Campus NEWS
Freshman Year Navigators help new Bulldogs find their way By Sasha Steinberg, Photos by Megan Bean
L
earning new things and making lifelong friends. Donning school colors and cheering the home team to victory. In many ways, college can be one of the most exciting times in a person’s life. But this new experience can also present some challenges, especially during a student’s first semester or two. Many freshmen experience common frustrations like getting lost on the first day of class, having a question but not knowing where to go for the answer, or just needing someone to talk with when times get tough. At Mississippi State, first-year students don’t have to face these and other challenges alone, thanks to the Freshman Year Navigators program. Laura Dunn, interim director of the Center for Student Success, said Navigators is a valuable and enviable resource for new Bulldogs. “The Freshman Year Navigators program is unique to our university, and a lot of schools across the SEC and nation are impressed by it,” said Dunn, who earned
2
WINTER 2020
a bachelor’s in communication, a master’s in counselor education and is pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership from MSU. Established in 2014, Freshman Year Navigators pairs upperclassmen with incoming freshmen to help new Bulldogs make the most of their time at Mississippi State and avoid the pitfalls that can stand between a student’s enrollment and eventual graduation. The program currently has 34 Navigators who each mentor a group of 100 freshmen. The Navigators, chosen from a pool of applicants each spring, represent a variety of majors, nationalities, faiths and socioeconomic backgrounds. Many also are involved on campus as Orientation Leaders, Roadrunners, Involvement Ambassadors and in other groups designed to welcome students to the Bulldog family. Dunn explained that each Navigator overcame challenges as a freshman and uses insight from those experiences to better assist new students who find themselves in similar situations.
“Our ideal candidate for Navigators is not a picture-perfect student,” she said. “We want students who have struggled because they can be problem-solvers and encourage other students to respond positively to a bad semester.” All entering freshmen are automatically assigned a Navigator who can meet during set office hours at the Center for Student Success’s office in Allen Hall. Freshmen also can reach out to their Navigator via email, text or phone call for help with academic difficulties, finding resources, ways to get involved on campus or just honest advice on “how to college” that first year, Dunn said. “Our office uses a pretty sophisticated system called the Student Success Portal that brings together information from across the university to help us pinpoint who needs help at any given time,” Dunn said. “We also appreciate when faculty, staff and advisers proactively reach out to students when they notice problems.” Dunn explained that since the start of
