• “Integrating a Freshman Seminar into Learning Communities to Increase Academic Performance and Student Engagement” at the 25th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience (February 2006).
• “Using the New York Times in a first-year seminar” – Panel presentation at the 25th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience (February 2006).
• “Developing Momentum for Liberal Learning: Strategies and Structures for First Year Student Engagement” at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (January 2006).
• “Using the Student Development Task and Lifestyle Assessment (SDTLA) for Individual and Program Assessment in First-Year Courses” at the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience (February 2005). “Improving Summer Bridge Programs” at the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience. (February 2005).