IU best place for freshmen, 'Time' says

IU is the best large university in the country at helping freshmen adjust to college, according to an article in this week's Time magazine.\nThe article cites IU's programs -- such as Groups, Intensive Freshman Seminars and Freshman Interest Groups -- that are aimed at making IU's 36,000-member student body seem smaller. Time also recognized three smaller colleges for similar efforts.\nThe article's introduction says the magazine wanted to go beyond standard rankings to determine how well students learn and become engaged in their learning.\n"Helping new students survive has, in our judgment, become an essential responsibility of every college," wrote Time Assistant Managing Editor Dan Goodgame. "This year Time recognizes four institutions with highly effective programs to help first-year students make a successful transition into college life."\nThe article -- expected to be on newsstands today -- mentions three other "notable" large colleges: Harvard, Michigan and Stanford.\nIU officials said they are glad the University is receiving recognition for its programs. \n"It's good news," said University spokeswoman Susan Dillman. "We've always believed we have an outstanding program. It's nice to see IU get recognition."\nDon Hossler, vice chancellor for enrollment services, echoed Dillman's praise for the recognition and added that the University will benefit from it. \n"I'm certain that for this year and the next it will have an impact on more students looking at us," he said. "I think it's important validation for things we've always thought about freshman education here."\nHe cautioned, however, that it would influence the number of prospective students for only a few years.\nIU's goal is to make sure each student can connect with a smaller community that makes him or her feel at home, Hossler said. As groups like the FIGs and IFS have been implemented in the last decade, the number of students that stay for their sophomore year has increased, Hossler said.\nFIGs are small groups of freshmen that live together and take some of the same classes; Groups is a mentoring program aimed at first-generation and low-income college students; and IFS is a three-week academic program for freshmen before classes start.\nGeorge Kuh, an IU higher education professor, was on the committee that nominated schools for the Time article. He also heads the National Survey of Student Engagement, which studies how universities use special programs to help students learn and develop.\nThe seven-member committee held teleconferences in the spring to suggest schools that had promising programs for freshmen. Kuh said he and at least one other panelist suggested IU be featured.\nTime took the names of those mentioned and did their own investigating. Kuh said he didn't know until July -- when a Time reporter showed up on campus -- that IU had been selected. \nAs associate dean of faculties about five years ago, Kuh helped shape some of the programs the article cited. IU has subscribed to former IU president Herman B Wells' philosophy of making the big campus seem small for many years, he said.\nFinding an "affinity group" in which students feel welcome and comfortable is an essential step in adjusting to college, Kuh said. The theory goes that the students will not only stay at the University but also do better in their classes.\nThe difficulty colleges face is in creating affinity groups that reinforce the academic mission of the University. Whereas groups like drinking clubs don't reinforce those goals, Kuh said, efforts like the Groups program, FIGs, residence hall thematic units and greek houses are positive influences.\nThose are the influences IU has tried to nurture, Kuh said.\n"This is a deserved accolade because Bloomington has done something to make first-year students more engaged," he said. "At the same time, there are a lot of things that can be improved. The good news is I don't think Bloomington will sit on its laurels."\nJacek Dalecki, director of the Freshman Interest Groups, said he hopes the Time article will help some of IU's programs for freshmen "resurface." Some of them have suffered from a lack of awareness, he said. \n"(Time) covered the freshman experience, and IU has quite a few programs," he said. "This is something earned; it's not just a gift"