Virtual Pathway Information Session

Hello, my name is Rob Trap show. I have the privilege of serving as the enrollment director for the Pathway Program and on behalf of the entire Bowling Green State University community. I want to say welcome. Congratulations on your offer of admission to Bowling Green State University. During today's session, we're going to talk about the Pathway program. We recognize that you're here today because you've been extended an opportunity to participate in the Pathway program and undoubtedly probably have some questions.

What does being part of the pathway program mean? What will my first year in Bowling Green look like? What does it mean to be part of this University community and then also to be part of the Pathway program specifically? So we're going to do our best to try to answer those questions during this aspect of the session. Will talk about a few different things. First and foremost, we'll make sure that we spend a few minutes just defining the opportunity, explaining what it means to be part of the pathway program. Secondly, will make sure that we spend a few minutes talking about some of the most frequently asked questions that we see students who have been extended this offer of admission to BGSU.

Asked as it relates to the Pathway program and what that life is. A first year student at BGSU in Bowling Green will look like and then last. Of course we'd be remiss if we didn't spend a few minutes talking about next steps for a student who's been extended. This offer of admission, we want to make sure that we give you the tools that you need in order to be successful and to make sure that you are well prepared to be enrolled as a BGSU student for the fall semester. So, first and foremost, one of the things that we want to make sure that we talk about is the pathway program itself.

And the best way to describe the Pathway program in one word would be to use the word comprehensive. It really is this comprehensive experience for us to be able to provide you as a student success network that ensures you're positioned to be successful at BGSU. It comprises of a number of different things. First and foremost, academic support support in the classroom to make sure that the chief reason that you're a student for your academic success is met. Secondly, the Pathway program provides mechanisms for social support and for acclamation to the college and University is.

Variance, and especially the residential one in Bowling Green and then third, it really is a community of students studying together with services that are inherent in and kind of built within the fabric of the experience that helped to foster the success community is key as part of the Pathway program and one of the things that we like to talk about when we discuss the Pathway program or the way that we like to describe it, is that functionally it's a community within a community within the University community. I hope that as you learn more about the Pathway program you'll see today.

However, this is alongside us is as we share it with you, but of course we want to make sure that we spend a few minutes talking about what that really means and what that means for you as a student at the University. So one of the first questions that we oftentimes will see students ask is well, why me right? Why was I extended an offer to the Pathway program, and the best way for us to answer that is because we know that you can be successful at BGSU and our research shows that students have had similar academic experiences prior to enrolling at BGSU.

Thrive at BGSU with this support. For those of you who are our moms or dads or answer uncles or grandparents or others who are part of that kind of support system that helps the student be successful. To date, this is really maybe a message to you deliberately. We at the University owe it to you as a parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle, but we owe it to you to welcome your student to campus in an environment that's built for his or her or their success. And that's really what the pathway program does.

It provides those resources in those tools in a in a manner that we think best positions a student to be successful at BGSU in their first year and prepares them for year two and beyond on the Bowling Green Campus. So really, what is the pathway program and the way that we describe it in a couple of different ways? First and foremost, it's a full time residential experience just like any other BGSU freshman. But with these extra supports so students at BGSU are full time students as part of the Pathway program, you're enrolled in very specific courses.

Ones that we know are universally applied toward the degree program of your choosing or any other at the University. Some of these may be as examples, University success course or a history course or sociology course. English or writing courses or math courses or other science courses to clarify, of course, and to reaffirm all of the courses are taken in Bowling Green on the Bowling Green State University campus in Bowling Green. And these are courses that support your success.

In your first year and prepare you for subsequent study in your academic program of your choice after completion. Now when we talk about course selection and we talk about the courses that you're selecting or taking in your first year as you plan for continued study at the University and ultimately culminating in your receiving a bachelor's degree from BGSU. One of the questions that oftentimes can come up is a question about timeliness and time towards completion. Of my degree, one of the questions that will sometimes come up it is right there as you see it on the screen, a question that asks.

Well, will this slow my path towards graduation? And the answer here we want to make sure that we're clear is an emphatic no. You know every University degree at BGSU and each and every University degree at the University has its own requirements. But certain courses are consistently required across all of these different academic programs. Those courses, those courses that are required really, regardless of what academic program is student, chooses. Those are the ones that students were part of. The Pathway program take in their first year.

And we know it at the University, and certainly as part of the Pathway program that academic planning is so important. We pledge transparency. Certainly an so early conversations with us are vital so that we can help understand the interest that you have in the aspirations that you have as far as your goals, academically and otherwise and professionally and beyond. We want to make sure that we're sharing that with you, know, every degree plan has its own unique map, so to speak, of requirements that are needed to complete the degree, and we want to make sure that we discuss what your plan in your academic area of interest looks like for you.

