Invest in your first year college experience with the Key Communities

Hello, good afternoon everyone. Thank you so much for joining me today. My name is Anna Maria Montana, recruitment outreach coordinator for the key communities and I get to tell you a little bit more about who we are and how we can help you in your first year experience. So if you have any questions, Please note that there will be time left at the end for any questions that you can drop in in the chat. There's also the Q&A that you can go ahead and send your questions through and I'm happy to answer those lives if as we're going through.

We can get them out of the way so that works out really well, and if for any reason I was not clear on anything or if you have additional questions or just like I did not get that, can you please explain it again? Please feel free to ask. I am so excited to talk about key that I could do it all day. I won't do it because I know you have places to be but I want to make sure that I get all of your questions answered so please feel free if you don't understand something or it wasn't clear. Feel free to reiterate the question. So yes, the key communities now many of you may have heard about us before if not.

This may be a first time we are not like key club. I always like to put that out there because sometimes the name can be misguiding so the key communities are a residential first year experience.

Basically like learning community and what we focus on is making sure that students have the ability to transition from high school to college successfully and not only successfully but smoothly. And what does that really look like? And so we have to take into account what students need in their first year, what you're looking for. So that's going to be very important, and I'll talk a little bit more about that when we get to talking about our application process and why that is very important. And so in thinking about what it is that you want.

The first year experience can make or break your college experience and it is extremely important that you put as much into it as you possibly can to get the most out of it. Which is why we're very, very intentional by making sure that students understand the importance of why the first year experiences is so important and part of that is because we know that you've been in an environment you know for the last four years. Even in Koga times that you can. Still, you know, know you know who to go to. You have faculty that you rely on that you've got to know really well.

You have peers and best friends. You basically can navigate your high school setting, probably with your eyes closed, right and so we want to make sure that as you're transitioning into a new environment that had at times it conceal, seem overwhelming. And even though your class is relatively large that you still have the same support networks, you have the same resources that can be available to you as you had in high school and CSU, even though seeming like it's this enormous can actually go down to being this small.

So we can really make it feel like it's your home, away from home and that's what Key wants to be able to accomplish. And we can do that because you're going to be on your own, so you'll have to be independent. You'll have to look at different ways of being able to advocate for yourself, being able to find things on your own, manage your own time. All of these different things are going to be at play, and so we want to make sure that we can offer you all of these different opportunities within that. So adapting to a new environment, right? Why is that relevant? How is that important?

Think about like what it is that you're leaving behind, what it is that you got used to, and now you won't have until you've got to re establish that. Because honestly every year could look a little bit different with the fact that every semester you will have different courses that could look very different. So kind of just knowing and understanding and readjusting to that piece is going to be really helpful in knowing that not every year, not every semester is going to be the same. So you're like adapting to change great. OK, I'm going to turn on that flexibility check Mark.

Done, and we're going to be able to remain flexible with whatever comes our way, because that's what's going to happen. So we're just going to have this consistency for a few months at a time, and that's going to be really important, both in thinking about how there is a little bit of that inconsistency, because you'll need different courses all the time. How are you building your community, and that can help you provide that consistency? And that's what he does really. Well, we're able to hone in on being able to help you navigate, you know, do you want to be part of an organization that might have something?

Similar interests, whether that's major related or your personal preference of some sort. You know what does it look like to actually branch out and meet other people that might live in your Hall or the Hall across from you? Or if you meet someone in the dining center or in the student center, where do you find support? How do you reach out to specific people when you need help us or have specific questions about certain things? So where can you find all of these different resources? And so we can help you in building that strong community in and out of your residence Hall an in and out of your classroom?

And I'll talk a little bit about what that structure of key really looks like to ensure that you can see how we are able to do that.

And then most importantly, is making sure that you have the ability to find resources on campus navigating what it is that you're going to need, and how you can find all about these are all pieces of wichi communities are so important and why we do so well, we know that your incoming class is over 5000 students, but he only serves about 500 students, so we're a relatively small community in comparison to who you will be coming in with as class cohort.

And a lot of people are like you know, what are the benefits of key? Why should we choose key and we have had very much success throughout our years. We've been around campus for over 20 years now, in which our students not only are consistently doing better academically, socially, and personally, but they're really getting every single aspect of the college experience right at the palm of their hand. That is really key to what we do because our students have these different levels of support that are built in.

And to help you, you know, navigate different circumstances so we have a peer mentor that helps you. You know with things that you might feel more comfortable talking to them about or even asking them questions that you might seem thinker is trivial, but they're not. There's no such thing as a dumb question. There's no such thing as a trivial question. Anything and everything is valid because this is going to be a new environment to you, so we want to make sure that you have that support network.

You have all of the key staff who are there in iaccessible to you at all times. We are very, very much a laid back group and we love helping our students in connecting and getting to know you. So these are all going to be really important pieces and being able to navigate that. But then also knowing that you have a benefit of being able to learn about what classroom is going to look like, what are the expectations of college? How can I connect with my faculty? How can I get all of these different supports? All of these are pieces of benefits that he can provide for you that.

You might not be able to get if you don't participate in key. Statistically. Our students do much better.

