Executive Summary (Powerpoint)
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Transcript Executive Summary (Powerpoint)
Connecting the
First Year:
The student’s whole BGSU
experience
The Problem
Many good programs, but too
many
Lack of centralized
coordination has detracted
from overall effort
Redundancies and gaps
Difficult for students to
navigate
Existing Programs
Many programs affect first-year
students
Some for special subpopulations
Some also for sophmores, juniors,
seniors
There are only five programs that
are designed for first-year students:
BG Perspective (gen ed)
BGeXperience
Springboard
UNIV 100
Residential Learning Communities (9)
Building on Success
While existing programs have had
success, they lack coherence and
distinctiveness
Coherence: thematic connections
across all four years, and spanning
academic and student affairs
Distinctiveness: Framing around the
University Learning Outcomes, of
which Critical Thinking About Values
plays the leading role
Three Critical
Transitions
Transition to college
Finding a major
Preparing for life after
college
Address all three transitions in
a coordinated, thematic way
Special Issues for the
First Year
Enhancing social integration
First-year transition issues
Building academic skills
Critical thinking about values
Multicultural competence
Intentional retention
Navigating the system
Engagement with external
communities
First-year Seminar
Address the “transition to college”
issues
Build academic component
University Learning Outcomes
Electronic portfolio use
Must be part of BG Perspective
Multiple versions possible
Transition to Majors
For students who have decided on a
particular major
Courses that explore how the major
connects to issues of the day
For students who want to explore
Inter- or multi-disciplinary courses
designed around topics such as “AIDS,”
“Sustainability,” or “Oil”
Reflecting and Looking
Ahead
Capstone courses in every
major
Synthetic, project-based
demonstration of learning
Culmination of electronic
portfolio, with purposeful
connection to career or further
study
Administrative
Structure
Central oversight is necessary
to ensure consistency and
coordination
Formal structure (such as
undergraduate college) is
unnecessary and undesirable
Related Concerns
Comprehensive curricular review:
For the “transitions” approach to be
most effective, the University
Learning Outcomes should be
intentional themes for all courses
Overlap of A&S “group
requirements” with BG Perspective is
confusing and counterproductive