First-year retention is one of the best indicators of student success, which can push institutions to prioritize community-building and connection for new or incoming enrollees. But for returning or transfer students, it can feel as though the university cares less once they complete their first year.

To provide continued and targeted support, the University of South Carolina has established a new office, the Carolina Experience, which is dedicated to students’ growth and career development as they continue through college.

USC is known for its attentiveness to first-year students; the university is home to the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. But survey data indicated a need for continued support through graduation, said Amber Fallucca, director of the Carolina Experience.

“The underlying goals across all of these efforts speak to increasing sense of belonging and career readiness across our students throughout their time at University of South Carolina,” Fallucca said.

How it works: The office, established in 2024, provides a peer leader for every student, as well as institutional support through campus partnerships and training for university personnel. Each student at the sophomore level and above is assigned a Carolina Experience peer leader, a trained upper-level or graduate student who offers one-on-one consultations, distributes regular communication about campus events and gets their mentees connected on campus. Peer leaders reflect a variety of academic majors and hometowns; many were transfer students themselves, Fallucca said.

Faculty and staff training are designed to improve teaching pedagogy and create awareness of student needs beyond freshman year, as well as relevant campus resources. In fall 2024, the office created a certificate program in conjunction with the Center for Teaching Excellence to build credentials for faculty focused on student populations (first-generation learners or transfer students, for example). Each session provided national and local data on the population, teaching strategies, and relevant services for them, Fallucca said.

The office also hosts special programs, including back-to-school events for transfer and sophomore students to help them navigate their transition. In addition, the Carolina Experience clarifies expectations and basic life skills in sessions such as Mutual Expectations, a luncheon for faculty and students to dig into educational topics like artificial intelligence in the classroom.

Events are tailored to various student profiles and guided by expert voices. “Many of the events are in partnership with the campus expert or focus area that develop content focused on specific academic years and student needs,” Fallucca said. The Adulting 101 series, for example, includes staff from Career Services and the student success center and addresses topics including internships, professional dining etiquette and building credit.

The impact: Since launching, the Carolina Experience has recorded 1,600-plus consultations with peer leaders; senior-level students have been most likely to engage in the service. Postconsultation surveys found that 95 percent of students said the experience was helpful and 93 percent learned something new based on their conversation.

In the first year of the program, staff hosted 109 student events with over 11,000 attendees; 200-plus faculty and staff engaged in 11 training sessions.

“It has been amazing to see how these efforts have been embraced by the campus community,” Fallucca said, noting that faculty called the office a “game changer for students.”

Fallucca said stakeholder feedback will guide future efforts, with a focus on upper-level students and transfers. This year, graduating seniors can engage with Countdown to Commencement, which provides insights on requirements for graduation and involves relevant campus partners who support fourth-year students.

She also sees the program as a tool for recruiting prospective students and creating engaged alumni after graduation.

“As higher education institutions grapple with changing enrollments and student demographics, centering efforts on the holistic student experience, especially beyond the first year, can help in long-term retention efforts, career-readiness efforts and additional success outcomes,” Fallucca said.

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