Deakin University is a large multicampus University in Victoria encompassing rural, regional and metropolitan campuses with a diverse student population. Over the years the faculties and divisions have developed a range of programs to support first year students. However these were not coordinated and not as effective as you would hope. The aim, therefore of the First Year Initiative was to have a university wide coordinated approach which included all divisions, faculties and the student association. This was piloted in 2002 with great success. The aim of this presentation is to share the processes and strategies that lead to the University wide coordinated approach, a description of the key features of the Initiative including how one Faculty has successfully implemented the staff-student mentoring program, the InfoFlow program, the Orientation website, the evaluation process and the plans for the future. Throughout the paper we will highlight the issues and challenges in mainstreaming a program across the University.