Every year their GPA is higher than students who didn't participate in key as well as the University average. They're also retained at higher rates, which means it graduating at higher rates than students who didn't participate in key because they're well prepared in their first year, not only to transition from high school to college, but from college, or from the first year of college to 2nd year as well. And so we really want to make sure that we're taking care of the person, not just you know. Making sure that you have support academically, right?

That's going to be really, really important for all of us to make sure that as we're moving in the next, you know kind of step always thinking ahead of like what, what other things could you be learning that you're going to need? What skills can we help you with? So as you develop an as you're growing as you're wanting you things potentially changing your major, finding out about different opportunities that are available on campus, how can we help you stay connected and so all of that is really, really important. On top of that, because we were founded on the values of academics, community.

Diversity, Leadership and service. All of our students in all of our communities get every single piece of these values within their community, and we have a variety of different communities to be able to, like meet the diverse needs of our students. That is very important to us and if you want to make sure that all of our students are getting that support not only when it comes to, you know, just being major specific, so that's always something that we want to make sure that all of our students are well aware of, so think about.

What it is that you're going to be looking for? Think about what you need and keep those in mind. So as I'm talking about the rest of how key is set up that you're learning about whether or not that's going to meet that check, Mark that you need. OK, so start thinking about those. So with the key communities, we are specifically focused in three areas, academics, people who care, and social atmosphere. So when I talked about academic, you know helping you develop academically, helping you develop socially, helping you develop. Personally, all of these is going to come into play right now.

So within the academics piece, we have designed clusters is what we call them, and so basically they're a cohort there.

Your pairings, of course, is whether it's one to three, depending on which community you choose to be apart of, and it's a key seminar that is then paired up with one to two all University core curriculum courses.

And they are designed to help you to continuously develop your critical thinking skills. We not only want you to learn about what is the content that is happening and what you're learning in the classroom right now, but we're also wanting you to understand and learn about how things are connected outside of the classroom and that you can make those connections in your other classes, which is really a great benefit for our students because they are growing continuously all the time, challenging themselves, which is great.

We also benefit from making sure that our students also have a small class size, so any and all key courses are anywhere from 17 to 19 students, which is relatively smaller than even what you might.

You have experienced in your high school class size.

And most of the time, but you're able to really understand like that. Peer to peer connection, you're able to really develop a relationship with your faculty, and you're able to take advantage of not only being a number like, you're not a number, you're not just another face in the crowd. The faculty, your peers, they know you by name. They know who you are, they want to connect with you, and these are all really great benefits that as you continue to grow and develop, you know more of those like.

I know what I want to do or I really feel like this is an area that I want to explore more. I want to take advantage of this internship or I want to do this study abroad trip. All of these pieces are going to come into play a little bit later, so we want to make sure that you have that support in and out of the classroom. On top of that, benefiting from a smaller cohort of students that you're going to class with. You're also getting to have in formulate your own study group that is a really great way to to also get you know everything right on the on the right foot.

Is you have that support your like? I've got a built-in study group, I know who they are. I know where they live because our students are also living together in the same hole. That doesn't mean the same floor. That doesn't mean that it's going to be your roommate, but you have the benefit of going to class with students that you're going to bump into continuously in your residence Hall, because all of our students will live in Brandon Hall. So that's a really great benefit to our students as well. On top of that, we ensure that you are actually progressing in your classes. Some courses in college will only have maybe.

You know, anywhere from one to three grades, potentially because you have like a starting. You know exam, you have a midterm and then you have your final exam. Alot of the times those are three grades that you've got an so.

If you're not turning into anything in other than that, and they're just dependent on just you know those specific exams you may not know how you're doing in class until it's too late to do anything about it, and so we do mid semester grade feedback. So we ask your professors to let us know how are you performing and if for any reason you're not doing successfully or if you we can connect you to resources to get you ahead of time out and do a lot better. Or if we have to discuss about different options that you might, you might need to do to think about your academics moving forward.

That we have enough time to make those decisions that we have enough time to correct the situation. If it's if it's able to. So these are all pieces that are going to be really, really important, and being able to do this, and so a lot of our students are benefiting from this because you're paying for your education, so we would not want you to fail a class and then still have to pay for it when you have no credit for it. So that's going to be really, really key as well. So when it comes to your academics, like I said, we've got you on so many different levels in that support network because we want to make sure that you're actually growing.

And that you are fulfilling your goals when we talk about people who care. These are all the people that are making it happen because we all work together to ensure that you are doing doing well. If not that we're reaching out to ensure that you are, you know you have people, should you need something so the mentor is huge. You know there are students. They've been through the process. They understand the first year. You know, concerns, fears, questions. All of these different things. They also serve as the teaching assistant.

In your key seminar course and are able to like go visit you in the residence Hall. You're able to do different activities with them outside of the classroom, so you really have access to them 24/7, which is a really great benefit to our students because sometimes it's easier to talk to people who are a little bit closer in age than some of us have been out of the college game for a little while. So it's a really great benefit for you to have them. The faculty members are amazing because they really do get to know you. And when I talked about earlier of making sure that you're thinking.

Ahead of time all the time is in establishing these relationships early. With folks you know. If an internship does come up, there could be your you know way in because they're like, oh, I remember you in my class and I think that you would be really great. I think you have a great insight about this or if you want to research opportunity. If you need a letter recommendation for a scholarship or for a study abroad opportunity that you have these relationships already built in. And so This is why it's really important. On top of that, they always have office hours that they want to meet with the students. So if you if you need extra help.

