05-06 Undergrad Catalog | Undergraduate Education

302 MSRB
(801) 422-3037/3038
www.saugus.byu.edu/ue/homepage.cfm

Dean: George S. Tate, Professor, Humanities and Comparative Literature
Associate Dean—General Education: John D. Lamb, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Associate Dean—Honors Program: J. Scott Miller, Professor, Japanese and Comparative Literature
Associate Dean—University Writing: Gary L. Hatch, Associate Professor, English
Associate Dean—First-Year Experience: R. Steven Turley, Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Assistant Dean: Carolyn Tuitupou

The dean of Undergraduate Education and his associates supervise and foster essential university-wide elements of the baccalaureate: General Education, Honors Program, University Writing, and First-Year Experience (including Freshman Academy and New Student Orientation). These interrelated programs together promote and champion teaching and learning within an integrated university education. They aim to enrich the educational experience and to benefit the life of each undergraduate student.

General Education

The general education (GE) components of the university core are overseen by an associate dean and administrative assistant. The Faculty General Education Council, consisting of faculty members from a variety of disciplines and chaired by the associate dean, regularly reviews general education courses and has final authority to decide which courses meet general education requirements. From time to time the associate dean, in consultation with the dean and the administration, initiates a broad-based, systematic evaluation of the general education program that may result in recommendations for changes.

General education requirements are set forth in the University Core section of this catalog. Beyond this and the more detailed listing in the current class schedule, the recommended source of information and advice about general education requirements is the individual college advisement center. The ten college advisement centers, together with the University Advisement Center (2500 WSC), provide assistance with registration, graduation requirements, policies and procedures, fields of study, changes of major, appeals, and many other aspects of academic life. The General Education Office, (350 MSRB) regularly consults with each advisement center on issues related to GE.

The General Education Office has responsibility for the university forum assemblies, which are designed to complement specific GE components of the university core or the idea of liberal education itself. A forum speaker may be nominated by any member of the university community—faculty, student, or staff. Nominations are evaluated by the Forum Committee, comprising faculty and student representatives, which recommends speakers to the university administration.

In an ongoing effort to strengthen the general education offerings in the university core, the General Education Office is engaged in faculty and course development—through the GE Academy on Teaching and Learning, faculty general education seminars, and grants for course development and enhancement. It also oversees faculty teaching awards for excellence in general education (including honors GE) courses: the Alcuin Fellowships and the Karl G. Maeser General Education Professorships. (For a description and list of current recipients, see the Maeser Fellowships and Alcuin Fellows section of this catalog.) General education courses are taught by faculty from throughout the university, and the General Education Office works closely with the colleges in a collaborative effort to foster a strong and engaging GE offering within the university core.

Honors Program

The Honors Program, open to all BYU students, complements the university’s expansive educational agenda by providing the benefits of a small liberal arts learning community. These benefits include offering small classes with high-quality teaching and learning that challenge students to reach their highest potential; fostering a spirit of ongoing inquiry that includes undergraduate research in a mentored environment; and underscoring the importance of combining personal excellence, faithful discipleship, and meaningful service. See the Honors Program section of the catalog, which follows, for details concerning the program’s requirements, offerings, benefits, administration, extra-curricular opportunities, and student-operated advisement center.

University Writing

University Writing exists to help students develop skills in effective written and oral communication. The Aims of a BYU Education states that undergraduates should acquire “language abilities that enable students to listen, speak, read, and write well; to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences in one’s area of expertise as well as on general subjects.” University Writing purposes to accomplish these objectives through general education courses—offered both in departments and in the Honors Program—in First-Year Writing and Advanced Written and Oral Communication, as well as by enhancing writing instruction in courses throughout the curriculum.

Through the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program, University Writing helps faculty members integrate writing instruction within their content courses. Twice each year WAC conducts faculty seminars focusing on how to teach writing in various disciplines. WAC also trains teaching assistants as evaluators of writing; sponsors faculty workshops, often in conjunction with bringing writing experts to campus; and publishes a newsletter, Writing Matters. These efforts are supported by the Writing Fellows program and Publications Lab. Writing Fellows is a discipline-based, peer-tutoring program that encourages and supports the development of mature student writing across the disciplines. The Publications Lab (third floor HBLL) provides instruction and resources to assist students in placing their research and creative writing. Students have the opportunity to take part in any or all of these programs during their time at BYU to improve their abilities to communicate effectively in their own disciplines and across the curriculum.

The University Writing Committee, chaired by the associate dean, functions as a subcommittee of the Faculty General Education Council in developing criteria and reviewing writing courses.

First-Year Experience

The First-Year Experience Office (FYE) facilitates coordination of all university efforts that have an impact on new students. This includes helping new students develop habits of the mind to deepen and enrich their BYU experience, establish personal connections, find their way around campus, develop an awareness of available campus resources, and improve their sense of purpose and motivation by increasing their understanding of BYU’s heritage and history. These efforts span the time between students’ first contact with BYU and the end of their first year on campus.

