Bridge Program

Bridge Your Way To Excellence

The mission of the Office of Minority Affairs (OMA) Bridge Program is to facilitate a seamless transition from high school to college graduation for incoming freshman who have the determination to matriculate successfully at The Ohio State University. This mission is accomplished by providing a special learning community that offers a range of academic support services, including a pre-freshman three-week Summer Bridge Program, transition course instruction, holistic retention counseling, peer mentoring, tutoring, study skills development/ enrichment and student interest groups.

The Bridge Program learning community is available to the program participants through graduation. The OMA Bridge Program works closely with a wide variety of academic departments, administrative offices and programs throughout the University and off-campus to ensure a legacy of diversity in higher education.

Structure

The objectives of the program are accomplished through Transition, Integration, and Preparation (TIP). The Bridge programming focuses on the use of progressive TIP themes according to class ranks.

• Freshman Year: Transition to college life academically, personally, culturally, and socially.
• Sophomore and Junior Years: Integration and full participation into the Ohio State community, both personally and socially.
• Junior and Senior+ Years: Preparation for post-graduation options based on identified personal goals.

Modules

The entry point into the multi-year Bridge Program is the Freshman Year Component. During this critical year, the program emphasizes three modules. These three modules stress the students’ academic, personal, cultural, and social transition from high school to college.

Academic Enrichment and Personal Transition Module
This module helps new students to improve on the math and English skills required for academic success in college. In addition, students engage in teaching sessions that begin the on-going discussion on issues surrounding the personal, cultural, and social aspects of transitioning to campus life. These class sessions address concerns such as identity development, bi-culturalism, personal values, social norms, etc.

College Study Skills Module
The emphasis for this module is on the acquisition of college level study skills. This module launches an intensive effort to assist each student in mastering the skills necessary to be successful in college. These skills include, but are limited to, time management, understanding student-faculty connection, learning styles, critical thinking and writing, etc.

Major/ Career Decision Making Module
The final Freshman module focuses on the process of decision-making regarding an academic major and career. Students engage in a career planning model that begins with self-assessment and ends with goal setting/implementation.