Shannon Finning, director of new student and sophomore programs at Clemson University, will present “The Critical Needs of Sophomores - an Opportunity for NDSU” on Thursday, Feb. 19, from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. in the Memorial Union Arikara room.

NDSU’s Office of Vice President for Student Affairs and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will sponsor the session.

Finning will provide a review of research and literature related to the critical needs of sophomores, why sophomores are important to campus retention and student success efforts, and an overview of “successful sophomore interventions.” She will explain a model for understanding NDSU's sophomores, including data collected from NDSU. She also will describe the importance of an intentional, committed partnership between academic affairs and student affairs and offer strategies and suggestions based on Clemson University's implementation of a comprehensive sophomore year experience program.

Finning is a doctoral candidate in the Clemson University Educational Leadership program. Her research focus is the sophomore year experience and she is becoming a nationally recognized presenter on this topic.

For more information, contact Laura Oster-Aaland at 1-7750 or laura.oster-aaland@ndsu.edu or Bob Harrold at 1-8967 or robert.harrold@ndsu.edu. Oster-Aaland and Harrold are co-chairs of the Sophomore Year Experience Steering Committee.