Before students arrive at BYU, FYE coordinates projects that provide students and their parents with information through Web sites and e-mail. In collaboration with other university units, the office provides additional information and links about campus resources through mailings to new students (freshman and transfer), local firesides, and individual telephone contact. When students first arrive on campus, FYE—assisted by representatives from key university areas in a campus-wide undertaking—coordinates New Student Orientation to facilitate personal contact, an introduction to campus locations, campus life activities, advisement, and mentoring by peers and university faculty and staff. Throughout the student’s first year, FYE provides additional transition assistance through Freshman Academy (see below) and freshman seminars, as well as by facilitating firesides and open houses of particular interest to new students. The seminars (Univ 101, together with Honrs 100) provide an opportunity for incoming students to have sustained engagement with a faculty member on an academic subject in a small-group context.

Course (Univ)

101. Freshman Seminar. (0.5–1.0:Arr.:0)

Aims of a BYU Education in a disciplinary context. Topics vary by section and semester.

Freshman Academy

Director: Patricia A. Esplin
Associate Director: J. Gary Daynes
156 TMCB
(801) 422-8176 or 1-877-890-5451
frac@byu.edu

Freshman Academy is a one-semester program that helps first-year students make important connections within the university during their first semester at BYU. By creating the best teaching-learning situation possible, Freshman Academy strives to provide an academic environment that facilitates the development of well-rounded students and bridges the gap between high school and college. The academy does this by helping students connect with the aims of a BYU education, each other, faculty members, academic majors, and other university resources.

Freshman Academy is open, without additional charge and on a space-available basis, to all first-year students entering BYU in a summer term, fall semester, or winter semester. Participants belong to learning communities, which are relatively small groups of students who together take three or more linked classes, at least one of which is a small class. Because Freshman Academy allows students to register for several classes at once, participation smooths the registration difficulties that many students experience. Students in learning communities have the opportunity to take university core, elective, and major-specific courses with other students who have similar interests.

The first figure below is an example of a learning community composed solely of courses meeting university core requirements; the second figure illustrates a learning community customized for students with a particular major in mind, combining university core and major courses:

Intro to Humanities with First-Year Writing

Hum 101

Rel A 121

Engl 115	Engl 115	Honrs 200

Civilization 1 with First-Year Writing and Music Core

Music 201

Rel A 121

Engl 115	Honrs 200	Honrs 200	Engl 115	Engl 115

Music 193 Music 195 Music 197	Music 193 Music 195 Music 197		Music 193 Music 195 Music 197

Freshman Academy students living on campus during their first semester live near the other students in their learning community, thus making it easier for them to form study groups, work on projects, and develop long-lasting relationships. (This benefit is not available during the winter semester program.) In addition to in-class activities, Freshman Academy learning communities socialize, attend cultural events, and serve the larger community together. All of these activities deepen students’ abilities to achieve BYU’s aims.

To provide academic support for first-year students, Freshman Academy recruits upperclassmen to serve as peer mentors for the students in each community. These peer mentors encourage students to adopt good learning habits, help them form study groups, and model successful learning practices. They help students learn about the cultural, academic, spiritual, and social resources available on campus and provide support to the faculty in each learning community. To further enhance the academic experience, Freshman Academy professors often collaborate to explore the relationships between their courses and to interact with students outside the classroom.

Students should be aware that the opportunities available in learning communities are accompanied by important responsibilities—responsibilities to themselves and to everyone else in the community. Freshman Academy expects students to be true to their word, attend and participate in classes, work collaboratively with fellow students, respect the time and talents of faculty and fellow students, and serve the larger community. By interacting with others and taking responsibility for their own learning, Freshman Academy students will develop the attributes of responsible and civically engaged citizens.

All incoming freshmen can participate in Freshman Academy regardless of previous academic preparation. The composition of the program reflects that of the entire freshman class in gender, major preference, and academic preparation. Freshman Academy students interested in the Honors Program may participate in communities designed to fulfill honors requirements or in communities that offer individual honors courses. The living-learning environment provided by Freshman Academy benefits every type of student, and all first-semester students are encouraged to participate. For the most current information, please visit http://academy.byu.edu.

Prestigious Non-BYU Scholarships and Fellowships

The Office of Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships assists undergraduate and graduate students in finding and applying for major externally funded scholarships and fellowships (e.g., National Science Foundation, Fulbright, Rhodes, Mellon, Truman), research opportunities, summer programs, and non-BYU study abroad programs. Students are encouraged to review the online information describing each scholarship at www.byu.edu/scholarships. For more information contact Carolyn Tuitupou in 102B MSRB or e-mail prestigious_scholarships@byu.edu.