Resources: First-Year Experiences







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Resources:
First-Year Experiences

			General Information Campus Programs Books and Articles Exemplary Programs and Practices

For the first Spotlight, Dr. Bruce Alberts, former President of the National Academy of Sciences, has written a thoughtful essay on the need for a "qualitatively different" first-year experience that promotes learning based inquiry.

Many universities are already doing so.

This list represents a compilation of the rich array of first-year programs that research universities offer incoming students. They range from pre-matriculation orientations to courses and enrichment opportunities that span the entire academic year.

	General Information
	National Resource Center for The First-Year Year Experience and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina Publisher, Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition http://www.sc.edu/fye/index.html Upcoming Conferences sponsored by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition: http://www.sc.edu/fye/events/upcoming.html Past Conferences: An Archive of past conference summaries on First-Year Experiences from the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition: http://www.sc.edu/fye/events/archive/ 18th International Conference on the First-Year Experience July 11-14, 2005, Southampton, England, United Kingdom Summer Institute on First-Year Assessment: Aspring to Excellence July 24-26, 2005, Asheville, NC Co-sponsored by the Policy Center on the First Year of College 24th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience February 4-8, 2005, Phoenix, AZ International Conference on the First-Year Experience June 14-17, 2004, Maui, Hawaii Summer Institute on First-Year Assessment: Discerning Quality in the First Year of College July 18-20, 2004, Asheville, NC Sponsored by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Co-sponsored by the Policy Center on the First Year of College Policy Center on the First Year of College http://www.brevard.edu/fyc/ 2002 National Survey Findings Now Available Your First College Year National Survey, Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/yfcy/index.html
	Campus Programs
	Academic Seminars Arizona State University, First-Year Seminars http://clas.asu.edu/students/enrichment/firstyear/seminars.htm Case Western Reserve University, First-Year Seminar http://www.cwru.edu/sages/firstsem.htm Duke University, Interdisciplinary "Focus" Seminars http://pmac-www.aas.duke.edu/focus/ Harvard University, Freshman Seminars and House Seminars http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~seminars/fs/ Howard University, Freshman Seminar http://www.coas.howard.edu/freshman/ Indiana University Bloomington, Intensive Freshman Seminar http://www.indiana.edu/~ifs Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Independent Activities Period http://web.mit.edu/iap/ Northwestern University, College of Arts and Sciences, Freshman Seminars http://www.wcas.northwestern.edu/freshmen/rightaway.html Penn State University, First-Year Seminar Program in the Liberal Arts http://laus.la.psu.edu/fysprogram.htm Princeton University, Freshman Seminars in the Residential Colleges http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/fs/ Stanford University, Stanford Introductory Studies http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/is/ Syracuse University, Freshman Forum http://www-hl.syr.edu/cas-pages/FreshmanForum.htm Freshman Honors Seminar http://thecollege.syr.edu/depts/honors/courses/OrientationSeminar.htm Tufts University, First-Year Seminars: Explorations and Perspectives http://www.excollege.tufts.edu/ep_frame.html UC Berkeley, Freshman Seminars http://fsp.berkeley.edu/ UC Davis, Freshman Seminars http://trc.ucdavis.edu/TRC/freshSem/current.html UCLA, Professional Schools Seminars http://www.college.ucla.edu/up/pssp/ UC Riverside, Freshman Seminar Discovery Program http://discoveryseminars.ucr.edu/index.php UC Santa Cruz, Freshman Discovery Seminars http://planning.ucsc.edu/vpdue/froshseminars/ University of Hawaii, Freshman Seminars http://www.fs.hawaii.edu University of Illinois, First-Year Discovery http://www.provost.uiuc.edu/students/discovery/index.html University of Michigan, First Year Seminars http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/facultystaff/lsa_ug_education/curricularprog/fys/ University of