Laney's Success Model for First-Year Students attempts to increase retention by accommodating students and encouraging learning. It requires an institutional commitment for student academic success and tries to dispel the forces of attrition: academic boredom, difficulty adjusting to college life, and academic underpreparedness. The first-year seminar program aids student success by monitoring students for one year and providing opportunities for intervention when needed. Credited seminars, regarding such topics as student transportation, should be taught by trained faculty, and school orientation should be lengthened. Orientation and seminars both can help to ease students into the college life. To further advocate student transition and academic success, teachers' plans should include such items as learning students' names, offering specific office hours, using collaborative learning, encouraging campus involvement, varying the instructional mode, setting short term assignments, including everyone in class discussions, and making instruction animated and upbeat. Mentoring and seminar evaluations are also integral to student success and retention. Contains 19 references. Appendix includes support materials. (YKH)