THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Successfully completing that first year in college can be a huge challenge. Making the grade academically is just one hurdle students face, as they live away from parents for the first time with unprecedented freedoms and temptations at hand. Being surrounded by thousands of peers who are also enjoying those freedoms for the first time even can distract the most focused and mature 17- and 18-year-olds.

So it must have been with some degree of trepidation that the University of Maine reorganized its dormitories last fall so that almost all of the 2,105 first years lived in the same area of the Orono campus. But it was not uncharted territory, as other schools that tried such groupings have reported it works.

After UM first years packed up and left for home earlier this month, university officials declared the new First Year Residence Experience a resounding success.

The rationale for the living arrangement was that some first-year students feel overwhelmed socially, and – although they are probably shy about admitting it – are homesick. Being surrounded by others in the same boat eases those anxieties.

The new arrangement also allowed the university to be more efficient with resources and staff. Instead of sending public safety officers to all areas of campus for students with problems with alcohol, vandalism and rowdy behavior, the focus was on the first-year dorms. University officials said the number of incidents involving first years didn’t necessarily decrease, but residential assistants and public safety officers were better able to identify those students who needed help.

Surviving – quite literally – that first year of college was also a consideration, UM officials say. A program called How to Survive Friday Night included information about using a designated driver and keeping an eye on friends who may be indulging in alcohol.

UM officials said on three key measurements – retention, alcohol-related problems and residence hall damage – the First Year Residence Experience has succeeded. Still, there are probably some experiences that first years miss out on with the homogeneous grouping, such as mentoring from older students – learning which classes are worth taking and which to skip, and even how to ace that first major research paper.

UM spokesman Joe Carr said plans are in the works to recreate the concept for the first-year class when they begin their sophomore year in the fall, though it will probably have more to do with programming than housing. And the first-year experience will be tweaked where needed to make it even more effective.

The university deserves praise for trying something new, especially when it probably meant more work for staff and a reallocation of resources.