UI Takes Orientation To New Level Wilderness Program Seeks Early Focus On Academics

A college campus is unfamiliar territory for many 18-year-old high school graduates.

So is the rugged terrain of Idaho’s Gospel Hump Wilderness Area in the Nez Perce National Forest.

But hoofing it through the craggy peaks and alpine meadows of Idaho’s backcountry is intended to prepare 36 new University of Idaho students for academic success before they set foot on campus.

“In Idaho” is a new wilderness orientation program spearheaded by the Wilderness Research Center, an arm of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences. For $185, the center is offering students a seven-day wilderness backpacking expedition that doubles as the UI’s new student orientation.

These campus newcomers will take high mountain trails instead of the perfunctory campus tours. They’ll dine on freeze-dried goods rather than dorm food. But there are plenty of parallels, too.

“We are removing them from a culture that’s familiar and putting them in a culture that doesn’t have identified rules,” explained “In Idaho” coordinator Pam Farmer.

Like college, there are predators and pitfalls. The rewards can be great if you don’t take wrong turns along the way and manage to survive challenging obstacles.

University officials hope that if students start thinking seriously about college before they’re on campus, they might start bucking some new negative trends.

The average UI student changes majors three times and takes 5.2 years to graduate, for example. Their grades tend to drop one entire grade point from their average in high school.

“When you have a state land grant university where tuition pays only 15 percent of the total cost, this becomes a very expensive issue for the state,” said John Hendee, director of the Wilderness Research Center.

Preventive programs like this help students focus on their academic plans early on, he said.

“It’s a real rite of passage to transition from a fairly dependent high school student to going off to be independent at a university,” Hendee said.

Students often become confused about their career paths, their new-found freedom or the temptation to party. The wilderness orientation gives them time, solitude and a supportive network of peers and trained UI guides to discuss university life and the college transition.

“It’s set up in a way so the students take ownership for the experience and take more responsibility as the trip goes on,” Farmer said. “That will help the transition of leaving a situation where their families have been there in many instances to being on their own.”

For its own research, the center will track the students through college, comparing their performance with similar students who didn’t participate in the orientation. Depending on its success, the program may expand.

“We know we can’t send all incoming freshmen on a wilderness experience, but maybe this could be something for students at risk of not making it,” Hendee said.

“In Idaho” is just one of the projects Hendee has spearheaded as director of the Wilderness Research Center, which focuses its studies on the human benefits of wilderness experiences. The Moscow-based center just completed a four-year project developing a wilderness program for at-risk youth in federal job corps programs. In the fall, he’s coteaching a senior-level vision quest class.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Classes “In Idaho” is scheduled for Aug. 14-20 and costs $185. New student orientation on campus is Aug. 20, with classes beginning Aug. 25. For more information, contact Pam Farmer at (208) 885-2269 or email farm9211@uidaho.edu.