12 questions that matter for college success: WWU English professor’s new book focuses on the early days on campus

Succeeding in college often depends on the decisions students make the first few days after they set foot on campus, according to a new book published by WWU English Professor Steve VanderStaay, an expert in teaching and learning in higher education.

“The First Days of College: 12 Decisions that Change Everything,” published by Bloomsbury Academic, focuses on developing habits early that will serve students well through graduation. 

“Statistically, the way college starts tends to predict how it will end,” said VanderStaay. “So a good start is a big thing.” 

There are dozens of books on the market about going to college, he said, but none focus on those crucial first few weeks and the early habits that matter. 

Habits are hard to break and hard to establish, VanderStaay said, but it’s easier when people are in a new environment, in a new role, and among new peers. “All three of those come with college,” he said, “so it’s a really powerful time to make changes.”

A longtime member of the English faculty, VanderStaay also spent a dozen years focused on improving student retention as Western’s vice provost for Undergraduate Education and director of First Year Programs. He continued to teach during his time in administration and often met with students struggling in their first months on campus. 

“For many of our students, the worst grades they ever get are their first fall quarter,” VanderStaay said. “In high school, people study when something is due. They tend to bring that pattern into college and not change it until they have a failure.” 

As vice provost, VanderStaay soon realized how much students’ success depended on their habits and decisions outside the classroom, too. For example, he learned from colleagues in University Residences about the importance of the “friendship window,” the first week of school when people are naturally open to meeting others and building relationships. He also learned that the power of optional summer programs for incoming first-year students comes from not just the academic opportunities but the second “friendship window” the programs provide. 

VanderStaay’s book also addresses the darker aspects of the first few days of college: College students are typically safer, statistically speaking, than 18- 24-year-olds who are not in college — except in the first week, when college students are more prone to experience accidents, alcohol poisoning, and crimes like sexual assault. Knowing how to minimize safety risk during that first week is also another key to college success.

“With college, there’s really a taboo around talking about failure,” VanderStaay said, “but nearly half of all people who start college don’t finish.”

However, psychologists have shown that talking about challenges helps people achieve their goals, he said.  

“I break that taboo by talking frankly with students about all the reasons people don’t graduate and everything we know about the choices good students make,” he said. “It’s clear the people who graduate aren’t necessarily the smartest. They’re the people who are resilient and who have the best strategies. Fortunately, we know what these strategies are. So why not help students learn them in their first weeks?” 

The book walks students through 12 questions to help them build their plans for success in college, from “What tools will you use to manage your time?” and “How will you think about sleep and rest?” to “How will you stay safe?” and “What story will you tell?”

He includes exercises to help students, who tend to be focused on the present, to think about the future and connect their future goals to their current habits. 

VanderStaay hopes his candid, focused advice will be helpful not only for students, but for the families and advisors who support them. 

“People are googling ‘Is college worth it?’ more than ever before,” he said. “The better question is, how to make college worth it. Because the economic benefits of college have actually improved in the last decade. But that assumes you graduate.” 

Mary Gallagher covers Western’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences for WWU Communications and edits WWU’s Window magazine and the Family Connection Newsletter. Email her story ideas at mary.gallagher@wwu.edu.