Or if you need clarification on an assignment or you just really want to get to know them because they're fascinating to you, that's you know go and take advantage of those office hours because the office hours they have set aside are for you and so they want you to go and visit them and get to know them, and so that's an opportunity that you have are key coordinators. We have our key coordinators for each individual community and they are amazing people who also want to get to know you and if they can help you in anyway, serve as a resource.

Just, even if it's just a concern of like I, I'm missing home and I need someone to talk to because I really feel like I should go home. Like you know, some of these personal concerns let him out. We have these these folks who are here to help you navigate that and we want to make sure that we can help you. University housing if you're going to live on campus, you know, take advantage of the folks that are there for you because you will have a resident assistant that will live on the floor with you. You have assistance to the assistant resident director and the residence director.

And they're all there to support you in your housing. So whether you're having issues with you know roommates or suitemates, you know.

You got locked out of your room, or your Mail is not coming anything like that. They are there to help navigate some of those questions as well. So definitely reach out to them should they they you need anything from them. These are all connections that we make sure that we have specifically for you and resources that you know you just go to when you need them. But the social atmosphere we also understand is a big part of the college experience and we don't want you to miss out even in covid times we still want you to have that experience, and while we're still making sure that we can have social events.

That we are following based off of CDC an our local Health Organization recommendations.

We still want to make sure that you have these opportunities to go out and explore and meet new people and just have fun. And so we have signature events that will will do throughout the year that you will get notified way in advance so that you can plan ahead. These are not going to be like, hey, you know we would like you to come to this event. It's like happening tomorrow. That's not going to happen so you will know about these way ahead in advance.

Because you will be taking classes with, you know that smaller cohort of people and I talked about in your cluster. You all could decide what you what it is that you want to do and go and hang out an if you want to. You know I don't know, pick up a game if you want to go eat somewhere you know those types of things are or something that you can decide with your mentor with your peer group. And that's going to be amazing because you'll have that opportunity to get out and get to know them on a different level other than just seeing them in the classroom. But we also want you to make those connections on campus and so taking advantage of what?

Resources are available with clubs and organizations. If you want to do community service, you know if anything that you want to get involved with, we always encourage that and we will also have opportunities for you to learn about these opportunities via email. They'll send you text messages. Things will be posted up on, you know, in the residence halls, so you will have multiple ways of finding out that there are awesome things happening on campus so that you can go and check them out, and then obviously being involved in your residence Hall. That's going to be really important. They will have updates for you pretty consistently.

Just to make sure that you know if there are things that are affecting the residents within each of the different halls. If there's you know, contest, continual covid testing come this fall that you know those are things that you need to be knowing more about. In case you know things change, policies, change anything like that. So just know that all of these things are really a great opportunity for you to get involved. That this is going to really help you and take care of you in that first year. Now one question that I always get about Key is.

If I join the key communities, is this extra work and no it is not extra work that is the best thing about key. Not only do we not cost 0 like where $0.00 zero pennies Now we don't cost a thing. You do not have to do anything different than just going to class and the benefits of key is that if for any reason if our classes are key courses which are anywhere from one to three your first semester.

They don't apply to your major specifically, they will apply to the University core curriculum courses, so you will still be able to graduate on time. You are still going to be able to take advantage of other classes that you're going to need based on areas of interest or your major. So all of these pieces are still coming into play, so you don't have to worry about doing anything extra. OK, we just want to support you and help you transition, and that's basically what we want from you and so super easy to do. So I want to make sure that I always clarify that because sometimes students do ask.

It's like, oh, I'm here. What am I going to do? And I was like that's so so much harder and I think trust me, you don't have to do anything. The best Part 2 is.

We have four amazing communities that truly meet the needs of different students. And because we're a first year learning community, you know only during your first year can you take advantage of these specific communities. That is really, really something that I cannot stress enough because they are only available the first year. And so if you miss out.

It's kind of a bummer, so I want to talk a little bit about how each one is a little bit different. We have our key, academic community and it focuses on so much because you're able to bring in so many different aspects of you know. Like liberal arts you bring in, you know, some natural Sciences classes you bring in so many different majors, business, engineering, agricultural scientists and the way that you have the opportunity to really look at how they're connected and learn. It's really amazing, so our students really have a variety of different ways.

To come together and learn in each cluster has a little bit of a specific focus based on those specific areas of interest. So you're going to get a wide variety of ways to think critically about the world, and it's amazing. So if you, if you think that that's something that you're going to be focused more a little bit more, or if it like answers the questions of like yes, this is like filling in my passion. This is the path that I want to do. Or maybe I might just want to test the waters with this that you can go into that and check it out. And there's more information on our website as well as to why and how each of the communities will differ.

But I always like to make sure that I talk a little bit more about the structure of the key academic, because it just encompasses such a larger.

Like base when it comes to like majors are key civic community focus is a little bit more on students who want to civic engagement or community service. So it's definitely all about the service learning piece. And like how can you think about some of these global issues but make change locally. So all of this is happening to help you kind of think about what are some things that are happening in my community that I can help right now. And so it really is more of a hands on community but it is really amazing.

