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founditselfrelaxingentrancestandards,acceptingstudentsfrombackgroundswhountilrecentlywouldnothavebeengiventheopportunitytoattenduniversity,andarenotaswellequippedforuniversitylifeastheirpeersagenerationago.ThefacultyoftheDepartmentofEnglishLanguageandCulturebelievesthatwearepreparingincomingstudentsforthistransitiontouniversitylifeandarecreatingapositiveenvironmenttofosterstudentsuccess.However,therehasbeenlittleopportunitytoverifytheseimpressions,especiallywiththeupheavalcausedbytheCOVID-19epidemicbeginningin2020.Thisisthefoundationofthisresearch:adesiretolearnmoreaboutthestudentsenteringtheEnglishDepartment,andhowwelltheyarebeingservedwithassistanceinthetransitionintouniversitylife.2LiteratureReview2．1HigherEducationinaUniversal-AccessContextThenumberofyoungpeopleinthiscountrycontinuestodropasthepopulationages,whilehighereducationcontinuestogrow.Coupledwithrelianceonfreshhighschoolgraduatestofilltherollsoffirst-yearstudentsandastrongresistancetoopeningupadmissionstonon-traditionalstudentsingreatnumbers,thesystemofhighereducationfindsitselffacingasituationinwhichmorethanhalfof18-year-oldsinthecountrycontinueontohighereducation.Trow（2010）wroteextensivelyabouttheeffectsthatincreasingaccesstohighereducationcouldbeexpectedtohaveonasystemofhighereducation,theinstitutionswithinit,andthebroadersocietyinwhichitissituated.CentraltoTrow'sthinkingabouthighereducationisamovefroma“mass”systemofhighereducationtoa“universal”oneastotalenrollmentoftherelevantagegrouppassesroughlythe50percentmark.Mostrelevanttotheissuesthisstudyseekstoexaminearechangesinsociety'sideasaboutaccesstohighereducation,thefunctionsofhighereducation,thestudentcareer,academicstandards,andquestionsofaccessandselection（Trow,2010）.Inauniversalaccesssetting,thereisessentiallyaplaceinthehighereducationsystemforanypersonwhowantsone,providingtheymeetminimaleducationalqualifications.Thismeansthatthequestionformoststudentsisnotnecessarilywhethertheywillattenduniversity,butratherwhichuniversitytheywishtoattend.Asaccesscontinuestoincrease,moreandmorestudentswillcontinueonfromsecondaryschooltouniversitynotbecausetheynecessarilywantto,butbecausetheyfeeltheymust.Thishascarry-oneffectsonwhichfieldofstudytheychoose,howtheyapproachthatchoice,andtheirmotivationoncetheirstudiesbegin.Asmorestudentscomefrombackgroundsnottraditionallyorientedtowardsuniversity,fewerwillhavethesupportstructures,ortheacademicandsocialbackgrounds,thatassistthistransitiontouniversity.Additionally,withtheexpansionofadmissionstoincludestudentsfromnon-traditionalbackgrounds,agreaterproportionoffirst-generationstudents,neitherofwhoseparentsattendeduniversity,canbeexpectedtoenteruniversity.Thequestionoffirst-generationstudentsatuniversityhasbeenstudiedextensively（seeforexampleTymet.al.,2004）,withthegeneralexpectationthatfirst-generationstudentswillbelesspreparedforuniversityacademically,havelessknowledgeofsystemsandinstitutions,andhavemoredifficultybecomingusedtouniversitylifeafterbeginningtheirstudies.2．2TheTransitiontoHigherEducationandStudentRetentionTheissueofnew-studentsuccessatmanyuniversitiesisoftenframedandapproachedintermsofretention.ParticularattentionispaidatChubuUniversitytostudentsintheirfirstsemesterofstudy,andanumberofpoliciesareinplacetohelpeasetheirtransitionintotheuniversitycommunityandensurethatfacultyaremindfulofmetricssuchasattendanceandratesofabsence-takinganddropout.Thegoalsofthesepoliciesareononehandtohelpthestudentsthemselves,andontheothertohelpfacultybeawareofstudentswhomightbeindangerofleaving,allowingthemtoworkproactivelytokeeptheseat-riskstudentsinthesystem.Tinto（1988）wroteextensivelyabouttheseissuesandhowtheyarerelatedtosuccessespeciallyintheJournalofChubuUniversityEducationNo.25（2025）―38―