What do I need to know before I start college? How do I figure out my finances? How will Fanshawe be different from high school?

The months leading up to your first year at college are full of questions, and the sheer amount of information on the Fanshawe website can be tough to wade through. First Year @ Fanshawe (www.fanshawec.ca/firstyear) is a new website devoted to helping incoming students navigate through everything they need to know.

When Krista Vogt, student success advisor for Fanshawe's schools of Nursing and Health Sciences, came to work at Fanshawe a couple of years ago, one of the first things she asked about was what the school was doing for new students. “Students are accepted in March, and then they hear from us, like, August 25 or so. What the heck do they do in the middle?”

Last year, she approached her boss, student success leader Robert Kitchen, to create a first year experience website. “He said, ‘Sounds good. Write it.' And I said, ‘Okay, I will!'”

Vogt took the existing information available on the Fanshawe website and broke it into manageable chunks that students can use at each stage of the acceptance process: when they're first accepted, in the months leading up to when they start, during their first few weeks of school, throughout their first semester and beyond. Kitchen took the completed package to the Marketing department, and a team there worked hard to get the First Year @ Fanshawe site up and running as part of Fanshawe's website, www.fanshawec.ca.

Kitchen described the site as a virtual front door. “It's really designed as a launching pad for (students) to find the information that they need.”

On the landing page of the site, students will see links to information about the steps between acceptance and attendance. The first button links to www.beginhere.ca, the site maintained by the Registrar's Office, which has information about applying for school, student life, finances and more. “Before your first day” is a checklist for students in the months leading up to starting school. Because the site does not use specific dates (it uses general times such as “four months before school starts”), it can be used by students starting in the winter and summer semesters as well. “Your first month” outlines what students can expect from Orientation and Frosh Week, as well as how to navigate three very important websites: FanshaweOnline, WebAdvisor and MyFanshawe. “Student experience” has everything students need to know about life on campus, from how to get involved to strategies for academic success.

Students who are not in their first year may also find the site helpful as well: the landing page has a link called “Beyond your first year,” which provides information on transferring to university, studying abroad, alumni services and continuing education.

Kitchen said the site is good for a number of students. “For new students, it's very helpful in answering the immediate questions. I think ... for prospective students, it will give them a good guide and some insights as to what to expect as new students. The more informed students are, in terms of accessing their post-secondary education, I think will be helpful.”

The site is meant to be dynamic and student feedback is welcome. If you think something should be on the site that isn't already, use the Feedback tab on the right side of the site or send an email to Kitchen at rkitchen@fanshawec.ca.

For more information, check out www.fanshawec.ca/firstyear.