The Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community (FYE LLC) strives to bring together first-year students in a supportive and academically focused living/learning environment. This environment encourages peer connections and collaborations as students share in their transition to college life in and out of the classroom. All students in the FYE LLC enroll in one of five designated sections of University 100 (course description below). In addition, the FYE LLC incorporates programs from CSUN's Career Center and Learning Resource Center, as well as enhanced programming from Student Housing. Participation in the FYE LLC fosters academic success, personal development, leadership opportunities, and a commitment to diversity. The ultimate goal of the Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community is to promote student learning and, in doing so, assist in the retention of first year students as they continue in their journey toward graduation.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the academic year, students leaving the FYE LLC will be able to:

• Demonstrate basic familiarity with campus resources and locations.
• Demonstrate problem-solving and conflict management skills.
• Establish positive relationships with other students, faculty, and other members of the campus community (i.e. make friends, ask questions, and ask for help).
• Make positive choices with regard to time and involvement, both curricular and co-curricular.
• Understand academics as a CSUN student’s top priority and how personal wellness impacts student success.
• Understand urban campus culture and participate in the promotion of personal and communal safety.
• Understand how differences affect our world and develop a sense of social and civic responsibility to reduce oppression and work toward social justice.

Strategic Priorities and Core Components of the FYE LLC

The Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community is infused with four strategic priorities to promote student development, retention, and success in college among California State University, Northridge first-time freshmen students. These priorities are: academic success with a holistic approach, social justice involvement with a focus on reducing oppression, knowledge and awareness of urban campus culture, and the ability to assess growth and development in the three aforementioned priorities. These priorities, as established by the Department of Residence Life in the Office of Student Housing, have been identified as areas in which all residents in housing can grow and change both personally and communally. As a Living Learning Community, the Freshman Year Experience Program is directly related to and influenced by these priorities and they can be found intertwined throughout the FYE LLC resident experience.

Several core components, as listed below, also play an important role in the FYE LLC resident experience. They act as intentional learning opportunities for students to experience the University, their peers, and the world around them. As a foundation for residents in their transition to the University, the following core components promote student success in a variety of ways:

The Suites

The Suites is a unique community here in Student Housing. There is no other community like it, and thus the successes and issues will look different than the UPA. Each of you live in a community cluster that is comprised of about 32 residents and you have the privilege of fostering healthy and long-lasting relationships. This is an amazing opportunity to foster to important and healthy interactions with your fellow classmates. There will be two residents in each room; each cluster has a laundry room and living room. You will have the opportunity to learn about campus resources in and outside of housing. In addition, you will be able to “eat, sleep, learn, and play” with your classmates. You will also be able to take advantage of the community center for socializing. This community was built for you to thrive in every aspect of your college experience.

University 100

University 100 is mandatory for all residents in the FYE LLC. This course is about making choices: about setting and meeting personal, academic, and career goals. The Freshman Seminar is dedicated to ensuring college success and motivating a student’s journey toward lifelong learning. The seminar will enable students to develop their own plan for personal, academic, and career success through self-evaluation, application of specific techniques, discussions, field experiences, and traditional classroom exercises. These activities will help students acquire effective study strategies, refine their critical and creative thinking skills, practice university-level oral and written expression, establish short-term and long-term goals, become skilled users of library resources, and learn to manage time more efficiently. Students will find out about the many campus resources available to them and will be actively encouraged to form lasting relationships with their professor and classmates.

Community Development through Peer Leadership

Each floor of the FYE LLC will have a resident advisor (RA), selected by the Office of Student Housing, will work to build community both on his/her floor and throughout the community. The RAs will be responsible for organizing specific learning opportunities for their residents through programming and group dialogues. The RAs also will organize off-campus experiences allowing residents to connect with the local community. RAs will help to mediate conflict and will educate residents on how they can get the most out of their experience in housing. RAs will also facilitate the community standards process in the building as described later in this document. Lastly, FYE RAs will be members of the FYE Living Learning Community Steering Committee. FYE LLC residents will also select five peer mentors (one from each of the five sections of U100) during the first two weeks of the semester. These residents will primarily focus on providing connections within the community and highlighting the significance of selected components of University 100. The Peer Mentors will each act as spokespersons for their section of U100 and will also be members of the FYE LLC Steering Committee.

