First Year Seminar

First Year Seminar (FYS) is a 0 credit class required of all new first year students at Stevenson University.  The purpose of the class is to help new students acclimate to the college, connect with other freshman,  learn more about the university and its offerings, and to connect with upperclassmen and university staff.  FYS is offered in a variety of formats at approximately 85-90% of the colleges and universities throughout the United States. 

Types of Classes

SU has approximately 28 FYS sections for the fall semester of 2010.  A majority of these sections are General,  meaning they are not major-specific.  In the General sections, the class is lead by either 2 student Peer Leaders, or a Peer Leader teamed with a Stevenson staff member.  There are also multiple major specific FYS sections are for the following majors:

• English
• Public History
• Deciding 
• Accounting 
• Business Communication
• Visual Communication Design 
• Film, Video, and Theatre 
• Human Services 

In these sections, Peer Leaders will be matched with faculty members from that major or, in the case of the Deciding sections, a staff member who specializes in working with Deciding students. 

The Set up of the Class

FYS runs for the first 13 weeks of the semester.  The general seminars will focus on University information and adjustment issues.  The major specific seminars will spend the first 5-6 weeks on the adjustment/university info content and then focus on specific major information for the remainder of the semester.   All classes also participate in the LEGO CHALLENGE- a fun event that is the culmination of FYS.  Using Career Architecture, classes design and build a representation of one of the stages of Career Architecture with Legos!  President Manning and several faculty members are the judges- it’s a fun and creative day!

If you have questions or want to know more about First Year Seminar, please contact Debbie Blake at 443-334-2332.