Over 100 faculty, staff, administrators and students from across the University are working this semester on the Foundations of Excellence (FoE) Task Force. The task force is organized into several “dimension committees,” each of which is studying a particular aspect of the First-Year at San Marcos.

These committees are analyzing the results of the surveys conducted last fall (over 600 responses to the faculty/staff survey and close to 900 responses to the First-Year Student survey), and carefully reviewing additional campus evidence to determine what is working well and where/how we can improve.

The task force is being guided by Dr. Betsy Barefoot, co-director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College, who is a leading expert and scholar on the first year experience. The Foundations of Excellence self-study will be an important component of our WASC Educational Effectiveness self-study, but – more than this – by thoughtfully examining the first year at San Marcos and taking steps to improve it, we will actually be laying the foundation for excellence in every year.

Nine members of the Task Force attended the Third Annual FoE Winter Meeting and/or the 27th Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in San Francisco to bring back practical tips and examples of best practices.

Two of the Dimension Committees are expected to complete their reports soon: The Roles & Purposes Committee has been examining student motivations through the lens of the observation that students who know why they should go to college and what to do when they arrive are much more likely to remain until graduation. The Philosophy Committee has been drafting a working “Philosophy Statement” which will serve as the basis for a shared understanding and articulation of what the first year of university at CSU San Marcos is all about. As these reports are finished, they will be made available on our local FoE website.

FoE Factoid: 86.6 percent of the first-year students responding to the survey question: “To what degree does this institution communicate the importance of academic honesty?” answer “High” or “Very High.”