Title: Assistant Vice President for University 101 Programs & the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina

About Dr. Friedman:

Dan Friedman provides leadership for University 101 Programs and the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. University 101 Programs is an academic unit that offers six academic courses, including over 330 sections of the first-year seminar (UNIV 101), a career exploration and experiential learning seminar (UNIV 201), a residentially-based special topics seminar (UNIV 290) and a capstone seminar (UNIV 401). His major responsibilities include the recruitment, selection, training and support of 300+ instructors and 300+ peer/graduate leaders; providing high quality faculty development to support excellence in teaching; developing and assessing course content; supervising a professional and graduate staff; strategic planning; and representing the program to multiple constituencies. 

Dan also has oversight of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, which is the trusted expert, internationally recognized leader, and clearinghouse for scholarship, policy, and best practice for all postsecondary student transitions. The NRC provides opportunities for the exchange of practical and scholarly information as well as the discussion of trends and issues in our field through the convening of conferences and online courses; publication of scholarly practice books, research reports, a peer-reviewed journal, guides, and newsletters; and generating, supporting, and disseminating research and scholarship. 

Dan is an associated faculty member in the Higher Education Program in College of Education, where he teaches courses, advises students and serves on dissertation committees. 

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 books, articles, and 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 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 SACS Accreditation Teams as the Lead Reviewer of Quality Enhancement Plans focused on learning communities and first-year seminars. In addition, Dan has consulted with several dozen institutions about the first-year seminar, learning communities, and the First-Year Experience. He is passionate about baseball, Bruce Springsteen, and spending time with his two daughters. 

Title: Founder of and a Senior Fellow with the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition; Chief Executive Officer, co-founder and board chair of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education

About John:

John N. Gardner is the founder of and a senior fellow with the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition; founding executive director of the University 101 Programs; and distinguished Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina (USC). He was executive director of the first-year seminar course, University 101 (U101), from 1974 to 1999; and also, the National Resource Center from 1986 to 1999. And he served as Vice chancellor/associate provost for academic affairs for regional campuses from 1983-96.  Currently he serves as chief executive officer, co-founder and board chair of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, a non-profit national organization he co-founded with his wife, Betsy O. Barefoot, in 1999. As a senior fellow, Gardner provides advice, counsel, and intellectual leadership and vision when called upon. He is involved in presenting at National Resource Center conferences and continuing education events. He also remains engaged in its scholarship and research agenda and its publishing activities. He serves USC in other capacities as requested. 

Gardner is an educator, university professor and administrator, author, editor, public speaker, consultant, change agent, student retention specialist, first-year student advocate, and initiator and scholar of the American first-year and senior-year reform movements. He is best known for initiating an international reform movement in higher education in 1982 to bring awareness to and improve what he originally called "the freshman year experience" and later renamed "the first-year experience." 

Beginning in 1990, Gardner expanded his focus to improving and championing the senior-year experience, another critical transition during the college years. He changed the National Resource Center’s name to the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, signifying a broader focus on the need for institutions to better support students in transition. 

Gardner retired from the University in 1999 after more than 32 years of service to the people of South Carolina, but he continues to serve in a reduced and more focused way as a Senior Fellow. He immediately went on to co-found another national organization to extend and complement but not duplicate in any way the work of the National Resource Center. 

The U.S. Air Force brought Gardner to South Carolina in 1967, where he served as a psychiatric social worker in the 363rd Tactical Hospital at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter. Following a direct order from his squadron commander, Gardner became a part-time adjunct instructor at the University of South Carolina. After completing his military service in 1968, Gardner held a two-year temporary appointment at Winthrop College as an instructor of history. He returned to the University in 1970 where he taught courses in American and South Carolina history, interpersonal communications for librarians, public speaking, higher education administration, and other topics. He also regularly taught U101, the first-year seminar, and The First-Year Experience, a graduate seminar course he developed for the College of Education. From 1994 to 1998 Gardner developed and taught University 401, Senior Capstone Experience, as a sequel to U101 but for departing students only. 

Gardner founded the Policy Center on the First Year of College in October 1999 with Dr. Betsy O. Barefoot, his wife and former co-director for Research and Publications at the National Resource Center.  It was reorganized as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity in 2007 and renamed the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. With its new name, the Gardner Institute expanded its mission to the pursuit of excellence in the broader undergraduate education experience by working with colleges and universities to improve student learning and retention. 

Since its inception, the Institute has been supported by more than 400 participating institutions, including these philanthropic partners: the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Lumina Foundation for Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Kresge Foundation, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, United Student Aid Funds (now the Strada Education Network), the ECMC Foundation, the Ascendum Educational Foundation, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and the California Futures Foundation.. 

Gardner’s area of expertise in higher education was, for almost three decades, the creation of programs to enhance the learning, success, retention, and graduation of students in transition, particularly first-year students, through first-year seminar courses. Beginning in 2003, his efforts have been directed almost exclusively to working with institutions to look beyond a “programmatic” approach to improving the first year and instead to focus the entire experience of entering students. Throughout his career, he has hosted workshops, led training, and spoken on issues related to first- and senior-year experiences at more than 500 campuses in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, and Norway. 

