Announcing: A New Name for Our Office
The Center for the First-Year Experience (CFYE) is now the Office of Student Transition and Family Engagement (STFE).
This change will better reflect a full range of student transitions, as well as programs designed for the families of UW-Madison students throughout their first year and beyond.
Our office will continue to host SOAR, Wisconsin Welcome, Transfer Transition Program, and Parent and Family Program.
Expect to see more on the transition throughout fall 2023. For questions, please contact Carren Martin, Director of OSTFE, at carren.martin@wisc.edu.
Focus Areas
Orientation
Your first step to becoming a Badger is attending Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR). Once you move in, you'll start acclimating to campus through a suite of events known as Wisconsin Welcome.

Academic Engagement
The Academic Engagement area coordinates and supports first-year seminars; tutoring & learning support resources; and teaching resources and support for faculty, staff, TAs, and peer leaders who work with first-year students.

Transfer Transition Program
The Transfer Transition Program aims to understand and improve the transfer student experience at UW–Madison. We offer pre-transfer academic advising for prospective students and host social and educational programs at the Transfer Engagement Center.

Information for:
Students
We help incoming students transition to UW–Madison through orientation and welcome programing. While you're here, join us in a first-year seminar course and learn about campus. We also offer transfer student advising and programming.
Faculty/Staff
We collect and share information and resources, support institutional initiatives, consult on projects or courses, and provide training and workshops for faculty, staff, TAs, and students who teach or work with first-year students.
Parents
We're committed to providing parents and family members with the necessary tools and support to help facilitate a successful transition for their student.