Call for proposals - Enabling First Year Student Success in a Tertiary World

2025-05-31

The European First Year Experience (EFYE) Conference series has been advancing and challenging debates
around student transitions and first year student success for nearly 20 years. It has grown from its origins
as a relatively small conference to a “movement for change in a range of European contexts “(Carey et al.,
2024 p. 129) regularly attracting approximately 400 delegates from 25+ countries. This special issue acknowledges and celebrate the work of colleges and universities in supporting student success in first year transitions as students’ progress through a tertiary world, and the educators, learners, policy makers, leaders, and researchers contributing to this success. The editors welcome proposals from practitioners and researchers across Europe that can evidence a successful first year student experience from a pedagogic, professional services or students’ organisation/students’ union perspective. We recognise the broad range of first year experience, one that applies in multiple settings and across a full life-cycle: first-year higher education experience in college, traditional first year at university, direct entrants who may enter at any year, and first year of postgraduate studies or research. 

Proposals for submissions could include, but need not be limited to, issues such as:

 Access, College and University Transitions
 Personalisation of Learning and new Student Expectations
 Preparing Students for Success (from AI to Wellbeing)
 Curriculum Design for First Year Success (including articulation)
 Student Development and Support through Mentors/Peer initiatives
 Student Voice, Expectations and Partnership for Success
 Leadership for the First Year Experience
 Sectoral and Institution wide approaches to First Year Experience (University or Networks)
 Staff Development to engage with the Tertiary challenge

References

Carey, W., Millard, L., Nutt, D., Bonne, P., & Sæthre, H. Å. (2024). European First Year Experience
Conference: Learning through a third space development community. Journal of Perspectives in Applied
Academic Practice, 12(3), 127–139.

Your proposal - four steps

  1. Decide on the format for your paper: original research, a reflective analysis, a review paper, a case study, an 'on the horizon' piece, an opinion piece or a book review. Full guidance on formats is available at https://jpaap.ac.uk/JPAAP/information/authors
  2. Your proposal should be up to 300 words and include 5 keywords or terms.
  3. You should include a short bio (of 50 words) for each author.
  4. You should email your proposal directly to lajpaap@outlook.com by 20 July
    2025 using this proposal form

Authors will be contacted by 1 August 2025.

If your proposal is accepted, your full paper must be submitted by 1 November 2025.

The anticipated date of publication for this special issue is May 2026.

Informal queries and questions can be sent to the special issue editors, via Diane Nutt (dianenutt@outlook.com).