The take away from the sessions delivered by Dr. Rebecca Cox last Friday was clearly connections. The need for community in all its varieties is a key to removing the lack of understanding between faculty and students. In order for retention rates to improve, faculty must get to know their students better. In order for attrition rates to go down, students must get to know their teachers better. Faculty and students must form a community that shares mutual goals. If you are interested in viewing the faculty session Understanding The New Student Learning Paradigm: How to Help your Students Succeed, please contact the staff of CT+LE. There was a nice turnout for today's informational session on the request for applications for cohort 3 of the ACES Fellows program. If you are interested in submitting an application, due May 13, please consider attending the remaining session on Tuesday, April 19 at 9:30 a.m. in 204 Social and Behavioral Sciences Building. If you are unable to attend, contact the CT+LE office to set an appointment. According to a yearly national survey of more than 200,000 first-year students conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, college freshmen are increasingly "overwhelmed," rating their emotional health at the lowest levels in the 25 years the question has been asked. Such is the latest problem dropped at the offices of higher-education administrators and professors nationwide: Young adults raised with a single-minded focus on gaining admission to college now need help translating that focus into ways to thrive on campus and beyond. In today’s Academic Minute, Empire State College's John Beckem discusses how audio files are being used to improve communication between faculty members and students learning at a distance. Beckem is an assistant professor of finance and management studies at Empire State’s Center for Distance Learning.