For decades institutions of higher education have sought after best practices to meet the special needs of entering students. With a focus to increase retention and graduation rates, targeted attention given to entering students increases their likelihood to succeed academically and persist in education (Evenbeck, 2010). Kentucky State University takes great pride in her student-centered philosophy, and commitment to excellence and innovation. Therefore, we embrace the responsibility of uncovering best practices for serving our students. The critical need for improving academic and support services for first-year, full-time students is well documented. As Vincent Tinto (1996) observed, “Nearly 57 percent of all drop-outs from four year institutions leave before the start of their second year” (p. 1). To that end, we propose the establishment of a University College here at KSU. Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder (2002) describe communities of practice as groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis. Central to the definition of a university college is this concept of a community of practice. It is persons with the authority and responsibility for serving entering students gathered together in an organizational structure to do this work.

At many colleges and universities, students' introduction to an institution occurs through the admissions office, followed by the orientation. During orientation, students may listen to representatives from various areas across campus, meet with an academic advisor, and even get a residence hall assignment. Many new students find this lack of cohesion among student services difficult to navigate. To better serve entering students, this proposal lines out the plans to house academic advising, academic support, and a comprehensive first-year experience program within University College, a structure in which student services operates as a single unit. This one-roof model would provide students with the necessary resources for transitioning successfully to the college environment.

KSU is committed empowering students to achieve academic excellence through proactive advising, effective academic support, impactful curriculum, personalized coaching and innovative programming. One of our primary objective is to increase first to second year retention rate by 3% to 5% every year. Of First-Time Full-Time Bachelor Degree-Seeking enrolled in fall 2015 and returned in fall 2016 our retention rate was 60%. Of First-Time Full-Time Bachelor Degree-Seeking enrolled in fall 2016 and returned in fall 2017 our retention rate was 68%. Each year KSU loses a significant number of students. University College can help reduce the negative impact of certain outside variables, such as study preparation and university acclimation, which may explain some of our losses.

The University College at Kentucky State University has the singular mission to provide a series of programs, services, and curriculum to promote and support the academic success of the university's first year students. University College is an interdisciplinary, collaborative unit that houses a group of closely related offices offering student-centered programs and services that enhance students' exploration,