"Retention is the Outcome....Graduation is the Goal!"

The mission of the OAE is to improve retention and graduation rates of Xavier students, particularly by addressing new freshmen students and students who are academically at risk. This is done through academic support and the first year experiences. The OAE functions to 1) design and implement academic programs pertaining to the Freshman Year Experience to improve retention and graduation rates, 2) provide academic advising to Deciding majors, 3) monitor the academic progress of probationary students, 4) provide Academic Support through the coordination, enhancement, and support of peer tutoring and the academic labs (reading, writing, and mathematics), and 5) engage a system of monitoring and mentoring the academic progress of new freshmen students.

All members of the University - academic and non-academic, faculty and staff, students and administrators, etc. - are stakeholders in this program. More importantly, all factions must work together in a positive and cooperative way in order to achieve the goals of the program.

Objectives of OAE:

To accomplish its goals, the following objectives for the OAE were created -

• To develop a new course, FRSM 1000 - Freshman Seminar, as a series of seminars and lectures designed to improve college success of new students at Xavier University with the purpose for students to increase their chances of academic success in the first year at Xavier, gain experiences and knowledge for their development as young professionals, and develop life-long skills as expected of a Xavier student.
• To assign a freshman reading and interdisciplinary theme for new freshmen. For 2007-2008, the theme chosen was "The Paradox of Choice". The book chosen was titled The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz. The goal is for this theme to be woven through the curricular and co-curricular experiences of freshmen by faculty and staff associated with freshmen courses and programs.
• To develop a new, Spring-semester freshman course, FRSM 1100 Freshman Seminar II, that will expand on the theme and consist of lectures and discussions designed to foster critical thinking, reasoning, and reflection on one’s community, environment, culture, and career choices.
• To improve on academic support by coordinating the efforts of the Mathematics, Reading, and Writing labs; offering tutoring in freshmen courses currently not served, and monitoring the attendance and progress of academic support participants.
• To improve the academic monitoring and tracking of students taking developmental courses or under probation.
• To develop a system of academic advising of Deciding Majors by faculty.
• To develop Freshman Summer Programs that will include the remediation of developmental courses for freshmen (allowing them to be able to take all degree-credit courses in their first fall semester) and a Summer Freshman Orientation.
• To develop a unified Honors Program.
• To identify possible sources of funding for Freshman Programs.