Minnesota, Freshman Seminars http://www2.cla.umn.edu/admin/curriculum/FrSeminars.html University of North Carolina, First-Year Seminar Program http://www.unc.edu/fys University of Oklahoma, Freshman Seminars http://www.ou.edu/univcoll/frprograms_seminars.htm University of Oregon, Freshman Seminars http://learning.uoregon.edu/fs/ University of Texas at Austin, First-Year Interest Groups http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/fig Signature Courses http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/sig University of Washington, Freshman Seminars http://depts.washington.edu/seminars/ University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Freshman Scholar Seminars http://www.uwm.edu/letsci/edison/fs.html Course Enhancement Cornell University, The Exploration Program: Introduces potential Biology majors to research in their first year. http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog105/ml Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Edgerton Center http://web.mit.edu/Edgerton/ University of Colorado - Boulder, Introductory Astronomy http://cosmos.colorado.edu/stem/courses/ASTR1120-3/documents/ University of Delaware, Problem-Based Learning http://www.udel.edu/pbl University of Notre Dame, College of Engineering First-Year Courses http://www.nd.edu/~engintro/ First-Year Interest Groups Brigham Young University, Freshman Academy http://academy.byu.edu/ Indiana University Bloomington, Freshman Interest Groups http://www.indiana.edu/~figs/ University of California, Santa Cruz, Oakes Colleges, Values and Change in Diverse Society: A core first-year course that examines historical and contemporary aspects of multiculturalism in the United States, including issues of inequity in the areas of race, class, and gender. http://oakes.ucsc.edu/ University of Houston, The Scholars' Community http://www.scholars.uh.edu University of Missouri, Freshman Interest Groups http://web.missouri.edu/~figwww University of Oregon, Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs) http://learning.uoregon.edu/figs/ University of Washington, Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs) http://depts.washington.edu/figs/ General Education Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum http://www.bu.edu/core/ College of General Studies Core Curriculum http://www.bu.edu/cgs/ Bowling Green State University, Springboard Program: A one-credit hour course aimed at assessment and development of skills in oral and written communication, analysis, problem solving, judgment, leadership, and self-assurance. http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/springboard/ Brandeis University, University Seminar in Humanistic Inquiries http://www.brandeis.edu/das/universitywriting/ New York University, Morse Academic Plan http://www.nyu.edu/cas/map Penn State University, First-Year Seminars http://www.psu.edu/oue/gened/ SUNY at Albany, Project Renaissance http://www.albany.edu/projren UCLA, First-Year Cluster Courses http://www.college.ucla.edu/ge/ University of Missouri, Undergraduate Seminars http://gep.ps.missouri.edu University of Notre Dame, First Year of Studies http://www.nd.edu/~fys/ University of Utah, Liberal Education Accelerated Program (LEAP) http://www.ugs.utah.edu/services/leap/LEAP2004/Index.htm Learning Communities Arizona State University, Freshman Year Experience http://www.asu.edu/vpsa/fye/index.html Learning Community Clusters: http://clasdean.la.asu.edu/lcsite/learning.html Georgia Institute of Technology, The Freshman Experience http://www.freshmanexperience.gatech.edu/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Concourse: http://web.mit.edu/concourse Terrascope: http://web.mit.edu/terrascope/www/ Experimental Study Group: http://web.mit.edu/esg/www/home.html Ohio University, The Freshman Experience http://www.ohiou.edu/univcollege/learncomm.htm Oregon State University, Transitional Learning Communities http://oregonstate.edu/admin/uap/TLC/index.htm Stony Brook University, Learning Communities http://ws.cc.sunysb.edu/lcp/ University of Delaware, Learning Integrated Freshman Experience (LIFE) http://www.udel.edu/life/ University of Maryland, First Year Focus http://www.firstyearfocus.umd.edu/ University of Miami, Learning Communities & Freshman Seminars http://www.miami.edu/umbulletin/gen63.shtml Targeted Learning Communities Origins of ORDER” (On Recent Discoveries by Emory Researchers): A Freshman Seminar at Emory University