A Focus on the First Six Weeks

Much research has been done on the importance of the first six weeks that freshman students experience in college. According to Astin’s Theory of Involvement, students learn more and are more successful the more they become involved in their campus community. An involved student is one who devotes considerable energy to academics, spends much time on campus, participates actively in student organizations and activities, and interacts often with faculty (Astin, 1984, p.292). This theory specifically puts students at the helm of their learning to determine how they will be involved and at what level. Faculty involvement and high quality campus programming, particularly during the first six weeks, makes a great difference in students’ connectedness to the campus community and the rate of their persistence. The first six weeks are an opportunity to set a standard of excellence and to provide a foundation for academic success, personal growth, and community development.

Put In What You Want To Get Out

The FYE LLC has a strong focus on student engagement and was created with the expectation that students will play leading roles in the development of the community. Resident Advisors were selected intentionally because of the energy and innovation they will bring to the building, but ultimately the community will be successful because of the effort residents put in to making it a community. The Community Standards Model practiced in the LLC is an example of this where residents determine community standards through which they hold one another accountable rather than having University leadership intervene. Residents will be encouraged to participate actively in programming and empowered to make the FYE LLC their own. By putting into the community what they hope to get out of it, FYE residents will take ownership of the community and begin to hold each other accountable more easily as well, which will increase the safety and security of the building. Residents will grow academically, personally, and socially by making their FYE community a home rather than just a place to live.

The Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community is located in The Suites, and houses nearly 120 freshman residents.

1. What is there to do in the Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community?
2. How much is housing and by when do I need to pay my bill?
3. Is it safe to live on campus?
4. What about parking? Is there public transportation?
5. What should I bring with me?
6. How do I pick my roommate, and how do I contact them? What if we don’t get along?
7. Which orientation should I go to?
8. How do I get my internet hooked up once I arrive? Do I need something special?
9. How does the meal plan work?
10. What is a Resident Advisor (RA)? Does every floor have one? What are community standards and floor meetings?

If you have questions or would like more information in regards to the Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community, please contact:

1. What is there to do in the Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community?
Residents will develop a variety of relationships with others in the community and in all of the residence halls. Residents spend free time together, go out to eat in the local neighborhood, attend campus events or go off and explore Los Angeles. Many residents have similar classes so study groups can easily be formed. What you put into the community is what you will get out of it. Be active and open to participating and you will find there are many things to get involved in both inside and outside to the residence hall.

2. How much is housing and by when do I need to pay my bill?
Current room rates and a payment schedule are listed here. First Year Experience residents will select a double occupancy room without a kitchen as those are the only ones offered in The Suites. Payments can be made in full at the start of the year or monthly through our Monthly Installment Plan. Charges will be posted to the resident’s University Student Account. Each month residents will need to log in to their myNorthridge account and pay their rent through the SOLAR system.

3. Is it safe to live on campus?
CSUN has several systems set in place in order to ensure the safety of its students. The police department, called The Department of Public Safety (DPS), is housed on campus and provides a quick response time to emergency situations. DPS also provides a nighttime escort service called the Matador Patrol. Upon request, the Matador Patrol can escort students between buildings and/or to their car. This service is available from dusk to 11:00pm. Throughout campus there are Emergency “Blue Light” Phones. The emergency phones connect directly to the police in case of Police, Medical or Fire emergencies. There is also a TTY emergency phone available close to the Lighthouse Community in Building 6. Student Housing controls both auto and foot traffic during busy nights (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) in housing by closing the gates to the housing complex. In order to enter the housing complex, residents must show their resident ID upon gate entry and register any guests that may be accompanying them.

4. What about parking? Is there public transportation?
You need to have a Residential/Housing Parking Permit to park your car in Student Housing parking lots and structures. You may purchase your Housing Parking Permit online through myNorthridge. For additional parking information such as cost and payment instructions, go to http://www-admn.csun.edu/parking.

