There are a lot of students who walk into college the first day not knowing what to do. Those students may be confused on how to register for classes or how to receive the amount of credits one needs in order to graduate. Luckily, Kean University has the School of General Studies, which helps students with their education success, declaring a major, special academic programs and more.

On Monday, April 20, 2015, the School of General Studies hosted the first annual Academic Status Day. This event was held exclusively for freshmen during college hour, which is 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., on the second floor of the Center for Academic Success (CAS) building. The attendees were greeted by students who work in the general education office. “Any students in the freshmen class can come and sign in whether they pre-registered are not,” comments Gwendolyn Beloti, who is the managing assistant director in the School of General Studies.  Beloti is also the coordinator for the course Transition to Kean (T2K).

This event was held to help freshmen receive more information on clubs and organizations that are related to their major. With this event, students were able to learn more about their academic status, what their grade point average (GPA) was, what grades they need to maintain a high GPA and so on. “Each student is assigned a GEM [General Education Mentor],” continues Beloti. “Although they have a GEM in their T2K class we wanted them to have their own GEM during their spring semester so they can have a one-on-one session with their GEM and talk about their academic standing and how their future steps can affect it.”

Plenty of students came in during the hour, not only eager to get the one-on-one meeting started but also enjoying scrumptious desserts like brownies and cupcakes. With the help of GEM’s the students that attended are now more prepared for the rest of their college life than before. “We just want to make sure that they [the students] are well-off during the spring semester and further on,” concludes Beloti.

For more information about general education please visit CAS room 201, or email them at ge@kean.edu.