New seminar for first-year students
Personal, professional, and academic skill building designed to help first year students succeed
Coming to college means navigating a new campus, maybe a new city, and definitely a new level of independence. Choosing what to study, who to befriend, and which extracurricular activities to pursue is all very exciting but can also be overwhelming.
The College of Engineering Class of 2029 is being invited to enroll in the new First Year Seminar—a semester-long series of weekly sessions designed to help first-year students build community and connect to resources that will help them succeed
“We designed this program to be interactive and appealing,” said Treci Bonime, assistant dean for undergraduate studies, who serves as an advisor to first-year students and understands the challenges they face.
She worked with Associate Dean Alaine Allen and Program Manager Kaz Shindle from the Community Engagement and Outreach team to develop the pilot program that will bring 75 first-year students together with ten teaching assistants (TAs), who were selected from among nearly 50 upperclass students who applied for the positions.
“We held focus groups with students, and we were excited to learn from them what we can do to make it easier for first-year students to find their community here,” said Allen.
“Taking the First-Year Seminar is like starting your college journey with the ultimate newbie guide,” said Tian Zhou, a rising senior majoring in civil engineering and human-computer interaction who will be one of the TAs said. “It's a chance to discover valuable resources, forge meaningful connections, and level up the engineering experience from day one.”
Taking the First-Year Seminar is like starting your college journey with the ultimate newbie guide! It's a chance to discover valuable resources, forge meaningful connections, and level up the engineering experience from day one!
Tian Zhou, senior, Civil and Environmental Engineering
The seminar will include a mix of informal coffee chats with skill building sessions that include topics such as networking, communications etiquette, study skills, wellness, ethics, goal setting, and career planning.
Some components, including career fairs, coffee with professors, and Student Academic Success Center and other networking offerings will be shared more widely and available to all first-year students. As a pilot, the program will also be fine-tuned in order to expand the program to all first-year students next year.