First-year Students’ Adjustment to University Life: A Case Study of Implementing College Buddy Program

Abstract

Transitioning from secondary to higher education is not a natural step for many first-year university students. Most female students who join Taibah University did not have the chance to visit the university and get to know the programs offered there before they applied. Therefore, the Childhood Studies Department within the College of Family Sciences has initiated the present program – My Uni-Buddy. The program was applied on a small scale to create connection between first-year students and their fellow students in the third year. The aim of the program is to support new students and help them adjust quickly to their new life. The study employs a qualitative approach in which interviews were carried out to collect the relevant data. The findings show that first-year students hughly benefited from the program in the academic and social aspects.