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First Year Experience Program

Your First Year Experience at A&S

The McMicken College of Arts and Sciences offers an innovative yearlong freshmen program for your successful transition to university performance. Each student's need is different: the First Year Experience program has many components. With the help of your advisor, you will design a personalized program to meet your needs by choosing one or all of its elements. Our goal is to help you become part of UC and McMicken, and keep you excited about learning.

McMicken Freshman Seminars

These highly interactive, small-enrollment courses are designed to bring you immediately into the intellectual life of the college. These courses allow freshmen the opportunity for in-depth study of a current and relevant topic, such as bio-terrorism or women's legal issues. Your professor will help you understand the process of knowledge discovery and how to become a successful university-level scholar. These three-credit-hour courses are offered throughout the year and count toward your graduation requirements. The 2008-2009 seminar listing is available online.

Discovering Arts & Sciences

You have chosen a liberal arts degree and this course is designed to demonstrate the wisdom of your choice! Discovering Arts and Sciences explores many of the disciplines of McMicken College with a variety of fun and interesting faculty, students and alumni presentations. You will also have the opportunity to explore your own interest and talents through interactive surveys and activities.

Learning Communities

Learning communities help students at this large, world-class research university feel at home! As an Arts and Sciences student at UC you will have access to hundreds of award-winning faculty are truly excited to share their knowledge with you and to state of the art equipment and facilities. To help you get connected with individual faculty members and a group of students to study and socialize with, we suggest you join a learning community. Members of learning communities take several of the same classes. This provides the opportunity to make friends, share ideas and learn together. These communities provide a small, personalized feel to UC's largest college.

Center for Exploratory Studies

The most popular undergraduate major for first-year college students is Exploratory! Even for those who enter college with a declared major, multiple major changes are common. In many ways this is as it should be. College is a time for self-discovery and exploration. Students should have the opportunity to explore their strengths, interests and talents while choosing a major. Despite these advantages, the undecided student is often uncomfortable with their lack of direction. They are concerned that they are not progressing toward graduation and are often facing familial pressure to make a decision. For these reasons undecided students are more likely than those with declared majors to drop out of college. To help students with this healthy but sometimes difficult transition period, McMicken College is excited to have opened the Center for Exploratory Studies in spring 2003. The Center helps all of UC's exploratory students in making an informed choice of major. The Center offers exciting interactive programming for students, professional advising, contacts with faculty members and students in various departments and programs, to help students navigate their way to the major that is just right for them. Visit the CES Web site for more information.

Great Personalized Advising

The student affairs staff in 102 McMicken Hall is here to help you. Need assistance with your course planning, deciding upon a major, getting involved on campus? Our knowledgeable and friendly advisors are happy to provide information and suggestions. All students in McMicken are assigned an advisor to work with throughout their college careers. Can't remember who your advisor should be?

College Success Skills

This first-year course focuses on vital skills such as time management, approaches to studying, the use of technology for effective learning and research skills. Just one more way to make sure you get off to a great start in Arts and Sciences! In fact, at the end of the 2003 autumn quarter, students held a get-together at a faculty member's home to light a bonfire, order pizza, and watch movies.