The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2 - 15

The Help I Didn't Know I Needed

Student Selection
Each year, 100 students are selected into the FIT
program via a competitive application process.
Participants must be first-year students who
have been admitted to a degree program in
CASNR. Applications become available one
year prior to when students begin their first semester of college. Students are encouraged to
apply to be a part of this LLP via email communication, the academic college website, daily
prospective student visits, college recruitment
events both on and off campus, and word of
mouth from current and previous participants.
Once applications are received, a consistent
committee made up of the FIT director, assistant dean of the college, and FIT graduate
assistant review all applications annually. Reviewers examine essay questions for directness, depth, and detail. Demographics of the
students including home state, gender, and
intended major are considered to ensure diversity in participants and representation of the
overall college, but these characteristics alone
do not determine acceptance into the program.

weekly community and small group meetings
that focus on networking, the transition into
college, and building community. Additionally, they are expected to create a professional
résumé that is critiqued each semester by the
college's career services office. Finally, they are
expected to maintain a 3.0 minimum GPA;
those who do not achieve this goal meet oneon-one with the FIT director to discuss academic strategies. Students then implement the
strategies discussed, and if the academic issues
do not improve, they are dismissed from the
program. Students who are dismissed from
the program are replaced with new students
in the spring semester using the same admissions criteria.

It was clear that, for FIT students,
their residence hall community was
an important part of their college
experience .

Program Requirements
Students in the FIT program are required
to attend two educational events, two career
events, two wellness events, two faculty
dinners, and two "broadening your horizons" events, as well as to complete 15 hours
of community service each semester. These
events are designed to help them learn about
academic opportunities, develop professional
skills, explore career options, learn the importance of self-care, make positive contributions
to the community, learn leadership skills, and
experience different viewpoints and perspectives. Students are also required to attend bi-

METHOD
Participants and Data Collection
Data were collected for this study in two ways.
First, quantitative data (GPA, gender, race, firstgeneration status, and retention) were gathered by the FIT director for all students who
participated in the FIT program in 2014-2015
(N = 110) and 2015-2016 (N = 112). A random
sample of first-year students in the same years
(N = 109 for both years) from the same college

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2