The Program’s Mission: The First Year Program successfully integrates first year students into the academic community of Cazenovia College. The Program introduces students to the learning goals that must be met to achieve intellectual, social, and ethical growth, as well as the resources provided by the College to assist students in achieving such growth. The Program also works in cooperation with the Division of Student Life to provide students with co-curricular opportunities for growth. Finally, the Program fosters students’ appreciation of the institutional core values: community, learning, diversity, integrity, accountability and tradition.
View First Year Seminar Topics Here
Achieving the Mission: The First Year Program accomplishes its mission of integrating students into the College’s academic community by providing opportunities for close interaction with College faculty, staff, and students in a range of settings. In particular, First Year students bond with fellow students through interactions within a seminar-style learning environment, and through participation in co-curricular activities.
A Holistic Approach: The academic First Year Program is closely coordinated to Student Life programming and activities. Classroom activities are frequently tied to co-curricular events and leadership programs conducted by Student Life staff. Faculty participate in discussions and other events held in Cazenovia’s residence halls. Coordination of planning and monitoring of student progress is conducted through a First Year Committee with membership drawn from both areas.
The key element of the Program’s fall term is the First Year Seminar course. In these courses First Year students will:
- Bond with the faculty as instructors and mentors, as well as with their fellow students
Experience a set of common learning activities and assessments while studying a topic of special interest to themselves and their instructor. - Encounter the common educational expectations set by the all-college general education competencies as well as specific disciplinary or interdisciplinary content knowledge within individual seminar sections
- Experience college-level work through an emphasis on active learning and appropriately high academic standards
- Receive support through the mentoring and modeling roles played by upper division master students.