Key Explorer is for students who might be undeclared, or maybe have a variety of interests and are just having a hard time narrowing it down. So these are all pieces of like the biggest late question that I get Freaky Explorer. We do recommend that you be undeclared because that way you have a little bit more flexibility in being able to take a couple of different courses to kind of just test the waters a little bit more and just see. OK, maybe I want to take a class in in, you know.

Sociology, but then it might also want to do something in ethnic studies or international business or something, and then you can kind of see what it is that you're kind of going towards a little bit more so it really opens it up a little bit to you, where your schedule gives you more variety. Plus in the process you're learning about career exploration as well as self exploration, so you're learning about how your strengths, how your interests kind of come into play with at CSU, and then how they come together for a major. So all of this is really helping you in that process of really learning about yourself.

And what you want to accomplish with health professions? This is by far one of our smallest community is only 76 students, but this community really does a great job of being able to support our students in a wide variety of different ways. Because we have students from you know who want to go to Med school who want to go to vet school who might do food and nutrition science, health and exercise science, who might want to do sports medicine, and it brings them all together because they know that they have a common goal because they still have not only a four year Mark 2.

You know, Chekov, but they also have grad school. On top of that, and also as they're going through meeting with health professions advisor to make sure that they're staying on track and doing everything that they need to do to remain competitive for that next step that they need to take.

On top of being a smaller cohort, they have an amazing way of being able to support one another in the classroom because they are taking two of the most difficult courses on campus. Are life 102 class, which is the biology course required for all health profession students in most natural science students and then also our Chemistry 111. So those are very, very difficult, especially if you're taking them simultaneously.

So, knowing that they have that support in none of the classroom, in and out of the residence Hall and their faculty is amazing. Because Eric does such a great job of reaching out to you. If for any reason you're struggling, he just wants to make sure that you're doing well and he is going to make sure that he's on top of that right away. So it is such a great community to help continue to build that energy that keeps you motivated. That keeps you on track for what you need to do, because sometimes it can be a little bit daunting. So all of these pieces kind of come into together for all of our students. As you can see, we do.

Try to provide all a little bit of everything for all of our students.

Um, so I have a couple of questions that I've come through that I feel like really are in this area. So being that we are, you know, key communities. We are the first year learning community, so you can do the first year learning community for all four years you can only do it for your first year. However, we do have a key plus community in our key plus community allows for students to be like Upperclassmen. So you have the option of being able to participate by developing a little bit more. They focus a lot more on service.

In leadership development, but you can participate it in key plus through the rest of your academic track here at CSU and you can live on campus or off campus with key Plus as well. So you have those two options which is really great so you can continue to be supported with the key communities, which is amazing.

The other question as well is um, if you're involved in the communities, can you, without living on campus? And that is a great question, because yes, you can. So these four communities would require you to live on campus in Braden Hall, but we have also developed a non residential community that will also fall under our key civic community.

And if you're interested for any reason, if you have an exemption to live off campus, or if you prefer to live off campus because you live within the vicinity, or have that ability to commute to campus, then we want to make sure that you have still the same benefits of being able to take advantage of everything that he has to offer, but virtually and so that's going to be available for our students this upcoming fall as well, especially since we don't know how covid will affect how the University progresses this this fall semester, how the decisions are made in terms of.

Trying to get most classes on campus versus virtual learning. So yes, you would be able to be involved in the communities without living on campus. I hope that that gives you a little bit more of a sense of like how much we really want to make sure that our students are taken care of and that we're providing different options for them. So this is a really great great way for you to do that as well.

So as we kind of keep going forward, I want to talk a little bit of our application and I was like, I know it's the A word you're like. I've already done so many applications and I'm still doing more. But the great thing about key is that our application is not.

Like a general application that you would think of, we're not looking at academic performance to accept you into the key communities. We have more of a holistic approach because we have very intentional questions that we ask because we want to get to know our students even before you decide to come to CSU. We want to get to know you and so we ask intentionally about what it is that you want to get out of college, why you know, what are your goals, what are your passions. And then, most importantly, how are you going to contribute to the Community?

You know how? What are you going to give in terms of being able to to learn from others and allow others to learn from you? These are all pieces of what we want in order to continue that community building within key. And so we take that information and then we're able to apply it to the review process, which is very easy. It's very rare that we deny a student. Let me tell you that, as long as you answer the questions thoughtfully, we will go ahead and accept our students, and it is on a first come, first serve basis, so keep that in mind.

Because our communities are very much different. Some have larger capacity than others. So if you're very much interested, apply early. It's better to go ahead and get accepted early on and say you know what I decided that this is not for me and that's OK. No problem, but it's it's always sad to say that you know there are students were like, oh, I really want to be in key and then we have no more space for students. So definitely take advantage. And if this is something that you're seriously considering considering, go ahead and apply. We are nonbinding so you can change your mind at anytime.

We just want to make sure that you're taking advantage of all of your options and learning about what you have so that you can make the best decision about what it is that you will need and how we can support you in that way.

And usually we get back to our students within one to two weeks. So it's a really quick turn around and then after that all you have to do is log back into your account. You confirm your space and say, Yep, I'm coming to see you. I'm I'm going to do key and we've got you taken care of all the next steps are right there outline for you, no worries, but if not if you have questions concerns you're like, I don't know what to do next. I'm always here, I'm your girl so you can always reach out to me and I can help you. So it's really easy to make sure that we are having that application.

