Class clusters aim to help new students

A pilot program is expected to add meaning and engagement to new students’ first taste of campus life this fall.

First-Year Interest Groups — FIGs — will consist of a cluster of classes that a small group of incoming freshmen take together. According to Timothy Walsh, acting director of the university’s Cross-College Advising Service, FIG students will enroll in three of the same classes during their first semester on campus. In three of the four clusters, students also will live in the same university residence hall. The fourth group will be open to all first-year students.

“It’s a great option for students interested in joining a supportive and friendly learning community to help them get off to a good start at the university,” Walsh says.

Each group will include an ethnic studies course, an Integrated Liberal Studies class and freshman composition. Walsh says that the fall pilot program will be modest in size, involving about 80 students.

“Eventually, if the program proves successful, it may grow to include a significant portion of the incoming class,” he says.

Future funding for the programs is included in the Madison Initiative portion of the state budget now under consideration. Meanwhile, the four pilot groups are:

“Folklore Around the World,” available to students living in Sellery Hall. This group examines culture, language and comparative world folklore. It includes Problems of American Racial and Ethnic Minorities, the Integrated Liberal Studies class on Global Cultures and freshman composition.

“Culture, Civilization and Communication” will explore the foundations of Western civilization in addition to the global range of cultures. Courses will be Introduction of Cultural Anthropology; the ILS class Western Culture: Political, Economical and Social Thought; and freshman composition. This group also will be limited to first-year students in Sellery Hall.

“Alternate Realities: Language and Thought in the Ojibwe Universe,” is an investigation of the relationship between language, values, beliefs and philosophies. Open to all first-year students, the courses in this group are first-semester Ojibwe, ILS’s Introduction to Global Cultures and freshman composition.

Freshmen living in Chadbourne Residential College can choose “Freedom: From Socrates to the Civil Rights Movement,” which will examine political and philosophical definitions of community and liberation. Under this banner are courses in Afro-American history, Western culture and freshman composition.

Each cluster will total nine credits. Walsh says students will need to take one or two more classes to complete the usual full-time load of 12-16 credits.

“We hope that these FIGs will provide an exciting experience for first-year students, bringing this large campus down to a more human scale,” Walsh says. “By integrating the content of these courses, we hope to engage students in a more meaningful way with the multicultural issues facing society. We also seek to integrate academics with residential life more seamlessly.”

Most students will sign up for a group at UW–Madison’s Student Orientation, Advising and Registration program, which begins in June. For information, contact Kari Fernholz, FIG coordinator, 265-6087, klfernho@facstaff.wisc.edu.