Seminar

Seminar Courses and the FIG Program

The First-Year Interest Group (FIG) program offers entering students a chance to satisfy General University Requirements (GURs) at the same time that they participate in a learning community for first-year students only. FIG students co-enroll in one or two designated GUR classes and a small seminar (SMNR 101). FIG clusters are limited to first-year students and are available fall quarter only. While the GUR courses in a FIG cluster will usually be large, the attached SMNR 101 is limited to 25 students.

The FIG seminar provides first-year students with access to resources that can help with their transition to Western. The program emphasizes faculty-student and student-student interaction as well as deeper learning.

The FIG seminar uses the context from the linked GUR lecture courses as a context for fostering critical thinking and building academic competencies.

New Student Experience Seminars are offered fall, winter & spring quarters. Unlike FIGs, which are several courses grouped together, NSESs are stand-alone courses. Like FIGs, NSESs are smaller courses, which limit enrollment to 25 students. NSESs are special topics courses or community-engaged learning experiences that change quarterly.

For more information, contact the Faculty Director of Academic First-year Programs, Shurla Rogers-Thibou, Miller Hall room 415C, 360-650-3534, or via e-mail at shurla.thibou@wwu.edu.

Courses

Seminar

Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400 are described in the University Academic Policies section of this catalog.