Process navigate for our students. So we want to make it as easy as possible for you.

So if you have any questions, here is our website where you can find out more about the key communities you can find out about how to contact us and see all of our stuff. This is the direct email that I will respond to, so feel free to reach out to me. This is also my Direct Line, so feel free to reach out to me via phone as well if you want to have a zoom meeting so we can meet one on one. I'm happy to do that as well, so just email me and let me know your availability and I'm happy to do that, so I want to make sure that you have any and all opportunities to ask questions so I have a couple of them coming through, so let's see.

Where we are here.

Let's see, OK, so for someone who is pursuing music education and has been accepted into a specific school, what community would be the best path? OK, so there are a couple of majors that because of the way that their first year curriculum.

Works it just it doesn't really allow for a lot of flexibility when it comes to taking some of the key classes that are going to be required to take.

So for music education, that is actually one of the majors. So music, theater, art, dance and computer science. Those are the five. So if you are absolutely 100% sure like I want to do key, I need key. I want to do it the way that we can make that exception happen is you will need to talk with your academic advisor and then you will have to.

Kind of talk to them about like these are some of the courses. This is the community that I want to go into this. These are the courses that they're going to require and we have to get an OK from your advisor so they will have to send us an email. We will make an exception and then you can go ahead and apply, otherwise you will not have access to the application. And in order to do that, and especially with music education, I think you can't go wrong with either key academic or key civic. Both have great benefits in being able to give you what you need to pursue. Continue to pursue that major.

But also give you really good perspective on people, connections that can help in that in that space as well. So other skill sets that could definitely help you if that is the one that you want to pursue. So I hope that kind of helps answer your question in a little bit, but just know any of those five majors we're going to. We're going to ask that you go ahead and connect with your academic advisor now, just to make sure, because we want we want to ensure that if if we can make it work, we're going to make it work. And if you are absolutely 100% sure that this is what you want to do, we will bend over backwards to make sure that we can.

OK, so we just want to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone who needs to be involved is involved so that there are no surprises for when you come to RAM orientation in the summer and then have to register for classes. And then you know kind of come up with these issues so we don't want to waste anyone's time.

The other question is if you are interested in multiple communities, what would you suggest we lean, learn towards or how would you recommend us to choose? That's a good question.

If you are leaning towards more than one, or you're torn between different ones, I would say definitely look a little bit more into what it is that you're going to pursue, what it is that you feel like you need the most because you can't do both communities, which is really unfortunate, and so we would want to make sure that overall it's going to be what you need best. So if you're thinking about like OK, I'm going to be trying to choose between key academic Explorer. Are you really unlike when it comes to undecided? Have you really not thought about like a specific path? Maybe? Are you like?

Might be leaning towards this major, but I really. I mean, I still kind of want to try that one, or you know, you're like I think I might just want to start fresh and not think about anything else.

Then you know if you want to start fresh in your like I'm going to try Key Explorer because it's going to help me figure out a little bit more about who I am and what I want, and then we can pick up a major leader so there's no pressure there emerges and cannot make. You can be undeclared as well, and you don't have to pick a major to go into key academic, but it's also going to be a little bit more specific because they are, you know.

They have a little bit more of those specific subjects and themes that kind of go with other colleges, so they're already kind of a little bit more in the terms of like gearing students in other directions. So if you're open in like you're like, I can think I can do that, then you would want to do that. So I think it's just more like a pros and cons list of what's going to benefit me the most, and then how am I going to maximize my time at CSU? Because that's going to be the two, but if that's still something that you're like, I'm still not 100% sure. I'm happy to have a one on one conversation.

I'm just so that way we can make sure that we're honing in on what exactly like your worry is or where is it that you're like trying to. You know, create that dividing you can't. I'm happy to also kind of talk to you about more of those options one on one. Just because we know that every student is different, so there's no one size fits all and I'm happy to check in with that, so let me know if that works. I hope that answers your question a little bit. I know that's that's a lot.

Let's see.

I would like to study a little bit slower and learn um, so would the key academic community help in that way?

Absolutely. I mean, I would say any of our communities do that. I we, I wouldn't say that we're fast paced by any means. I think we take it really one step at a time to ensure that all of our students are staying. You know, on top of like what we're learning that no one is falling behind that we do a really great job of supporting you should something like happen because I think sometimes too. You know, people can get the impression that were similar honors, and so we're going to be a little bit. You know more of a challenging.

Um, opportunity for students. It is by no means more challenging than any of your other courses would be. We have the ability to continue to help you develop and that is our goal because as you continue to develop those skill sets that are going to make you more successful as you get onto more and more upper level courses that are going to require a lot more, you'll be better prepared. And that's the goal for us is to ensure that you're prepared so you will have these benefits of being able to have those moments of like, OK, I'm.

This is where I'm at right now, but this is where I want to be, and here's how I'm going to get there, and so that's what he's going to really help you with. And like I said, any one of our communities is going to be able to help you. I think it's more so about what path are you kind of leaning towards in terms of a major or area of interest. That's going to guide you in terms of selecting your community, but key academic. Like I said, it's very flexible, it's wide open. It has so many different areas you really can't go wrong.

There is no application fee.