He is a prolific author, developing highly successful first-year seminar textbooks and building the literature base on the first-year experience and students in transition. Some of his key contributions to the field include The Freshman Year Experience (1989) with M. Lee Upcraft, Jossey-Bass; The Senior Year Experience (1998), with Gretchen Van der Veer, Jossey-Bass; Challenging and Supporting the First-Year Student (2005), with M. Lee Upcraft and Betsy O. Barefoot, Jossey-Bass; Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College (2005), with Betsy O. Barefoot and Associates, Jossey-Bass; Helping Sophomores Succeed (2010), with Mary Stuart Hunter and Barbara F. Tobolowsky and Associates, Jossey-Bass; Developing and Sustaining Successful-First-Year Programs (2013), with Gerald M. Greenfield and Jennifer R. Keup, Jossey-Bass; The Undergraduate Experience: Focusing Institutions on What Matters Most (2016), with Peter Felten, Leo Lambert, Charles Schroder, and Betsy Barefoot; The Transfer Experience A Handbook for Creating a More Equitable and Successful Postsecondary Educational System (2021), with Michael J. Rosenberg and Andrew K. Koch, Stylus Publishing.

Title: Associate Director for Faculty Development and Resources, University 101 Programs, University of South Carolina

About Katie:

Katie Hopkins leads University 101 Programs' faculty development and resources efforts. In the faculty development area, Katie is primarily responsible for the training and support of UNIV 101 instructors and serves as the primary point of contact for new instructors. Katie also oversees the Graduate Leader Program and the M. Stuart Hunter Award for Outstanding Teaching in University 101. 

In the resources area, Katie oversees the Transitions textbook, Faculty Resource Manual, SharePoint intranet, and Sample Course Plan. 

Katie teaches UNIV 101: The Student in the University, EDLP 520: The Teacher as Manager, as well as UNIV 401: Graduation with Leadership Distinction. As a graduate student at USC, Katie served as a University 101 Graduate Leader and as an undergraduate student Katie served multiple semesters as a University 101 Peer Leader.

Title: Assistant Professor and Course Director of First-Year Seminars in the College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies at the University of Cincinnati

About Dr. Kelly:

Dr. Annie Kelly is an Assistant Professor and Course Director of First-Year Seminars in the College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies at the University of Cincinnati. In this role, she leads the strategic coordination of a first-year seminar course, encompassing faculty development, peer education, curriculum design, and assessment initiatives.  

Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Kelly held roles within faculty development, academic advising, and academic support at Loyola University Chicago and new student programming at the University of Kentucky.  She earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Loyola University Chicago.  

 Dr. Kelly is a speaker and author on topics related to first-year course design, peer leadership, and appreciative education. She serves as Editor of Insights for College Transitions for the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and is a faculty affiliate within the Office of Appreciative Education at Florida Atlantic University.  

Outside of her professional endeavors, Dr. Kelly enjoys spending time with her two-year old, listening to Taylor Swift, and exploring Cincinnati’s coffee shops.

Title: CEO of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education

About Dr. Koch:

Dr. Andrew "Drew" K. Koch, CEO of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education (Gardner Institute) since 2021, joined the non-profit Institute in 2010 to provide leadership for initiatives that enhance teaching, learning, student success, and completion in postsecondary education. The child of German immigrants and the recipient of need-based aid, Drew's personal educational journey informs his dedication to educational improvement. 

Prior to joining the Gardner Institute, Drew spent nearly two decades working at various colleges and universities with a focus on enhancing opportunities and success for traditionally marginalized student groups. Koch’s academic credentials include a B.A. in history and German and an M.A. in history from the University of Richmond, an M.A. in higher education administration from the University of South Carolina, and a Ph.D. in American studies from Purdue University. Koch was also a 2013 American Council on Education Fellow.  

Dr. Koch has led over 50 grant-funded initiatives supported by organizations like Ascendium Education Philanthropy, College Futures, ECMC Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. He is also actively collaborating with the American Historical Association on undergraduate education reform projects funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Beyond research, he contributes to the community through service on the Boards of the Gardner Institute and Asheville Empire Youth Lacrosse. 

Dr. Koch's scholarly work critiques the role of higher education in shaping and reflecting democracy in the U.S., with a particular focus on reforming inequitable education systems. Drew co-authored The Transfer Experience: A Handbook for Creating a More Equitable and Successful Postsecondary System published by Stylus in 2021 and Talking about Leaving Revisited: Persistence, Relocation, and Loss in Undergraduate STEM Education published by Springer in 2019. His most recent book, Transforming the Gateway Course Experience: A Call to Action for Higher Education, was released by Routledge in January 2025. 

Drew lives in Mills River, North Carolina, with his wife, Dr. Sara Stein Koch, their six children Andrejs, Maks, Hunter, Hudson, Grayson, and Lauren, and their lively dog, Anderson. 

Title: Professor and the Program Coordinator of the Academic Student Success/First Year Experience program at Houston Community College

About Dr. Koledoye:

Kimberly Koledoye is a professor and the program coordinator of the Academic Student Success/First Year Experience program at Houston Community College.  Kimberly’s extensive teaching background in literacy, English, education, and student success spans both the K-12 and post-secondary arenas. She specializes in course design and has led development teams in creating courses for college success, Developmental English, Integrated Reading and Writing, and accelerated Co-requisite models. She is passionate about student success, equity, instructional technologies, social justice, and providing professional development.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, Master of Education Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Composition, and a Doctorate of Higher Education Leadership.  Her research examining college success, women in leadership, and underrepresented minorities in STEM has led to multiple scholarly presentations and publications.