If possible, meet with the new seniors. Pizza or ice cream. Give them an opportunity to make suggestions on:

1. Things that need to be kept in place ("We always do this....and we need to keep doing it"). AND tell them to remind you well ahead of time when those things usually happen so you are not caught off guard. Some of them loved your predecessor. As previous poster said, you can make more changes as they begin to trust you. Eventually you will have students come to you and say, "What to YOU think we should change."

2. Things that need to be changed/improved. Don't let them get away with a mere "fix it" but get them to tell HOW to fix it. Keep personalities out of it. Remind them that it is your job to lead the program, that you have some tried and true methods but that you value their input during this time of change.

3. Suggest ways to make needed changes and get their input. "How would you feel about abc instead of xyz?