First Year Initiative Programs

Academic Advising and Retention Center (AARC) Tours, Presentation and Classroom Visits

The Academic Advising and Retention Center (AARC) works with instructors to provide tours and classroom visits for students to encourage the use of resources available through The Learning Center (TLC). These tours and presentations are part of the First Year Initiative Program (FYI) and are led by the FYI Advisor. Instructors may bring their class to AARC/TLC or the FYI Advisor will come to the classroom. All tours and classroom visits must be scheduled in advance and the instructor must be present when the event occurs.

Presentation content includes a discussion of the services provided by TLC, including but not limited to, free one-on-one tutoring, free computer lab usage, Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS), and Academic Advantage Series programming.

iCAP is also a component of the presentation. Each student will receive a copy of their current iCAP report and the class will be taken step by step through the report. Students will be shown how to run this report and how to run a "What If" report to explore major options.

Fifth Week Assessment reports will be explained to first year students. This information is gathered from all instructors of 100 level classes and indicates for each freshman student for each class if they currently have a D/F or Pass and if they have Excessive Absences. The students will be instructed on where they can find this information in TopNet.

Advising for the future term will be discussed. This will include a demonstration in TopNet of where to locate the Change of Major form and when the best time is to change majors. The students will be encouraged to make early appointments to meet with the advisor assigned to them and to go to these appointments prepared, by having any holds taken care of and having a list of classes they would like to take in the future term.

Due to the large number of requests, the AARC is asking that the following guidelines be used for these sessions:

Any tours of the AARC and TLC must be during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Any classroom visits must be during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Evening and late afternoon visits may be arranged by contacting carol.alicie@wku.edu.
During the tour or visit the faculty/staff member must be present.
Any tours and classroom visits must be scheduled for the first six weeks of the semester. Please contact carol.alicie@wku.edu or call 270-745-2328 to make arrangements.
When scheduling time for your tour or classroom visit, please be precise on your arrival time and the length of the time with your class.
If you visit the AARC/TLC, please make sure the room is clean afterward. Trash should be thrown away.
Access to A/V equipment is permissible only to the faculty/staff member who is teaching the course. This person is responsible for any misuse or damage to the equipment.

LINC

LINC is a program of the First Year Initiative of the Academic Advising and Retention Center at Western Kentucky University.

The goals of LINC are established to enable students to:

L earn what to expect from college

I mprove the transition from high school to college

N etwork with WKU faculty and staff to get answers to questions

C onnect with WKU faculty and staff to ensure educational goal attainment

These objectives are accomplished through LINC. By providing accurate information, contact resources, and a semi-monthly newsletter, and contact resources. Additionally, a semi-monthly newsletter will be available on this website with information you may need at that particular time in the semester.

If you have any questions or topic ideas you would like to see addressed in the newsletter, please contact carol.alicie@wku.edu.

LINC Newsletter

Glossary of WKU Terms

Each campus has its own unique terminology that students will learn to understand during their time at the institution. WKU is no different. A glossary of WKU terms has been provided to hopefully help in answering some of your questions. See one that is missing? Please do let us know and we will add it. Contact Carol Alicie at (270) 745-2328.