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The Provost invites all full-time permanent faculty
members to teach in the First-Year Seminar (FYS) Program, which began
offering courses in Academic Year 2002-03.
The deadline for submitting FYS course proposals is
The Program: Pursuant to the
recommendations of the Honors Task Force Report, first-year seminars are
intended to provide new UMBC students with the opportunity to participate in a
small class of twenty students in an active learning environment. A secondary
but important purpose of the FYS Program is to provide faculty with an
opportunity to expand the range of subject matter and teaching techniques they
bring to the classroom, and thereby to facilitate more enjoyable and productive
classroom relationships in first-year classes and beyond.
While first-year seminars are likely to encourage students
to explore the methods and materials of a discipline by focusing on a topic
of particular interest to the faculty member, the courses are intended to
be centered on a topic, issue or question which may extend beyond the vocabulary
and methodology of the instructor’s discipline. The small size and collaborative
seminar structure make them ideal for encouraging critical thinking, serious
intellectual inquiry, and the development of communications skills, both verbal
and written. (For examples of course
descriptions from UMBC and similar university programs see the attached
documents. For more UMBC examples
see the Provost Office website.)
Course Description: Seminar topics should grow
out of the faculty members’ interests, but should be conceived and defined
broadly enough to appeal to the novice student.
Courses should be described in sufficient detail so that the first-year
student will have enough information on which to base a choice of seminar. Where appropriate, the description of the
seminar should make connections with contemporary issues, problems, concerns,
and questions. The descriptions should
include an account of the materials to be read or otherwise used in the class
and a characterization of the teaching/learning formats and techniques likely
to be used. Whenever possible,
the seminars should engage students through such elements as case-studies,
field work, original research, group projects, performances, and simulations.
Modest budgets will be made available to support costs associated with special
or unconventional course elements, (for example, bus-trips, guest participants,
production materials, etc).
All first-year students (freshmen and new students
with advanced standing) may enroll in a first-year seminar in either their
first or second semester at UMBC.
Seminars will carry three academic credits, will be conventionally
graded (no p/f), and will be scheduled according to instructor preference modified
by the needs of the program, available space and careful consideration of
potential conflicts. (The seminars will
be University courses, and can carry GFR credit if recommended by the
instructor and the FYS Program Steering Committee, and approved by the
Undergraduate Council.)
Submission: Course proposals should be
submitted to the Office of the Provost. Attached
is a proposal cover sheet to use with your application.
The FYS Program Steering Committee will select courses for the program
from the proposals submitted, recommending changes where appropriate, and
determining feasibility and funding requirements in consultation with the
instructor, the department, and the appropriate Dean’s office.
Faculty: Tenure and tenure track faculty are
eligible to participate in the program.
Faculty teaching in the program will be supported by the Faculty
Development Center and will be asked to attend at least one pre-seminar
workshop and one or more informal luncheon meetings for instructors in the
program. The
Deadline for course proposals: