The First-Year Experience
The William Atwell Brown, Jr., and Mary Brown Vacin First-Year
Experience assists students in making the transition from high school to
college. Through a broad array of academic and co-curricular programs,
the First-Year Experience provides a foundation for students that will
sustain them throughout their undergraduate years and that will enable
them to achieve their academic and personal goals. The principal
features of the program are described below.
Academic and General Advising--The advising process begins
during new student orientation and continues in periodic meetings with
faculty advisers and Student Affairs staff during the first year.
First-Year Seminar (LA 101)--Designed to introduce entering
students to the liberal arts tradition, the First-Year Seminars nurture
academic skills, creativity and active inquiry. Small class sizes ensure
constant interaction among faculty and students. The seminars often
address cutting-edge topics, and most include research projects or other
hands-on learning experiences. Some feature an extended field trip, to a
location in the U.S. or overseas, to give students a firsthand look at
the issues they're studying. Recent seminar topics have included: Genes
and Society, Justice, Art in the Environment, Water: Science and Policy,
the Holocaust, and Albion and the American Dream. The Class Schedule,
available at www.albion.edu/registrar/ , lists the seminars offered for
the current academic year.
Convocation Series--The First-Year Experience also
incorporates a convocation series featuring lecturers, performers and
artists who will further explore the themes introduced in the First-Year
Seminars.
Learning Strategies Workshops--Running in tandem with the
First-Year Seminars, the Learning Strategies sessions are geared to
helping first-year students succeed at Albion. They introduce students
to campus support services, equip them with time-management and
decision-making skills, and assist them with academic and personal
goal-setting. In the Richard M. Smith Common Reading Experience, offered
as one of the Learning Strategies sessions, students and faculty discuss
a book they have read during the preceding summer. Past Common Reading
Experience selections have included Ron Suskind's
A Hope in the Unseen, Debra Dickerson's An American Story,
Barbara Ehrenreich's
Nickel and Dimed and Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project.
Through reading and discussion, students develop a greater appreciation
for the perspectives of racial and ethnic minorities and for the ways
diversity enriches American society.
Seminar Associations--The students enrolled in a First-Year
Seminar also come together as a Seminar Association. Led by a peer
mentor, the association members will participate as a group in the
Learning Strategies Workshops during the fall semester and continue to
meet for both academic and social events during the spring semester of
the first year.
Academic Planning--Throughout their four years at Albion,
students are encouraged to think about their career and personal goals,
as well as the academic experiences that will enable them to reach those
goals. After completing a self-assessment, students create a digital
portfolio, which will eventually reflect their academic achievements;
internship, research and other practical experiences; leadership
accomplishments; and community service. Students maintain their
portfolios on the World Wide Web so that they may be easily shared with
prospective employers and graduate schools.
For more information on the First-Year Experience, contact the
First-Year Experience office.
Back to Academic
Programs |
