Cohort Experience
The cohort experience is one of the most exciting and innovative features of the Academic Transitions (AT) program with the English Language Institute at the University of Delaware.
Through the cohort experience, students develop important personal, social, and academic skills that are necessary for success at the university level.
Because the cohort experience is so effective at helping students to develop these skills, all AT students are required to successfully complete the cohort experience.
What is a cohort? Who is included in each cohort?
A “cohort” is a small group.
In Academic Transitions, students are placed in groups of 8 to 10 students, along with an instructor and a peer mentor.
Instructors teach the cohort course meetings. They also serve as a personal advisor to help students make and set goals, identify areas of personal development, and connect to resources at the ELI and at UD.
Peer mentors are students that are currently enrolled at the University of Delaware. They have high GPAs, excellent leadership skills, and great interest in connecting with international students. Peer mentors help students engage socially, academically, and culturally on campus.
Members of each cohort stay together through the entire duration of the cohort experience; this enables cohort members to become sources of support for each other while preparing for university.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the cohort experience is:
- To help students succeed academically, socially and culturally at the university level.
- To ensure that the linguistic, academic and cross-cultural skills that are developed at the ELI will continue to be used by the students throughout their entire academic career.
- To help students develop strong bonds of trust among fellow cohort members.
- To provide a more seamless transition to full-time university life.
All conditionally admitted students are required to complete the cohort experience.
HOW DOES COHORT WORK?
The cohort experience lasts four sessions. Students begin the cohort experience when they enter Academic Transitions 1 (AT1).
The cohort experience was designed to help international students to succeed academically, socially and culturally at the university level.
The curriculum integrates lessons from the University’s First Year Seminar courses (a required course for all freshman students at UD), along with study skills, communication skills and social to help them to thrive in a college environment.
Students who successfully complete the cohort experience may be eligible for First Year Seminar credit once they begin full-time university studies.
TRAITS OF THE SUCCESSFUL COHORT STUDENT
Students who successfully complete the cohort experience develop several important characteristics.
Cohort students learn how to manage their work and make wise decisions about how they manage their time.
Cohort students learn and practice ways to access their instructors, academic resources, and academic advisors to support their success as a student in the ELI and at the university level.
They also learn about the characteristics of American university classrooms, including their role and responsibilities in them.
Students learn how to socialize with American peers on campus and how to connect to classmates and friends in social and academic settings. They also learn where and how to access social and cultural activities on campus.
In addition, cohort students learn about American culture, as well as the diversity within the culture. This helps them to make friends and to better engage in campus life.
Students in the cohort experience learn how to communicate in person, in groups and by phone/email with peers and instructors in both social and academic settings.
Students learn University policies about academic honesty, social media and internet use, and the University of Delaware’s code of conduct.
They also learn about undergraduate degree requirements, grading policies (e.g., GPA, pass/fail) and registration policies (e.g., “drop/add”).
This information helps students to be prepared to meet with their future university advisor and to understand the course registration process after finishing Academic Transitions.
HOW DOES COHORT HELP STUDENTS?
The University of Delaware wants to lead the nation in making our students’ college experience successful, happy, and transformative. To this end, the cohort experience helps students to:
- Develop study skills well-suited to US higher education;
- Participate actively in college classrooms and in campus life;
- Develop academic thinking skills;
- Become extensive readers;
- Work closely with advisors to chart their path to successfully completing their degree;
- Understand the meaning and importance of academic honesty; and
- Avoid culture shock and homesickness.
By learning these skills, conditionally admitted international students can overcome obstacles to academic and social success while studying at the university level.
DURATION AND COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS
Students enter the cohort experience in AT1 (ARSC 150). All AT students are required to take the cohort experience and complete four sessions (8 months).
To complete the cohort experience, they must earn a final cumulative score of 83% (B).
THE COHORT RETREAT
Developing strong bonds between members of each cohort is of critical importance for the cohort experience. To help the students to begin that process, the ELI organizes an initial weekend getaway (i.e., a retreat) during the students’ first session of study.
The retreat focuses on team-building activities, helping the members of the cohort to get to know each other and to learn to support and encourage one another.
