Should there be a Sophomore Student Experience?

Student Retention is a passion of mine (as you may have noticed) and there were two talks at the 2011 Noel-Levitz conference which gave me some new ideas. One of my favorites was Julie Tetley’s talk (summarized below) which highlights the Sophomore Experience. She brings up some really great points, and I see this as a large issue that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves.

Should there be a Sophomore Student Experience?

This was the presentation title from Julie Tetley, the Chief of Academic Advising and First Year Experience at the United States Air Force Academy. In this talk she described the “Sophomore Slump” which is defined by burnout, boredom, isolation, and lack of direction during a students second year.

Sophomores are also struggling to find their identity and sense of self, meanwhile facing:

Intensifying curriculum
Major career planning decisions
Peer issues from their first year.

All of these issues create doubts for students about whether a they “fit” with their institution. Unfortunately most schools aren’t designed to support the complex needs a student has as a sophomore. Although some support structures are in place, often sophomores question the approachability of their advisors and can fail to take the initiative to develop relationships with faculty members.

Tetley suggests the essential components of the Sophomore Year Experience provide a blend of challenge and support though:

Mentoring and engagement with the campus community
Opportunities for character and identity development
Experiential learning (community-based research, internships, cross-cultural experiences)
Meaningful faculty-student interactions
Feedback regarding personal strengths and interests.

Fortunately, Tetley developed the Sophomore Jump program to address these issues with the Sophomore Year Experience. I think this approach has a lot of merit and after sharing with the Inigral Team, they thought these were all important issues to address.

Is your institution tackling Sophomore retention issues? Please share your thoughts below. We want to hear what other institutions are doing to improve the student experience.