Apply for First-Year Seminar

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR

The First-Year Seminar Task Force welcomes proposals for First-Year Seminars. Faculty from all three colleges and any department are welcome and encouraged to teach a FYS. As the schedule for the next semester is usually set within the first two weeks of the current semester, you may wish to submit a course proposal more than a semester in advance of when you are interested in teaching. If you're interested in teaching a course, but uncertain what semester, please reach out directly to Randy Browne, the director of FYS, at browner@xavier.edu 

We are currently particularly interested in courses for Spring 2024, but we will be scheduling Fall 2024 courses in January, so we appreciate all proposals that will enable us to plan for next year. You'll be asked for your preferred semester (or either or both) and preferred number of sections.

To propose a new course, log on to Nexus and click on "Electronic Forms/Requests." In the drop down menu, click "Core Curriculum Course Submissions." On the new page, click "First Year Seminar" and then choose whether you're proposing a new seminar or are interested in teaching a course that the Task Force has previously approved (even if you haven't had the chance to teach that one yet). 

Before proposing a new seminar or renewing an existing seminar, please discuss with your department chair your availability to teach. We will do our best to schedule approved FYS courses in accordance with faculty and departmental needs, and the needs of our incoming students. After you submit your proposal or renewal, it will be sent automatically to your department chair for online approval before going to the FYS Task Force.

During the approval process for new FYS courses, the FYS Task Force will look for the following:

• Are the title and description comprehensible and attractive to incoming students?
• Does the proposal adequately address each of the course goals, including theme of "the greater good"?
• Does the proposal adequately address each of the SLOs?

Resources for preparing a FYS:

• The FYS Guide for Faculty (FYS Goals, SLOs, and course expectations)
• The FYS Library Research Guide (example assignments and resources)
• General information on FYS

  

Revised August 17, 2023