Key is completely free, so all you have to do is apply and then make sure you apply on time. So that way you do not miss our window and that way you can actually have the opportunity to still get into the community of your choice without there having to be a wait list or space is already full so we just want to make sure do encourage you to do that sooner rather than later. You can apply for the application at our website here at keydlc.colostate.edu, so if you go there are application will link will be at the very very top.

And so you'll be able to click on that and then start your application. All you have to do is make sure that you have your valid name, any password and you will be all set to go and start the application. You can always save and come back to it too, or you can finish it in one session. So that is that is something that you're able to do.

Let's see, is there a timer participation commitment in being a part of key? There is not. So basically, once you just participate in the key communities, you're required to register for those designated courses that I talked about that form that small cluster that you've chosen in that community. And then, you know, will have events throughout the year that you can join. If you can. Some students don't. We can't always go to different things because our class schedules are very different. We also have students who work, and so we definitely work with different students to make sure that they're not missing anything important.

So signature events. There's like 2 and that's basically like the orientation in the spring. Welcome back, those are the biggest ones, because every semester we just want to make sure that we are letting you know of any changes or anything that's going to affect you specifically within that Community. So those are the only two, but on a regular basis on a weekly basis on a monthly basis, nothing extra, no extra time or participation that you would have to do the great thing too is we do have an we offer study night on a weekly basis. It is completely optional.

So students are welcome to come and take advantage of tutoring sessions that we have that you can. Or if you want to study space by yourself or study with others that you have that opportunity. But it's not a requirement, so hopefully that that helps the. Let's see our next question is I'm on the website right now and there's an agricultural scientist cluster in a key health professions. Can you explain the difference between the two in which would be better, yes.

So the key. So the the agricultural Sciences key cluster is within our key academic community. Anarchy Health Professions is its own community and so our health professions community really focuses on being able to help you learn a little bit more of that health professions lens with a combination of students who are coming in with a variety of different interests in the health professions. So there's no, it's not only a very specific catering experience, but with their agricultural Sciences, key clustering. Key academic.

That is very specific and design only for agricultural Sciences. So you are going to get the benefits of connecting to your college. You're going to be able to specifically focus just on AG and everything and everything that goes into it is going to be focused on that. So if you are thinking about you know potential veterinary. So if you're thinking equine science or if you're doing animal science.

And if you want to have that specific, more connection to.

The cluster and your college with an AG. Then I would recommend agricultural Sciences cluster within key academic because it's going to be a better benefit to you and being able to know that you're going to be surrounded by students only in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Versus if you go into health professions, you're still going to benefit because you will have other students. Who are you know, designated veteran veterinary students, but you also have Med students and then you have health and exercise students, so it'll be just a little bit different versus this one's a little bit more catered an connected to that college major.

So that would be the very that would be the difference between the two and the great thing is, as soon as you log into the application, it actually lets you know if you're eligible for those different ones. So if you're not already, you know declared major in bad agricultural scientists or like business or engineering, it won't give you those options until you are. And so those are things that you will then have to decide up that point. Besides the other three communities.

Let's see, does the living situation differ from other halls? It is a little bit different. I mean, we've heard from students their feedback has been that you know, living in key with both other keep students Anna Brayden Hall. There's definitely a lot more camaraderie. There's just a lot more openness. People are always just very much like happier, willing to connect, willing to build that community so students feel like there's a lot more of that home feeling. And that's really important for a lot of folks. And being able to.

Kind of transition leaving their home.

Coming to a new place and establishing themselves. So we've learned about those those different dynamics because we've heard that from other folks you know who have made friends or have maybe a gun to school with folks who live somewhere else, that sometimes their residence halls like everybody has their door shut like nobody really talks like there's not, you know, like a center hub for people to really go and connect versus in in the key halls like everybody is like connecting now. Could that be a little bit different in covid times? That might be a little bit different, but.

Not too much different because everybody has the opportunity to really know each other. They bump into each other, and that's a really great benefit for our students. Is just knowing that you know you have the same program that you're all in your living together. You have these opportunities so it really does kind of change a little bit.

Um, so I appreciate your questions, so let's see. We've got a couple of more coming through. Let's see. Is participating in the key communities better than participating in the Honors Program, or are they both beneficial in their own way? They are all beneficial in their own way, definitely, and that's one of the great things is that CSU offers a lot of different learning communities, some with a specific focus, others with like a connection to a specific college. So the Honors program is very much like research based, and so you're going to be doing a lot more of that, and that's what they're going to focus on, making sure that you're completing, you know, all those academic requirements for the Honors program.

Versus key, it really takes into account like everything right about the person making sure that you're doing well academically, making sure that you're you know, getting out there in, in developing your social, you know atmosphere, and then also that you're having that personal growth. So key focuses on being able to hit all of those three pieces to ensure that that first year experience is great, so you can. Actually, there's a couple of different things with the Honors program and key. You can do both.

But in doing both, just know that.

It's it's going to be a little bit more of a challenging semester for sure. 100% your year will be way more.

In terms of requirements in terms of work that you need to get done and in terms of responsibilities that you're going to have versus not doing both at the same time. So if you're OK with me like you know, I think I can take on the challenge. Then you would by all means we would want to support you in being able to do both, so you would still do honors an I think it's track two. I want to say and then you would still do key so you would take courses and then you would live in Brayden with the key student.

