First-Year Counselor Program (FroCo)

Every year, each residential college selects a group of outstanding seniors to advise incoming first-years as they acclimate to academic, social, and cultural life at Yale.

First-Year Counselor Program (FroCo)

Every year, each residential college selects a group of outstanding seniors to advise incoming first-years as they acclimate to academic, social, and cultural life at Yale.

A hallmark of Yale’s advising system is the First-Year Counselor Program, which affords first-year students access to experienced, mature, and knowledgeable members of the senior class. The program selects exceptional seniors to live among first-year students on Old Campus or in residential colleges and offer oversight, advice, and guidance.

First-Year Counselors, colloquially known as “FroCos,” seek to ease the transition of incoming first-years to the academic, social, and cultural life of Yale College.

First-Year Counselor Applicants

The opportunity to support students encountering Yale for the first time is profoundly important and uniquely rewarding. In the eyes of many first-years, no position at Yale is more significant; and for many counselors, no other job is more satisfying.

At the same time, given the heavy demands of the position, applicants are urged think critically about how serving as a counselor fits into their plans and obligations for senior year. They are encouraged to discuss the prospect of applying with their residential college dean. They may also find it useful to consult heads of residential colleges, cultural center directors, and current first-year counselors.

First-Year Counselor Application

First-Year Counselors assist first-year students in their transition to the academic, social, and cultural life of Yale College.

First-Year Counselor Applicant Resources

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, students must:

  • Conclude the spring 2025 term in academic good standing and remain in academic good standing during both terms of the academic year 2025-2026.  
  • Students in their fifth term of enrollment in Spring 2025 are also eligible to apply as long as they will complete their degree in Fall 2026.
  • Possess the skills necessary to work with students of a variety of ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, sexual orientations, and religions.
  • Demonstrate a strong record of academic success, personal maturity, and commitment to serving others.
  • Students who have overcome significant academic or personal challenges during their Yale careers may have points of view that are unique and valuable for first-years. Qualified applicants should consult the residential college dean and/or Dean Ferentz Lafargue to talk through any questions.

Candidates who have previously served as CCEs, PLs, varsity athletes, college aides, or who have worked as admissions ambassadors,  with the cultural centers, OISS, Chaplain’s Office, LGBTQ community, Poorvu Center and others are highly encouraged to apply.

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Duties and Expectations

Given the somewhat unpredictable needs of first-years, it is impossible to anticipate all the duties that a counselor might be expected to perform. The primary responsibilities, however, are listed below.

Any applicant with concerns about their ability to fulfill one or more of these duties should consult their residential college dean. Otherwise, a counselor who fails to meet these expectations may be subject to immediate dismissal from the program.

The core duties are as follows:

  • Model exemplary conduct, abiding by the Undergraduate Regulations.
  • Assist your dean and head of college in conveying your college’s values, norms and what it means to be a student at Yale to members of the first-year class.
  • Assist your dean and head in identifying and developing future leaders within your residential college community.
  • Attend fully all spring training sessions April 11 - April 13, 2025. 
  • Attend fully the fall training sessions that will begin one week before first-years arrive on campus. All FroCos must arrive on Campus by August 11, 2025. In person attendance is required and it is our expectation that all FroCos will have completed their summer commitment by the time they arrive on campus.
  • Attend fully the January 2026 mid-year training prior to the first day of classes, most likely on that Saturday. 
  • Attend all mandatory first-year events with their FroCo group. (This schedule is also still in process, but you will have it soon.)
  • Welcome your first-years once they are assigned to you over the summer, facilitate conversations as part of their orientation, and support their transition to Yale over the course of their first year, including adjusting to any needed public health constraints.
  • Set clear expectations for first-years about the FroCo/Frosh relationship. This always involves setting boundaries and sticking to them throughout the year. FroCos do hold authority as part of their position. Setting up clear boundaries at the beginning makes it much easier to navigate difficult conversations later.
  • Commit to helping execute Opening Days Programming as necessary either via mandatory attendance at certain events, ensuring participation of first years in your group throughout this period, and collaborating with your dean and other residential college staff to successfully accomplish programming specific to your college. 
  • As a team, establish an on-call schedule for responding rapidly to student emergencies while also following the current public health guidelines. We strongly recommend that at high-risk times (weekends, Halloween, etc.) you have two FroCos sharing the on-call responsibility; for your own support, you may want to always work in pairs. Traditionally, there are a few days each year when we ask all FroCos to be on-call, like Spring Fling. Depending on how those events shape up for the 2025 - 2026 year, we may need the FroCos to serve in this capacity.
  • Assist your dean and head in quickly identifying any matters of concern for first-year students so that they can arrange for appropriate advising and support.
  • Immediately address any first-year violations of the Undergraduate Regulations and report such violations to the head/dean/appropriate body. In situations where the behavior cannot be ended or resolved though the FroCos’ engagement, FroCos should work with their deans and/or the Public Health Coordinator, as appropriate, to assist.
  • Hold supportive follow-up conversations with any of your first-years who find themselves in an emergency situation, have violated the Undergraduate Regulations with a focus on helping the student process and learn from their experience.
  • Regularly engage first-years in your group throughout the year, both individually and through group check-ins, and be responsive when they reach out to you.
  • Advise first-years on issues related to adjusting to college life and connect them to appropriate resources on campus. Help foster positive engagement among the first-years.
  • Assist with Blue Booking, provide peer academic advising, connect first-years to academic resources at Yale, and discuss/sign off on your first-years’ schedules.
  • Work as a team to provide consistent social outlets for the first-years in your college to connect with one another.
  • Understand and consistently follow safety protocols, both for emergency and non-emergency situations.
  • Maintain regular contact with the rest of the team. Help ensure that the team’s work is equitably distributed.
  • Collaborate with the other peer support and education programs in your college, including the Communication and Consent Educators (CCEs), Peer Liaisons, the Peer Health Educators, and others on programming, educational materials, and other strategies to support your first-years.
  • Attend weekly meetings with your dean.

