First-Year Seminar

Course Name: FYS 1000

The First Year Seminar, or FYS, is designed to help new first-year students make that pivotal transition from high school to college by providing them with the necessary tools for their success at Baruch College. Students will actively interact with their peers on a number of individual and team projects organized to strengthen and enrich their interpersonal skills both in written and verbal formats. A number of academic topics are covered to aid students towards identifying and developing their intellectual, professional, and ethical values. Students are also introduced to the social and cultural life of the campus and encouraged to become active participants in their campus community. In essence, FYS coursework is designed to acclimate new students to the College and to the myriad of resources available to them both in and out of the classroom.

FYS, a mandatory course for all incoming first-year students, meets once a week for 75 minutes and for the first 11 weeks of the semester. Within the course, students are exposed to college resources, academic success strategies, and time management and study skills; in the course, students also begin to explore preliminary career plans and a central thematic idea based on the assigned First-Year Text. Moreover, students are mentored by peer leaders and FYS facilitators, and they are expected to undertake a series of self-directed learning experiences outside the classroom to assist them with developing self-efficacy, while simultaneously providing personal support through their transitional first semester at the College.