First-Year Experience
The Huston-Tillotson University First-Year Experience (FYE) is designed to connect first-year students to the university. FYE provides a wrap-around, holistic experience that offers a broad grouping of inclusive educational opportunities and student support services. First-Year Experience (FYE) Program is a comprehensive educational support system designed to assist students in making a successful transition to HT and higher learning. The FYE Program includes Ram Training Camp, which is Huston-Tillotson’s signature new student orientation program; a career based FYE project; instructors/advisors; Peer Learning Coaches (PLC); peer mentors; co-curricular programming; and a student-centered academic alert intervention support network.
Orientation: Cultivating Pride, Purpose and Passion.
Orientation is the first step to achieve academic and personal success at HT! Our orientation is your initial integration into what it means to #be_HT. This activity prepares you for a broad range of HT educational opportunities and services, and sets the tone for academic and social expectations, as well as student responsibilities.
The First Year Experience program provides our HT first year students with purposeful and structured out-of-class educational experiences. Co-curricular programming is designed to compliment and reinforce the declared learning goals of their core curriculum courses. These experiences are designed with the hope of exposing our students to internships, community volunteer opportunities, and long term career goals that will inspire our students to pursue their purpose with passion!
Appreciative Academic Advising
All freshman students receive intrusive, intentional, and appreciative advising from the coordinating instructor, whom they spend at least 2 hours a week with in their freshman seminar UNIV1101 and UNIV1102 courses. The academic advisor seeks to meet regularly to cultivate a strong relationship with each of their advisees wherein the student feels a valued and a shared responsibility of academic success.
Every freshman has been assigned a Peer Mentor to guide them during their freshman year. The Peer Learning Coaches are prominent leaders on campus that have been trained in tutoring methods and peer mentoring. We are very proud to have them mentor our freshmen students.
What PLCs do:
- PLC mentors reach out to new freshman to welcome, notify and inform them of HT- FYE events before they step foot on campus.
- The PLC mentors attend freshman seminar with their mentees and help guide students.
- They host weekly study hall sessions to tutor their mentees and provide individual learning consultations.
- Develop and coordinate co-curricular events and activities for our freshmen students.
- Are basically, your big brother or sister on campus.
Ram Radar Early Alerts
Ram Radar Early Alert is a program of student centered intervention and follow-ups for students identified as having academic and/or personal difficulties. The program proactively provides feedback from instructors to the advisors (freshman seminar) and mentors (Peer Learning Coaches) to help students seek and receive student support services and other recommended actions that will help them succeed.
