About the Institute
Looking to build, restructure, or enhance your first-year seminar? The Institute on Developing and Sustaining First-Year Seminars will:
- Empower you to lead meaningful change and enhance the impact of your seminar on student success
- Leave with actionable ideas that can be implemented on your home campus through individual sessions designed to build on one another
- Model the active pedagogies that we advocate for in our classrooms through group work, active learning, and discussion to engage participants in learning
Institute faculty will build a framework where participants can engage in discussions with colleagues, examine trends and practices connected to first-year seminars, and identify new strategies to ensure the success of first-year students. Whether you are looking to build, restructure, or enhance a first-year seminar on your campus, this institute will empower you to lead meaningful change and enhance the impact of your seminar on student success.
Institute Faculty (Fall 2025)
- Betsy Barefoot, Gardner Institute
- Dan Friedman, University of South Carolina
- John Gardner, Gardner Institute
- Katie Hopkins, University of South Carolina
- Annie Kelly, University of Cincinnati
- Andrew Koch, Gardner Institute
- Kimberly Koledoye, Houston Community College
Institute Details (Fall 2025)
Sponsored by: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition
Co-sponsored by: Gardner Institute
Venue: Pastides Alumni Center | 900 Senate Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Accommodations: Hampton Inn Columbia-Downtown Historic District | 822 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Questions?
If you have any questions about the content or organization of this event, pleae contact the Conferences and Continuing Education team at fyeconf@mailbox.sc.edu.