Advising and Oversight

Counselors should be thoroughly familiar with Chapters I, II, and III of the Yale College Programs of Study, which explain in detail the undergraduate curriculum and academic regulations of Yale College. 

Counselors should also be thoroughly familiar with the Undergraduate Regulations and must assume reasonable responsibility for seeing that their first-years honor the regulations contained therein, particularly the rules concerning social functions, alcoholic beverages, noise, fire extinguishers, and fire alarms. Counselors are expected to address immediately any violations they encounter and report them to the residential college dean or head. They are also expected to report promptly any custodial or security concerns they notice to the dean, head, or other appropriate administrator.

Teamwork and Communication

Counselors are expected to work in concert with a team of counselors who collectively help first-year students adjust to college life. Counselor teams meet weekly with their residential college dean and are frequently in touch throughout the week by email, phone, and text. In addition, the head counselor from each team meets independently with the representatives of other teams to discuss matters that affect more than one college.

Conduct & Professionalism

As much as counselors are expected to assist Yale College in upholding the Undergraduate Regulations, it is assumed that counselors will themselves be exemplary in their conduct. A counselor who violates the Undergraduate Regulations and is thereby subject to censure from the Executive Committee, may be immediately dismissed from the program at the discretion of the YCDO.

A counselor may also be dismissed from the program for failure to meet the expectations set forth by either their residential college leadership, or the Yale College Dean’s Office in terms of good standing within their college community, failure to attend weekly meetings, host 1:1 sessions with their first years, or any of the other prerequisites of the role.

Counselors assume positions of professional responsibility and are therefore expected to relate to first-years in a manner that is appropriate to their position. Because of the unequal dynamic inherent in the relationship between counselors and first-years, sexual interactions between them are inappropriate. Counselors must not, therefore, engage in any romantic or sexual behavior with any first-year or admitted student who has not yet matriculated, regardless of whether the behavior is consensual. Counselors who violate this restriction will be immediately dismissed from the program.

Prioritization of Counselor Commitments

Serving as a counselor should be a student’s primary extracurricular activity. A counselor may only accept a second term-time job for up to ten hours per week with prior permission from the residential college dean. The same restriction holds for any significant extracurricular commitment that would demand more than ten hours per week.

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Residence

Counselors are housed in one of the entryways for first-year students, either on Old Campus or in Timothy Dwight, Benjamin Franklin, Pauli Murray or Silliman. All counselors are housed in single bedrooms, usually in a suite shared with at least one other counselor

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FAQs

How will the FroCos be paid? 

FroCo compensation comes in the form of a portion of a room and board credit. Some students have their room and board covered in another way; in that case, the payment is used for other Yale bills or given as credit to the student’s account. For examples, please visit the FroCo Website Compensation section.

Can I apply to be a FroCo if I am planning to graduate in December of 2026 instead of May of 2025? 

It may be possible to hire seniors who will complete their studies in December of 2026 as well as those who will graduate in May 2026. Any member of the class of 2026 who finds themselves in this position may submit a FroCo application.

Will FroCos have Covid related responsibilities?  

FroCos will be expected to help their first-years adapt to life on campus, including following the current public health guidelines. To that end, FroCos may be asked to have conversations with their first-years if those guidelines are broken.

How many hours do counselors work per week? 

