This practice brief is one of a series highlighting key practices undertaken by some of the many successful Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) schools during the project's five years of data collection and action plan implementation. These practice briefs accompany a monograph that details the process BEAMS institutions used to craft data-driven action plans and to implement those plans to improve student success. The purpose of the practice brief series is to outline effective practices that can be replicated in postsecondary institutions interested in pursuing data-based change and increasing student engagement, learning, and success. This particular brief highlights the first-year student initiatives undertaken at four institutions. The focus on project implementation and accomplishments demonstrates how these projects might be replicated and how emphasis on the first-year experience can ultimately result in increases in student engagement and success.