I think one of the really neat parts when we talk about this though, is is that first year and that that fall semester in your spring semester at BGSU. Not only do you take those courses, we defined that are kind of universally applied toward any degree program at the University, but also in the spring semester. So after you complete your fall semester and your second semester at BGSU in the spring, we ask you to consider taking a course in the subject area of your interest. So for instance, if you had an interest in studying business, we'd want you to have the opportunity to take an introductory business course. Or, if you had an interest.

In communication or an interest in education or any of the other University degrees that BGSU offers, this is an opportunity in this as early as your spring semester. In your first year for you to be taking a class in that subject area, it gives you the opportunity to acclimate to that experience and largely to prepare you as you transition out of the pathway. Program to one of the other academic colleges in the Bowling Green State University system on the Bowling Green Campus so that you're prepared and you're ready for those next steps.

In your academic career.

So we talk a lot about so far what it means to be a student. We talk a lot about tools and resources that are here that can help you to be successful, but one of the things that we want to talk about is is what those tools are and how you as a student, ultimately succeed at BGSU. Now we right here on the screen that the key towards your success with the key to your success is your family and ours, and I think one of the really neat parts that you'll experience and you'll observe as you become more and more involved in your communication with Bowling Green State University is that your family will become.

Our family it's really important for us to be able to help build those relationships and continue that dialogue through the duration and really experience of your study at BGSU. One of the important components of the college experience is the way in the dynamic and the the modes of communication. Adjust or adapt over the course of your experience from your transitioning from a high school karere to a college or University one, we recognize that as you were in high school, it's.

It's common and normal for you to have conversations not only for your school. They have conversations not only with you but also with your family as well, right? To share with you and share with them. Updates on your progress. Your study. An really what those keys to you to your success in the classroom might be and how together you and your district can help to find those in ultimately execute those in a College in University setting. Typically that communication becomes much more focused between just the University and the student.

But we found as part of the Pathway program that continuing that kind of broad group of conversation between you, the University and also your family, whether again that beats Mom or dad or aunts or uncles or grandparents, whoever it is, that's part of that support system. That's part that ensures you're as successful as you can be. As a student, we ask you to keep that dialogue and keep that communication open. So one of the tenants of the Pathway program will ask for you to help complete some paperwork that allows us at the University to have that open line of dialogue and communication not only with you, of course.

But with your family too. That way together we can work to. We can make sure that we're sharing the information that we need. You have a channel to share your feedback as well, and we can make sure that we're working together to ensure you are best positioned to be successful at BGSU. It's not just you.

Right, and we recognize that there's a whole team of resources at BGSU. They're here to help you be successful and it starts with our academic advising team. Our academic advisors are here to help you. Our advisors help understand help you to understand the degree requirements, of course, and the courses that are important for your success. In order to ultimately graduate from BGSU. But it's not just that, and really, that's just a small fraction of the work that are advising team does as they help to support you and acclimate to the University.

Our advisors at BGSU, and especially as part of the Pathway program, really service that key to helping you connect your interests with the resources and the tools that are here at BGSU. Whether that be additional academic support, whether that be career counseling, whether that be really plans that you have and want to help ensure that you're successful. That's where our advisors come into play to help you with those resources and tools. One of the neat parts about the Pathway program, our faculty who are dedicated to taking.

To teaching courses specifically to students or part of this program so as at BGSU, as part of the Pathway program. You'll be taking classes with students who are part of the Pathway program as well. Typically, these classes are around 25 students or so, and because our faculty are teaching classes specifically and exclusively to you as part of the Pathway program, there's an extra opportunity for enhanced conversation, enhance dialogue, and ultimately really neat environment for you to be having those conversations with.

Your fellow classmates and with your advisor along the way and then last but not least, you know we put here on the screen the 21,000 plus members of the BGSU University community. And yes, that that said, a little bit with a wink in her eye as we say that. But it's also true for any of you who have a familiarity with the University or maybe no family members or friends or neighbors who have enrolled at BGSU. We hope that one of the things that they've shared with you that you'll come to realize is the way that our University.

Comes together to support one another. Are Falcons help other Falcons, so to speak. And here at BGSU, we recognize how important that is for you, especially in that first year we want you to get involved. We want you to be in the class, of course, but it's really important for you to be joining clubs, organizations, whatever that may be. So it's it's so vital to your University experience, so we, as part of the Pathway program, absolutely encourage you to join clubs, organizations, or other groups that help them make the most of your first year.

