About First-Year Classes

Your first-semester schedule includes major and required core courses. You’ll review the schedule at Great Beginnings.

Your First Semester Course Schedule: Enrollment Profile

An academic advisor will use your academic record and Enrollment Profile to build a schedule that reflects your interests and degree requirements. Please complete your Enrollment Profile to clarify these preferences and needs.

Learning Communities

All students take a Learning Community as an integral part of the first-year experience. Your Learning Community is a pair of courses linked by a broad theme. Through this approach to learning, you’ll examine a complex topic from multiple perspectives and discover connections between various disciplines. Since class sizes are designed for collaboration, and you are in both courses with the same peers, you will learn cooperatively and develop relationships with other students and faculty. This eases the transition to university-level college learning.

Note: Learning Communities are not associated with your major. Given the common learning outcomes, all Learning Community courses meet graduation requirements and are appropriate for all students regardless of major and incoming transferrable credit.

Major Courses

If you have already chosen a major, you will be placed in one or more courses required for that major. If you haven’t yet declared a major, you will be placed in one or more courses related to the majors of interest you indicate on your Enrollment Profile. Even if you eventually change majors, the courses you take will count toward your overall degree requirements.

First-Year Seminar

Your first semester course schedule will include ITDY 101 - First-Year Seminar. This one-credit course will orient you to college life and help cultivate a support system intended to foster academic success and personal growth. You will also develop your long-range academic plan and college-level resume.

Your first-year advisor and a specially-trained peer mentor teach the course. Your advisor will also guide you on degree requirements, monitor your academic progress, and link you with campus resources. Your peer mentor, who is an upper-level undergraduate student, will provide helpful academic tips, encourage campus involvement, and connect you to other students within the campus community.

Additional Notes on Course Selection

Course Load

In the fall, most students take five three-credit courses and the one-credit First-Year Seminar. If you are enrolled in any four-credit courses (such as calculus or science lab courses), you may be enrolled in only four courses plus First-Year Seminar. A full-time course load is 12 or more total credits.