NIU is reaching out to freshmen this semester with two programs aimed to ease them through their transition into college.

The College of Professional Studies is offering Freshman Connections, which is two programs designed to teach freshmen about NIU and encourage them to become involved with the university, said Sandra Kuchynka, academic counselor.

One program consists of the ICPS 101 course available through the College of Professional Studies. “It is a very interaction-orientated course,” Kuchynka said.

“This is the first year that ICPS 101 is open to all first-semester freshmen,” she said.

The course talks about the meaning of higher education, survival skills, such as time management and test taking, and relevant issues such as student diversity,” she said.

Students receive one credit hour upon completion of ICPS 101. There are ten 20-student sections of the course taught by faculty volunteers, Kuchynka said. The class often is educational for the teachers also, she said.

A more informal program that can be taken alone or combined with the class is NIU’s Mentoring Project. The program pairs students up with mentors who can help them outside of the classroom setting.

“The mentors consist of NIU faculty, staff and some upperclassmen,” Kuchynka said. They meet with the students, attend campus activities with them, and help them with any questions or problems they might have, she said.

“There are two national factors that are tied to student retention and success … student interaction with the university and interaction with the faculty outside of the traditional classroom setting,” Kuchynka said.

Both programs are designed to facilitate those factors, she said.

A recent NIU study found 85 percent of students who took the ICPS 101 course were still at NIU at the beginning of their sophomore year, compared with 72 percent who had not, Kuchynka said.

Both of these programs also are supported by the Provost.

Kuchynka said although the ICPS 101 course is full this semester, students still can enroll in the mentor project by contacting Kenneth Reeves at the College of Professional Studies.

The course talks about the meaning of higher education, survival skills, such as time management and test taking, and relevant issues such as student diversity.”