Students entering the College of Charleston starting in fall 2011 will be required to participate in the First-Year Experience (FYE) program through either a first-year seminar or a learning community. The FYE program has been growing in both popularity and size since 2007 and will now have the capacity to involve every first-year student.
“The First-Year Experience is our opportunity to get students started on the right foot,” says Susan Kattwinkel, director of the First-Year Experience. “Our program is more academically focused than similar programs at other institutions. We’ve worked with faculty to integrate important life information into content-based courses that cover fascinating topics. Ultimately, we want to make a student’s transition from home to college as seamless as possible, while they are getting to know professors who ensure they receive the high-quality education the College is known for.”
First-year seminar classes are small, and the focus is primarily on discussion and debate. The courses focus on a narrow topic and introduce students to the research and writing skills of a particular discipline. Some first-year seminar topics have included Sociology of Food; Communities, Social Networks, and the Internet: Why is Mom on Facebook?; Debating Immigration.
“First-year seminars cover fascinating topics that students don’t normally get to study – especially not in their first year when most classes just meet broad general education requirements. Though, most of these courses do meet gen ed requirements,” Kattwinkel says.
Learning communities are classes that are linked by a common theme. Faculty work together to establish the curriculum, and create joint class activities designed to explore the ways in which course subjects are interrelated. Upperclassmen serve as peer facilitators for each learning community and they meet with students for one hour each week (outside of class).
Lancie Affonso, a computer science instructor says, “I was so pleased with the learning community experience and the level of student engagement in these courses that I will be participating in four learning communities with multiple departments and teaching three first year seminars in 2011-2012.”
In 2011-12, 45 first-year seminars and 40 learning communities will be offered with more than 100 faculty members involved. Since the inception of FYE, nearly all faculty at the College of Charleston have participated in some way, with many professors, like Affonso, teaching multiple courses.
The goal of the FYE program is to help students transition from high school to college, both academically and personally. The courses are structured so that students learn skills they will need to be successful, while getting to know a professor and their fellow students. By incorporating this in an academic setting, professors are better able to help their students. Professors attend training to learn specifically about first-year students and how to recognize when a student’s personal adjustment to college or undeveloped study skills are interrupting their academics.
For more information, contact Susan Kattwinkel at kattwinkels@cofc.edu or 843.953.8218.
