ARCHWAYS

Recognizing the challenges first-year students typically experience, McMaster University developed a support program called Archway for incoming first-year students for the 2020/2021 academic school year, developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team is involved in assessing the program from the student perspective while exploring how well the program may or may not have 1) encouraged student connectedness, 2) supported students and, 3) maximize student retention.

Through the ARCHWAY project, we had the opportunity to talk to first year students at McMaster and learn more about the impact of programming that targets first-year student transition into university. The ARCHWAY program is effective in supporting first year student transition into university. This project highlights the importance of community building and mentorship to facilitate positive experiences for university students. Our findings are summarized in the infographic below.

Canadian Campus Wellbeing Survey

The CCWS is a common surveillance tool that provides a necessary basis for assessing the mental health and wellbeing of students and identifying priorities for intervention at an institutional level. The CCWS presents an opportunity to develop a uniquely Canadian system for information sharing and analysis of institutional-level policies, practices and strategies relevant to student mental and physical health.

Our study found significant differences in mentor- and student- reported distress, campus climate and perceived campus support.