First-year fair ignites success

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/fyi-logo.jpg” caption=”The First Year Ignition Success Fair logo”]First-year students hoping to “ace” year one of university can stop by the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace today to learn about the services that can help get them there.

A new First Year Ignition Success Fair, hosted by the Centre for Student Development, First Year Experience Office, and Career Services, is showcasing McMaster's resources and services that can help students achieve academic success.

“The First Year Ignition Success Fair grew out of an awareness that many students are overwhelmed with information during their first few weeks at McMaster,” says Peter Walsh, an academic skills counsellor with the Centre for Student Development. “Letting students know about the many success services and resources that are available to them has become a challenge. Students lives are simply too busy during their first few weeks to receive information about services that they don't need at that moment. We know that after Welcome Week, traditional methods of posters and mail outs, simply don't reach enough students with critical information when they want or need to know that information.”

The fair is conceptually a “re-orientation” to the services the university provides, he says. “We have conceived of student success broadly, not simply academic success, but including personal, extracurricular, and career success. Although with midterms looming for students, there is a focus on academic success and that comprises most of the presentations and panel discussions.”

Danielle Stayzer, manager of the First-Year Experience Office agrees. “This is a great opportunity for students to re-acquaint themselves with some of the valuable resources available that can help them achieve academic success,” she says. “This fair targets first-year students who may not be as familiar with the help that is offered to them on campus, but it may also attract upper-year students who will benefit from making contact with the people and services that are able to assist them at any point in their academic career and beyond.”

The fair, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will feature live workshops, panel discussions, and information sessions, surrounded by information booths from each faculty and several of the key service areas linked to student success. Presentations are reduced versions of full workshops. More information about all the topics is available from the respective departmental Web sites.

“These presentations,” says Walsh, “are just a taste of what is out there for students and we hope that they like what they see and access the full versions of the services we offer.”

For more information on the fair as well as a schedule of presentations visit http://maclife.mcmaster.ca/fyi