It differs from week to week. The workload is heaviest at the beginning of the academic year and during exam seasons. In general, the workload eases a bit over the course of the year with the goal of having first years becoming more independent in the spring term. 

Certain work hours, such as duty nights, are predetermined, if necessary, on a required as needed basis. However, much of a counselor’s work occurs on ad hoc basis, such as initiating connections with first-years or responding to crisis situations. 

Does duty prevent a counselor from attending special events such as Masquerade? 

FroCos are encouraged to develop partnerships with trained student leaders such as PLs or CCEs to help offset duty responsibilities when there are either senior specific, or campus-wide events the FroCos may desire to attend as a team.  Additionally, when there are special events that most or all of the counselors wish to attend, counselors can also further divide duty obligations for example by having each FroCo cover about an hour of duty. Outside that hour, the counselor may attend the event; however, they must also be ready—and able—to assist a first-year should the need arise. Senior Masquerade is an exception: every counselor may attend the event in its entirety (but is still on call). 

May counselors be active participants in senior societies? 

Yes. However, whenever conflicts occur, counselor obligations must take precedence over society activities (as with all other extracurricular activities). 

To whom do counselors report? 

The Yale College Dean’s Office runs the First-Year Counselor Program and hires the selected counselors each year. However, residential college deans manage the individual college teams on a day-to-day basis. 

What is the YCDO looking for in counselors? 

The most crucial quality in a counselor is empathy. A counselor’s mission is tocare for first-years in order that they feel welcomed by the Yale community and equipped to succeed academically and socially.

Counselor teams are intended to be as diverse as possible in many senses: they are designed to include some extroverts, some introverts, students from different backgrounds, students studying different disciplines, and students with different functional strengths like organization or creativity. 

Each year, certain counselors are selected who struggled one way or another in their first few years at Yale. These challenges might be related, for example, to academics, mental health, or finances. Such experiences often shape people into particularly compassionate adults. As first-years grapple with many types of obstacles, it is helpful to have counselors who can directly relate. 

May counselors drink alcohol in the same space as their counselees? 

No. This policy is in place to protect counselors, who are employees of Yale and as such carry some authority. A counselor who witnesses a first-year drinking and does not intervene assumes some responsibility for any situation that may later arise as a result. 

However, this restriction is less obtrusive than it may seem at first. The only common environment in which a counselor and counselee have access to alcohol within the same space is a student organization event. Counselors who plan to remain active in such a student organization should work with the organization’s leadership at the beginning of the year to explain the restriction. Most organizations have been able to manage this restriction without a problem. 

Does the above policy apply to college events? 

If alcohol at an event is managed by a professional organization (like at a college dance), a counselor may drink and be in the same space as a counselee. (In this case, of course, very few first-years will be able to drink anyway.) 

May counselors have alcohol in their suites? 

Yes, if of legal age. At the same time, counselors are expected to be extremely responsible in their use of alcohol and set a good example for the first-years.

May counselors have parties in their suites? 

Yes, insofar as the party is contained within the suite does not have first-years in attendance, and does not attract negative attention. Again, FroCos are expected to maintain exemplary standards of behavior. 

May counselors have a second job? 

Yes, provided permission from the residential college dean. FroCo duties take priority over all other commitments, so any second job must be flexible and limited to 10 hours per week. 

May counselors be romantically or sexually involved with first-year students? 

No. Counselors have a great deal of authority and influence in the lives of first-years. The inherently imbalanced power dynamic is inappropriate for any romantic or sexual interaction, even if consensual. This restriction holds irrespective of whether the first-year and the counselor share the same college affiliation. 

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Compensation

First Year Counselor stipends are processed akin to how other undergraduate stipends are disbursed across Yale College in order to ensure compliance with federal regulations.

  • FroCo compensation—which is set to the value of the room and board fees ($19,900 in 2024-25)—will be sent to you by check or Zelle in four equal installments on August 12, December 1, February 1 and April 1.
  • This is taxable income.
  • All FroCos will receive a 1099 form.  
  • The University will not withhold taxes but will report these payments to the IRS. 
  • When you file your tax return, you will need to report the FroCo compensation.
  • Installments I & II will apply toward a 2024 tax filing while III & IV will apply toward a 2025 tax filing.  
  • Your FroCo compensation will not affect your financial aid status. If you have questions, though, about your financial aid, please do not hesitate to contact your UFA counselor.  

Counselors seeking additional income may work a second job for up to 10 hours a week provided permission from the residential college dean.

Likewise, were a counselor to take on any additional responsibilities related to their role as a counselor for which they are compensated, this would be taxable income in the same way that a second/other campus job is assessed.

 

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