Fayetteville State University (FSU) has been selected to participate in a national higher education project known as "Foundations of Excellence® in the First College Year." Sponsored by the Policy Center on the First Year of College, this project will enable FSU to evaluate and improve the university's effectiveness in recruiting, admitting, orienting, supporting, advising, and teaching new students. Faculty and staff will evaluate the first-year experience on the basis of nine principles of excellence and then develop plans for improvement.
Since February of 2003, the Foundations of Excellence project has involved over 300 two- and four-year institutions across the country. FSU is the first UNC institution to participate in this project.
In discussing FSU's selection to the project, John N. Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center, said, "Joining the Foundations of Excellence process is the latest step in a long-term effort of FSU to serve new students effectively. The new initiative caps several decades of increasing investments and refinements resulting in increased success for students. This latest initiative has statewide importance, in that FSU is the first UNC institution to participate in the project."
In response to the selection, Dr. Juliette Bell, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, explained, "FSU's participation in the Foundations of Excellence reflects our ongoing commitment to providing high quality educational experiences for our students and improving retention and graduation rates."
Chancellor Lloyd V. Hackley stated, "FSU has long been committed to the concept of 'value-added' of providing high quality education and educational support services to our students so that the outcome projections one can make from their beginning academic indicators are exceeded by their levels of achievement at the end of their progression through the university. The 'Foundations of Excellence' project provides us with additional tools and resources to accomplish our educational mission, to amass additional documentation to prove our success and to transfer our success model to new generations of students at FSU and at other institutions."
For more information, please contact Dr. Peter Valenti, (910) 672-1176 or Dr. Jon Young, (910) 672-1606.
