First Year Programs

Nazareth has several programs that are designed to help students with the transition into college. In addition to the programs offered through The First Year Center, the following have also been developed to support and educate students so that they will become involved with the college community and succeed academically and personally:

Freshman Academic Support Services is a program administered through the Office of Academic Advisement. The Coordinator of this program, Mary Anne Parker-Hancock, focuses specifically on the academic needs of first year students, provides general advisement and addresses serious academic difficulties. She also works closely with the Director of Student Transition/The First Year Center to communicate about and address issues regarding first year students. For more information on Academic Advisement, click here.

Freshman Seminar is a 3 credit class taken by all first time college students in the Fall semester. The goals of this class are to develop academic skills with an emphasis on oral communication, to ease the transition from high school to college, to promote active learning, to explore values and to provide exposure to the diverse world. For more information on Freshman Seminar, click here.

Summer Jump Start Program is a great opportunity for new first year students and their families to come to the campus and get a "jump start" on the academic year. During the program, new students are given the opportunity to have questions answered regarding academics, dorm life, financial aid, campus safety, and more. For more information on the Summer Jump Start Program, click here.

New Student Orientation takes place several days before the start of classes. The orientation begins with a convocation ceremony that celebrates new students and emphasizes the significance of this new journey. Then, throughout the next few days, students are acclimated by meeting peers and resource people, engage in community service activities to foster bonding and to connect to the greater Rochester community, and attend educational activities with their orientation groups to acquire information on student life at Nazareth. After Orientation weekend, student orientation leaders continue to stay in contact informally with students in their groups to lend further support through this transitional period. For more information on New Student Orientation, click here.

Learning Communities are programs that facilitate a smooth transition to college by promoting faculty and student interaction. These programs also provide new students with a built-in network of peers with whom they can study and share ideas. We have a program which links Freshman Seminar with English 101 and other core courses, as well as a program entitled "FYE" which links Freshman Seminar sections with residential living communities. For more information on the FYE program, click here.