FPG SCO. We've talked a lot about opportunities we've talked about some of the tools we talked about, the resources I want to talk a little bit about, the investment we've talked about, the investment in terms of your time, and your energy and your commitment. But from a financial standpoint, we also want to make sure that you understand the value of your investment, so we've put here on the screen, snapshot of what we anticipate to be that directly assessed, tuition, fees, and other charges to you as a student in your first year at BGSU, and then what we expect to be the case for your second year and beyond.

As you look at the chart, you'll notice the column to the left outlines your first year study as part of the Pathway program. Your second column or the column to the right is a projection of what we anticipate those tuition fees and other directly assessed charges will be for your second year and beyond as part of the Pathway program, students have the opportunity to avail themselves of a lowered assessed tuition and fee structure that's associated with the Firelands College, one of the peer academic colleges of our colleagues in Bowling Green on the Bowling Green Campus.

So as part of the Pathway program, the tuition and fees for the academic year, you'll note there just a little bit over $6800 for the for the academic year. That will adjust for your second year and beyond as you transition from the Firelands College, which delivers the academic instruction for the Pathway program to one of our peer colleges on the Bowling Green campus. Again, your experience will be entirely in Bowling Green, but in an interest of transparency, we wanted to make sure that we share with you.

That that change from the first year to your second year and beyond so that you have time to prepare and understand what that ultimate investment looks like. As you look at the chart on the 2nd row in the third row and beyond, you'll note there's consistency there, the room charges and the meal charges. Those are consistent regardless of whether students are in their first year or beyond at the University. One of the important components that we, of course note here is that for students there are directly assessed charges as it relates to their meals or relates to their room.

Is of course going to be associated with the meal plan that the student chooses an the living experience that the student chooses as well. So we want to make sure that we share with you a clear estimation of the cost. Will see again on the 1st row there the snapshot of the directly assessed tuition and fees for the first year and the second year. Of course they do qualify that those are four students were classified as residents of the State of Ohio for tuition purposes. You'll note there's an additional non resident surcharge for students who are coming to us from outside the state of Ohio.

So I would be remiss if we didn't spend a little bit of time as we talk about the next steps for students as part of their experience at BGSU and preparing students to be part of the University community and part of the Pathway program for the fall semester. Every October, students are encouraged to file the FAFSA. The free application for federal student aid. This ensures that BGSU considers you for all opportunities that made for which you are eligible. We ask you to, of course, take this step, but also to be on the lookout for additional resources from our colleagues in the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholar.

Ships to help you understand navigating questions and the process that's associated with your completing the free application for federal student aid and then having the information so that you understand what happens next.

In February every year will ask you to select your housing and to make your application for housing. Note that students who are part of the Pathway program don't need to live in a particular residence Hall or nor did the students who are part of the Pathway program need to live together. It's part of the University community, but for us, when you pay your $200 housing payment, it is both kind of a figurative and literal way for you to commit to BGSU. From a figurative standpoint, when we receive that $200 payment.

To us, it's your good faith way of saying I'm coming to be at BGSU. We recognize that we can understand that and we start to plan for your arrival to the University in the fall. I'm a literal front. It's what saves a bed for you. It gives us the opportunity to make sure that we save space in our residence halls to give you the chance to be living in the residence halls in Bowling Green as part of of the first year class in Bowling Green. OH for BGSU, Secondly, you know it's important for us as as we think about not just the residential experience from a housing standpoint.

But also your orientation at BGSU. We refer to our orientation program as under the acronym of SORE, which stands for the Student Orientation, advising and registration program the opportunity for students to complete their orientation program this year is available in one of two different ways. Students are invited to campus in Bowling Green to complete the orientation program. Or there's also an option for a virtual opportunity should you decide that that's most available most convenient and available to you. Sore at BGSU is really a culminating event.

Where you'll finalize your course schedule and discuss the final aspects prior to the start of the fall. But it's not the first time that you're going to be thinking about that onboarding to the University community and what we have here on the screen is as kind of that last employment. We want you to be talking with your advisor, our academic advising team. Invest so much in you. We want to know you. We want to know more about you. We want to know about your previous experiences. We want to know about what you hope to accomplish in BGSU and what you want to do after that. So we will ask you to be on the lookout for.

Questionnaires and other outreach that helps us to better understand your goals in your career at BGSU.

I really appreciate your taking the time today to sit through our conversation as we talk about what it means to be part of the Pathway program on the screen, you'll see my contact information. I welcome any questions, any feedback and any ways that we as a University can help you in planning for your college education and preparing you to be part of the Bowling Green State University. First year class this fall we thank you again. We look forward to seeing you on campus soon. Ann, go, Falcons.