The First-Year Student Success Program at Coastal Carolina University has been selected as a 2004 Outstanding Institutional Advising Program Award winner in the National Awards Program for Academic Advising.

Coastal’s First-Year Student Success Program, currently in its eighth year, was established to help retain first-year students through a series of mentoring programs centered around success seminars, a peer mentor program and mentoring by faculty members trained to serve as academic advisers. The program has serviced some 300 to 350 students each year since its inception.

The seminars focus on introducing students to campus resources (i.e., Career Services, Counseling Services, etc.) while developing their critical skills such as critical thinking, goal setting, oral communication and time management.

University President Ronald R. Ingle praised the program’s effectiveness in increasing student retention by nearly 27 percent since the program began in fall of 1996.

Coastal’s program of advisement, directed by Linda Hollandsworth, English professor and director of Student Academic Support Services, will be recognized at the national conference in October.

The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) comprises more than 7,200 faculty members, professional advisers, administrators and counselors of colleges and universities.

Coastal faculty who served as mentors in the program for the 2003-2004 academic year include Lisa Barboun, Teresa Burns, Jerome Christia, Grant Collins, Carl Dresden, Val Dunham, Joanne Duvall, Charles Gidney, Brad Harmon, Rich Koesterer, Joe Mazurkiewicz, Paul Olsen, Kris Rau, Jack Riley, Robin Russell, Charles Sena, John Steen, Steve West and Rebecca Williams.

Faculty mentors are paired with student peer mentors to assist the first-year students.