So you wouldn't be living with her on her students, so that would be the difference in being able to do both. But we also have a partnership with the Honors Program, so if you decide to do key your first year because it's only available your first year, you can still do honors your second year and take advantage of the scholarship as well, because you can join honors at anytime during your time at CSU, and so that's always a great benefit for students. So that way they're not having to choose one or the other, so you can do both and then that way you have a little bit more flexibility within your schedule.

And then you have a little bit, you know more time than you might have. Should you do both, but we will support you in either way. That's one of the things that we want to make sure that all of our students are aware of, so I hope that answers your question.

Let's see.

Let's win with those participating in the key communities. Assuming Covid isn't affecting the ability to live on campus, would be able to go on campus. So the great thing about you know being covid times and being able to live with students.

This last year our students were still living on campus and so you still have the ability to build that community. The other thing to keep in mind is that because he has the smaller class sizes, we were actually able to meet in person, which is what differed from a lot of the experiences that students were having this last year versus this outcome the year before. So a lot of students had to do everything virtually because some of those classes were a lot larger. Our classes were so small that we were still able to have that experience.

In person and so that made it really more meaningful for our students. Coming this fall, it is my understanding that the University is hoping to at least do about 75 to 80% on campus in person classes, so students would be able to go on to campus. You have that classroom experience, and you can still live with with the students, so all students, if you're wanting to live on campus, you would still have the ability to do that. If for any reason you are looking to live off campus and get an exception.

You would just need to make sure that you're connecting with University housing to go ahead an actually submit an exception on your behalf to see if they'll accept it, so those are the different things so students can still live on campus there, still benefiting still doing their thing and they're still able to get you know classes in person, which is which is really good, so we'll see if that changes. Hopefully it doesn't, but unless Covid gets worse, we might still be OK to move on track, so I hope that answers your question.

Let's see. So how does Braiden Hall differ from other halls? OK, so Brayden Hall is actually one of the closest to campus in terms of like, all of where your first year classes are going to be taking place. It is the closest one. It's right next to the library and it is closer to the student center as well. It is a suite style Hall, so you have to keep that in mind because there are different types of halls on campus, and so Brayden is a suite style, which means that you would be living with a roommate and then sharing a bathroom with two suite mates.

So it's for people to 1 bathroom and one Coed Hall, not Coed rooms, Coed Hall. But then there's also hauls that our community style, and so those communities halls. What that means is that it's one gender on one floor.

And so those kind of vary throughout campus, so those would be the starting point for in terms of cost. Is the community style, which is like ascent, gender, specific floor, and then they all share a bathroom. And then you've got your community style which has four to one bathroom with Coed halls. And then you've got like private rooms that you can do. But like I said, the cost continues to go up. The more specific that you get, so you want to look at the housing and dining.

Website to kind of figure out what it is that you're looking for in terms of price point as well as you know, asking any questions in terms of like whether or not financially will cover it. The great thing about our key students too is financial aid. At CSU, understands and knows that you know Key is an amazing benefit to our students, so they wouldn't want cost to be an option or or like a barrier for you to not want to take this option and so they do. Really, everything that they can to make a great financial aid package so it's not a burden that.

Falls on you or your family, so that is something to consider. If you were thinking about, you know, filling out the housing application and concerned about what that would cost to be a part of that. But yeah, Brandon has a bunch of different parts. It also has its own dining center, so on days when we had like last weekend with all that crazy snow, you don't have to go anywhere for food because you just go right downstairs. So there's there's a couple of different person being the closest to campus you know. 5 minutes away from class so you're like, OK, my alarm is going to set up for 10 minutes before or you know, you know walking Accessibility to the.

Library to the student center. All of these different things. It's a really Great Hall, so definitely check it out. You can do a virtual tour on the housing dining website as well.

Let's see our next question is when did applications open and how fast have they failed in the past? That's a great question, so our application has been open since January in the past, before covid, we were full as of March 1st. Right now we because we actually, you know.

I've had covid students are kind of as they're trying to make their decisions about, you know whether or not to come to CSU. The applications are trickling in, but we do have some communities that are already starting to fill, but we are not full at the moment, so you can go ahead and still submit your application if that's something that you're very much interested in.

Next question is is if I am in honors, would I still benefit from the key communities or can I even do both? Yes, you can do both and there's definitely different benefits to both, so it really depends on like what it is that you want to accomplish, how you want to accomplishment, and in your capacity, right? You know, because coming into college there's just a lot of unknowns in terms of what your caseload would look like for your first year. You know class, cohort and so just thinking about like OK.

You know, do I. Am I going to get a job on campus? Do I need that, you know, should I factor in that time management because I'm going to have so much more to do for honor Zanki combined? So those are the kinds of things that you want to talk about or think about as as you're trying to reflect on whether or not you want to either one or if you want to do both. And like I said, we can have more in develop individualized conversation so that I can answer very specific questions that you might have about how to navigate that we've had students do it in the past, but the feedback that we received is that it's just an extremely challenging year.

Because they were doing so much at once. So like I said you can. You can do that anytime, so just let me know if that answers your question or if there's something more than I can answer about that.

Let's see, the next question is I'm doing in apparel merchandising major and wanted and wanting my own business. What community is the best? Oh my gosh, that's great. That's a good question we actually have.