There is also public transportation local to campus. These links will provide you with the public Metro Bus and Metrolink train schedules.
Metro Bus
Metrolink

5. What should I bring with me?
Residents are encouraged to contact their new roommates once they have selected their bed space. Discuss the items you hope to bring and what your roommates may be interested in sharing (i.e. microwaves, televisions, stereos, household appliances)

• Toilet paper
• Toiletry Items
• Extra Long Sheets
• Lamps
• An Alarm Clock

• Candles
• Pets (unless they are fish in a 10 gallon tank or smaller)
• All your clothes for the whole year (The closets are not huge... bring clothes in season and put the rest in storage, have them shipped later, or go back and get them when the seasons change)

6. How do I pick my roommate, and how do I contact them? What if we don’t get along?
Picking which room you will live in is done entirely online through the Student Housing website. You will be expected to go online and pick the building and room you want to live in. If you select the Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community and are accepted, you will only be able to select other accepted residents in the community as your roommate.

If you already know who you want your roommates to be, you will need to communicate with them so all of you sign-up for the same living learning community. Each person will need to go into the online system and select their room.

During the application process, you will be asked if you want to share profile information on the Profile Sharing setup page. On this page, you are able to select what contact information your potential roommates will have access to. The information includes your name, phone number, email, sleeping and smoking preferences, etc. You can share all, part or none of this information. If your roommates choose to share their profile information, you will see who your potential roommates will be. If they chose not to, because of confidentiality laws, you will have to wait until you move in to meet your roommates.

Each group of residents will begin the year by filling out a Roommate Contract. Roommate contracts are distributed by Resident Advisors (RAs) during the first floor meeting. These contracts give residents an opportunity to sit down together, talk, and make decisions about topics such as their guest policy, who will clean what, what can be shared, study and sleeping hours, and much more. Once the contract is complete each roommate will sign it, showing their agreement to the terms of the contract. It is up to residents to actually fill the contract out, but should they need help they are encouraged to ask their RA for assistance. Should a roommate break terms of the roommate contract then a Roommate Mediation will be facilitated by the RA among the residents of the apartment. At that time residents are asked to compromise and agree upon new terms to their contract as necessary. If this process does not seem to resolve the conflict the residents can contact their Community Director (CD). The CD’s contact information can be found on the Student Housing website.

7. Which orientation should I go to?
All residents of the Freshman Year Experience Living Learning Community will move in on August 17, 2009 to attend a campus orientation and Freshman Welcome Program.

The LLC Freshman Welcome Program is a program designed to familiarize residents with issues facing new residents. Participants will build community within the Living Learning Communities, develop connections to the University and participate in programming to successfully begin their first year in the residence halls. There is a one time charge of $25 for participants and the program is mandatory. Below is a basic schedule for the program:

• Monday, August 17: Move in day, attend a BBQ with your family
• Tuesday, August 18: LLC Freshman Welcome Program
• Wednesday, August 19: LLC Freshman Welcome Program
• Thrusday, August 20: LLC Freshman Welcome Program
• Friday, August 21: Campus Orientation
• Monday, August 24: Classes Start

For any questions, please contact the Office of Residence Life at (818) 677-2587.

8. How do I get my internet hooked up once I arrive? Do I need something special?
All buildings in Student Housing have access to FREE wireless internet. Your computer needs to be equipped with a wireless card. You can access the wireless network by joining the 'CSUN' network. If you do not have a wireless card, you can buy one or purchase a LAN cable and plug directly into the wall to access the internet. For more information, click here.

9. How does the meal plan work?
All residents in the Freshman Year Experience Suites are expected to have a meal plan. Kitchen units are not available in The Suites. A meal plan can be purchased through the University Corporation, not housing. For more information on meal plan options and costs, please click here. The meal plans include 10 meals at Geronimo’s, our cafeteria located in the housing complex, and Dining Dollars which can be used at other on-campus eateries.

10. What is a Resident Advisor (RA)? Does every floor have one? What are community standards and floor meetings?
Every floor has a Resident Advisor (RA). Their role in relation to their floor and residents is to facilitate meetings, host programs which foster personal growth, and encourage interaction among residents. RAs also provide individual and academic support to residents. At the start of the semester, the RA will conduct a floor meeting, a gathering of all residents on the floor, to share basic information, policies, and regulations. The RA will also facilitate a Community Standards Meeting where members of the floor will discuss, agree upon, and follow guidelines to insure a secure and comfortable environment for everyone. The floor will decide these Community Standards themselves and in the past they have ranged from dealing with strangers to abandoned laundry in dryers. Community standards tend to be established at the beginning of the year and can be added to throughout the year.