From: Sidney Donnell, Faculty Liaison for the First-Year
Seminar Program
Dept. of Foreign Languages & Literatures / ext. 5260 /
donnells@lafayette.edu
RE: Preparing Your New Course
Welcome to this new teaching project!
This memo is intended to help you prepare your new First-Year Seminar. Please remember that there is additional information about the program on the FYS Web Site, which is located under academics on the college home page. It's the best place to obtain specific information on:
Overview
The aim of the seminar is to introduce students to the intellectual and
cultural life of the college community. Thus, not only does the
course entail classroom time, it also involves co-curricular activities
of your choice in order to get students involved in the campus
community and beyond. People take students to museums in New York
and to Williams Center events; they get
together with other seminars to watch films, and they dine at local
restaurants.
The FYS is a student’s first writing course. To help you in this area, the College Writing Program (CWP) provides many resources. Its staff members will help you individually. They also arrange group meetings to discuss various aspects of working with student writing, from assignment design to grading. In addition, you will be assigned a writing associate, or WA, who will work with your students over the semester. You are welcome to contact CWP with specific questions about the writing aspects of your FYS.
The course is also intended to introduce students to the library and to research. To this end, you will be assigned a library liaison, with whom you should meet and arrange at least one classroom session in the library, preferably two. (And you may certainly do more if you like.)
Presentation, and oral communication skills in general, should be given attention in your course as well. And as this is a seminar, discussion should be the central pedagogy. The course need not be interdisciplinary, though most are. It should be topical, and bring multiple points of view to the issues before you. It should also encourage students to think about their values – what is important for themselves and for others in the world around them.
So you see what a “handful” this course is. But it is also great fun. Most people enjoy FYS, including students. In fact, you will have an eager group of students before you the first several days!
Money Matters
The first time you teach your new FYS, you will receive course
development funds in the summer and in the fall. To receive that
money, it is expected that you attend several writing workshops
throughout the fall term. Generally these take place twice a
month, and lunch is included; usually CWP hosts the first session in
August before classes begin.
In addition, you may use $950 for expenses every time you teach your course. Some of this may go toward your own preliminary expenses, e.g., books, films. The bulk of it should be put toward trips, guest lecturers, and the like.
For any money matters, please contact the administrative assistant in the Provost’s office (ext. 5702).
Fourth Hours
To help facilitate co-curricular activities, the registrar generally
refrains from assigning students to courses during lunch hours.
Thus, we can use this time for out-of-the-class activities.
Technically, then, the noon hour is the “fourth hour”. However,
many people have their students engage in co-curricular activities on
weekends or evenings. In any case, you should tell your students
that this course holds the expectation that they participate in
out-of-class events as part of the “fourth hour” component of the FYS,
whether or not you take advantage of the noon hour time slot.
Co-Curricular Activities
In addition to field trips,
the Williams Center designates several on-campus events as worthwhile
FYS co-curricular activities. In August, you will get a list of
options for the fall term, and I will ask that you require your
students to attend at least one. Even though pre-selected events
may not be directly applicable to your course
content, I encourage you to attend something early in the semester --
with the specific goal in mind of breaking the ice with your
students. For example, meet at Gilbert's and have something to
drink with your students; then walk over to the Williams Center and
enjoy the show together. In other words, co-curricular events
need not tie directly into your course material to further the overall
aim of the FYS Program, that is, to introduce students to the
intellectual and cultural life of the college community.
First-Year Orientation and Book Discussion
Typically, FYS instructors are asked to lead a discussion with their
seminars during the First-Year Orientation the week before classes
begin. It is a discussion about a book that has been selected by
a college committee, which would be very pleased to consider your
recommendations for a book. (In fact, if you’re interested in
participating on the committee, please contact the Dean of the College.)
Individual Discussions
I would be quite pleased to meet with you on an individual basis to
discuss your ideas at this point and to give you whatever other
assistance you would like. Instead or additionally, any number of
individuals who have taught this course in the past would be willing to
assist you, now and/or through the semester. Let me know if you’d
like to make such arrangements.
A couple more points…