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First-Year Programs

Mission Statement

Keeping with the mission of Gardner-Webb University, the First-Year Experience course is designed to help students make a successful transition to university life by fostering a sense of community; nurturing development of faith; inspiring a love of learning and service-based leadership; encouraging multidisciplinary thinking; and promoting success in academic skills.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate skill and competency in reasoning critically and creatively;
  2. Utilize skills in clear and effective communication;
  3. Demonstrate a mastery of Blackboard navigation and utilization;
  4. Demonstrate the ability to utilize appropriate library resources for basic research needs;
  5. Identify and discuss multidisciplinary and personal elements of a given issue;
  6. Participate effectively as a team member within a service learning activity; and
  7. Identify and discuss self-assessment and skill development with regards to employability.

All first-year students are required to take UNIV 111/ UNIV 101 regardless of AP credit or advanced first-year status in their first semester of enrollment at Gardner-Webb University.

A traditional first-year student is one that is entering college within a 1 to 3 year span after graduating from a high school program.

An advanced first-year student (i.e., early college high school) is one who has completed high school and college level studies concurrently.

Students with more than 15 hours of transfer work (non-AP credit or dual enrollment credit) are not required to take UNIV 111/ UNIV 101.

For academic advising purposes, a transfer student is a student with 15 hours or more that is not considered dual enrollment or AP credit.