I'm thinking cluster in key academic and they focus on apparel merchandising students. So you're going to get a lot from that specific cluster in terms of like perspective and things that you'll need to consider an you know as as you're taking into this major plus, you'll benefit because you'll have opportunities to learn from other students because we do have some.

Students who are like considering potentially like undeclared art interest. We have some students who are coming in with potentially like landscape architecture, and so you're getting to learn about these different pieces that all play into what it is that you're going to be able to do. There's always, I think, a business minor that you can also take, or you can double major if you want to. So these are questions that I would definitely recommend chatting with your academic advisor about because you want to make sure that you're maximizing your time. If you're going to double major.

So if you want to do business and in apparel merchandising, what does that look like and how can I merge as many classes as possible? Or you know, is it better to do in apparel and merchandising and then do a business minor? So what does that look like? But in terms of key, I would definitely recommend key academic because it has that cluster that is specifically focused for students in parallel merchandising as well. Let's see is key offered to transfer students. So key the first year key communities so all of the communities that I talked about earlier.

These four this these are just for first year students, but our key plus community which if you visit our website you can see our key plus and then you can actually go in and apply as well that can apply for upperclassmen students. An transfer students so you are more than welcome to apply to our key plus community and it will help you in the same way that our first year key community does. But just a little bit more of a different focus with leadership and service. More so in mind since you've kind of jumped a hurdle already in and missed that first year so.

There's there's a lot more that is catered to to being an upperclassman students in the first year.

Let's see our next question is when did applications open and how OK yeah, so I answered that question awesome. Let's see which students qualify for key. Anyone who applies or just first generation college attendees. What type of student is your target students? Awesome, we admit everyone. I mean ideally in an ideal world, in my ideal world, I would love to accept every student that CSU into key because I think everyone should have the experience. But honestly anyone can qualify for key. There's no specific requirements.

To be a part of the key communities like I said before, it's just in our application process. We want to make sure that you are just getting what you need out of your college experience. So we want to make sure that you're aligning your goals, that you that you have the ability to to know and understand what it is that you want to your college experience, and how he can provide that for you. And then just how you're going to bring your best self and contribute to building this amazing community within key for the first year. So that's basically what it is. We do have high populations of diverse students in terms of ethnic.

Backgrounds we have, you know, students from out of state we have some international students. We have first generation students. You know we have students who have different identities are from the LGBT community. So we have a variety of different students that come to the communities for that amazing first year experience and for that Community building that can help support them in their first year transition. So all of these pieces really do come into play and we want to be able to support.

Any and all students with what they need specifically. So that's why we make it very individualized in that way, so that nobody feels left out because we want to support all of our students and everybody brings so much richness because they bring their stories, their experiences, and that's all part of what makes such an amazing community within key. So it says beautiful melting pot within within CSU within the communities, so I hope that answers your question. But if not, let me know. I'm happy to chat.

Let's see, the next question is what is the specific issue with computer science major and key?

So basically there is not a specific issue, it's just that there are with computer science you have a very specific caseload that you have to follow, and so some of those classes, similar with engineering and like art, music, theater, dance. They are fundamental courses, so there continuously building on top of one another and so sometimes there's just not enough room there to build in any other elective courses which you know with computer science. That's what our classes would fall under.

That would allow for that time, especially if you want to graduate on time, and so that's the only thing is that we want to make sure that we're not taking anything away from the students experience, or that their or their goals in terms of being able to you know, jump in and get everything done when they need to in a specific time frame. So it's just making sure that you're chatting with your computer science advisor about like I really want to do key. So how can we fit in?

You know, maybe you know a couple of different classes from the key communities with this. Or, you know, is that going to extend me another year, another semester? Those kinds of things just because like I said, everything is building on top of the next one and the next one, and so we don't want to take away from any of that. So that's that's the biggest thing for our computer science students or any of the majors that I mentioned. So hope that answers focuses questions. That was a lot of great questions. Everyone, thank you so much for asking them. Is there anything else that's lingering or that I didn't cover? I'm going to go back to the slide.

Where has my contact information? Because I do want to encourage everyone. If anything does come, you know?

Back later on for any reason you're like, I had some time to think about it and I still don't get this like let's have a one on one conversation. I can talk via phone or we can talk via zoom, so feel free to send me an email whatever you prefer. I'm happy to help. And like I said, I could talk about key all day. So I just want to make sure that I'm answering any and all questions or helping you with the application. If you'd like me to walk you through that process, I'm happy to do so as well, so please let me know how I can be of further assistance. I just want to say thank you so much, all of you for joining me today and I hope that you got a lot to think about.

So most importantly, the message that I just want to relay is make sure that as you're considering any and all options, we are an amazing institution. But we want you to find the best fit for you, and we know that not every everyone is going to have the same experience. We know that not everyone is going to have the same fit in the same needs. So definitely think about what you need and then find your passion that way an if you end up being a future RAM, we're going to be so excited to have you and welcome you to the ramaley. And then if you decide to be a part of the community.

We are going to be so excited to have you as well and look forward to meeting you this fall to help you with this first year experience and what it's going to look like. And it's going to be amazing so we just want to support you in any way that we can. So let us know how we can be of further assistance and thank you so much for joining us today. I hope you have a great rest of your day.

Play everyone.