In 1996 AIT (now AUT) Student Support Services made a strategic decision to focus energies on the first year student. Since that time the original goals have been achieved and a diverse range of strategies have been implemented. This paper summarises those strategies and presents a template with four axis for categorising interventions. The notion of Services being predominantly ‘reactive’ while Strategies are ‘proactive’ is presented. Sixteen current strategies are briefly described. Five reasons for the success in implementing and maintaining strategies are proposed and priorities for future direction are identified.