Issue
26(1)
The
Senior Year Experience: Facilitating Integration, Reflection,
Closure, and Transition. (1997). John N. Gardner,
Gretchen Van der Veer, and Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 378 pp. Price $44.00 (Hardcover).
ISBN 0-7879-0927-0.
Review
by: Lisa Schmidt
College
of Engineering Williams Student Services Center
The University
of Oklahoma, Norman
Educators supportive of John Gardner's
First Year Experience initiatives will recognize and appreciate
the interest in successful transitions, and how advisors, faculty,
student affairs professionals and others can contribute to the
"second major transition" in the lives of college and university
students. The Senior Year Experience serves as a "bookend"
to the first year experience classic Your
College Experience: Strategies for Success and draws
on the same technique to invite contributions from scholars and
authors, representing a broad spectrum of institutions, to craft
a valuable collection of best practices and sample programs. The
range of opportunities introduced for collaboration with faculty,
alumni affairs, development offices, and others is especially
timely for those of us seeking new and innovative on-campus partnerships.
The unique challenges associated with these initiatives are effectively
explored in a way that will inspire academic advisors to consider
the roles they currently play in their students' concluding year
and how those roles can be strengthened to benefit students. Most
of us would agree that a student's first year of college is a
significant life experience, but how many of us have given as
much consideration to how we can help students prepare for their
next major transition: student to employee, citizen, college graduate
and lifelong learner?
One of the
challenges addressed in the text is that senior year experiences
often are more strongly connected to specific majors or academic
programs as compared to a more generalized freshman year experience.
As more institutions implement capstone experiences -- courses
that encourage students to synthesize the whole of their academic
coursework and experience -- advisors will play an increasingly
important role in helping students reflect on the entirety of
their educational experiences not just the purely academic component.
One strength of this work is how it encourages educators, including
academic advisors, to consider a wide range of opportunities that
will help students reflect on their preparation for life after
graduation. These can range from panel discussions to workshops;
graduation "fairs" to presentations from development officers
and financial planners. The potential for exploring ways to help
students experience a more meaningful senior year is not limited
to the design and implementation of yet another course.
The Senior
Year Experience is a valuable resource for advisors interested
in a thoughtful look at what can help graduating seniors better
prepare for life after college. This book can help guide advisor
questions regarding seniors' concerns about graduating. The
Senior Year Experience can be your roadmap to helping seniors
prepare for leadership roles in their communities as educated
citizens regardless of their major or career ambitions.
Reference
Gardner,
J.N. and Jewler, A. J. (2003). Your College Experience: Strategies
for Success. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