in which students learn about cutting edge scientific research going on in laboratories at the university: http://www.cse.emory.edu/sciencenet/coll_curr/order/index.html; http://www.news.emory.edu/Releases/lynn1069363205.html; http://www.news.emory.edu/Releases/davidlynn1090849234.html Stony Brook University, Women in Science and Engineering http://www.wise.sunysb.edu/ WISE courses: WISE 187, Introduction to Research USB 101 for WISE students, Introduction to a Research University University of Maryland Civicus, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences http://www.bsos.umd.edu/civicus Honors Humanities Living/ Learning Program: http://www.honors.umd.edu/ College Park Scholars: http://www.scholars.umd.edu/ University of Massachusetts, Honors College Learning Communities http://www.comcol.umass.edu/currentstudents/opportunities/residentiallearningcommunities.asp University of Michigan, UROP in Residence http://www.umich.edu/~uir/ First Year Seminars: Includes courses in the Arts http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/facultystaff/lsa_ug_education/curricularprog/fys/ University of Minnesota, Honors Colloquia http://cla.umn.edu/honors/ University of Texas at Austin, Texas Interdisciplinary Plan (formerly PENS) http://www.utexas.edu/tip/ Orientation Emory University, Freshman Advising and Mentoring (FAME) http://www.emory.edu/COLLEGE/FAME/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Freshman-Alumni Summer Internship Program http://web.mit.edu/fasip/www/ Stony Brook University, SBU 101 http://www.stonybrook.edu/orientation/sbu101/ University of Connecticut, First-Year Experience http://www.fye.uconn.edu University of Iowa, OnLine@Iowa CD-Rom-Based Orientation http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/online/hello.jsp University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University Foundations http://www.unl.edu/UFP University of North Carolina, The Carolina Summer Reading Program http://www.unc.edu/srp University of Oklahoma, Gateway to College Learning http://www.ou.edu/univcoll/frprograms_gateway.htm University of South Carolina, University 101 http://www.sc.edu/univ101/ University of Texas, Arlington, Year One at UTA http://www.uta.edu/yearone Pre-Semester Orientations Boston University, First-Year Student Outreach Program http://www.bu.edu/csc/programs/fysop/ Harvard University, Freshman Orientation Programs http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fdo/programs.html University of Georgia, Freshman College Summer Experience http://freshmancollege.uga.edu Research Opportunities Boston University, College of Engineering, Freshman Research Opportunities http://www.bu.edu/eng/ugrad/research/ Louisiana State University, Chancellor's Future Leaders in Research http://www.research.lsu.edu/cflr.html Oklahoma State University, Freshman Research Scholars http://www.vpr.okstate.edu/frs/
	Books and Articles
	Chaplin, Susan B. "Introducing Freshmen to Investigative Research - A Course for Biology Majors at Minnesota's University of St. Thomas." Journal of College Science Teaching (27) 5, March-April 1998, 347-350. "Cornell Moves to End a Rift Over the Housing of Freshmen." The New York Times, October 9, 1997, Section B. Ethier, Marc. "First Reading Assignments for Freshmen Aim to Promote Tolerance and Critical Thinking." The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 8, 1997, A41. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology report “Freshman Pass/No record Grading and Advanced Placement Policy” http://web.mit.edu/committees/cup/subcommittees/pnrap/part1.pdf; The student response: http://web.mit.edu/ua/oldwww/2000-2002/PNRAP.pdf Tinto, Vincent and Anne Goodsell. "Freshman Interest Groups and the First-Year Experience." Journal of the Freshman Year Experience 6 (1), 1993, 7-28.
	Exemplary Programs and Practices
	The BGeXperience, Bowling Green State University: An academic program designed to help first year students make a successful transition to college. Students develop relationships with the BGSU community and skills necessary for academic success. http://www.bgsu.edu/students/bgexperience Discovery Seminar Program, University of Kentucky: First year students take small classes with outstanding professors who engage the students in challenging discussions. http://www.uky.edu/AS/Discovery/index.htm Next Resources section RC Home \| Contact us \| Join our network \| SUNY Stony Brook Back to top