Explore! Retreat - Explore! is a retreat between the first and second semester of the first academic year which supports students in their transition to the college experience and is a collaborative effort of faculty, staff, and student leaders.
Format
- Audience: First year students.
- When: First weekend of January-term, a one-month short term in which students take a single four-credit course. The retreat itself begins on Friday evening of the first week of classes and concludes the next afternoon.
- Frequency: Once a year.
- Focus of Retreat: Prior to the actual retreat, facilitator triads (consisting of a faculty, staff, and upper division student member) participate in a training retreat, which takes up a Saturday morning and early afternoon in November.
Funding and Operations
- Operations: The cost for the 2015 retreat was $13,000. This includes the cost of both the event itself and the facilitator training prior to the event. Training expenses included travel and honoraria for our trainer, supplies, T-shirts, breakfast, and lunch for those who attended. Event expenses included facility rental for our off campus venue, transportation to that venue, meals for both days, supplies, promotional costs, and small stipends for our facilitators.
- External Support: The initial Explore! Retreats were funded as a part of the Wild Hope Project (through the Lilly Endowment’s Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation). They have now been fully institutionalized, and are funded within the Wild Hope Center for Vocation and Student Life budgets.