Center for First-Year Experience to hold professional development opportunities

The Center for the First-Year Experience (CFYE) will hold its fifth annual First-Year Conference and Brown Bag Series this fall to promote professional development in interacting with first-year students for faculty and staff.

The conference, “Helping Students Take Ownership for Learning,” will take place from 7:30 a.m.–1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, at the Pyle Center.

The conference is free for employees and includes a complimentary breakfast and lunch buffet.

After registration closes in the main dining room in the Pyle Center at 8:15 a.m., keynote speaker Patricia King, a University of Michigan professor of higher education, will welcome participants.

At 9:40 a.m., participants will attend their first of two hour-long breakout sessions of their choice. Options include “Assessing your Work with First-Year Students,” “Challenging First-Year Students through Digital Storytelling” and “Peer Mentoring for Success.”

Each session will include a lecture and an opportunity for participants to converse about their own perceptions and experiences with first-year students.

During lunch CFYE will announce the winners of the Outstanding Work with First-Year Students awards in the categories of faculty or staff, academic staff, graduate student and classified staff.

Anyone can submit nominations for these awards.

CFYE prefers participants register no later than one week before the event. Registration will be capped at 200 participants. Register online.

The “CFYE Brown Bag Series: Where Lunch is On Us!” is an ongoing series designed to foster dialogue among employees on enhancing the first-year experience for students. On Nov. 11, the series will offer “International Student First-Year Experiences” and on Dec. 9, the semester will conclude with “Engaging First-Year Students in Large Lectures.”

All sessions will take place at noon and last an hour and a half. They will all be held at the Welcome Center, 21 N. Park St., in Room 1106 and include a free lunch.

Registration will be capped at 30 participants per session. Register online .