Preparing Traditional-Aged Freshmen
for a Liberal Arts & Sciences Education
Christine Renaudin & Suzanne Toczyski
As the November 2002 issue of Teaching & abundantly demonstrated,[1] the demographics of Sonoma State University have been undergoing a significant evolution over the past ten years. SSU’s Analytical Studies Office reports a marked increase in traditional-aged students (aged 18-24) with a proportionate decrease in older, “non-traditional” students since 1989. In addition to creating many transition issues (currently addressed, to a large extent, by the Educational Mentoring Team Program), such a demographic shift will affect virtually every area of the university, from pedagogy to general education to resource allocation and the fulfillment of Sonoma State University’s liberal arts and sciences mission. We will address each of these areas in turn.
PEDAGOGY
Although some of us may not yet have realized it, the changing campus demographic will, in due course, alter the way in which we faculty teach our classes, as the needs of traditional-aged freshmen differ substantially from those of their older counterparts.
For example, one fundamental difference between younger and older students lies in their academic engagement; the Office of Analytical Studies has found that the past six years have seen a 7% decrease in the percentage of SSU students who studied for six hours or more every week as seniors in high school. Given the high time commitment to coursework demanded by university faculty, this statistic should be staggering, and any class with a large percentage of freshmen will need not only to establish and maintain high expectations, but also actively and explicitly foster in students the study habits and skills necessary to fulfill such high expectations.
Similarly, incoming traditional-aged freshmen often lack the basic research skills necessary to success in the university setting. If this lack is not addressed immediately upon the students’ arrival at the university, the faculty will continue to see upper-division students unable to conduct even the most rudimentary of research projects with any kind of academic rigor. Again, instructors of courses with large proportions of freshmen would do well to keep in mind the need such students have of guidance through the research process. As SSU librarians will tell us, it is not simply enough to assign a research project to young freshmen with the expectation that they will have the skills and resources necessary to complete that project; the faculty must become advocates for the process of research through pedagogy which overtly fosters information competence in freshmen.
One final example: faculty often express frustration at the state of freshmen’s writing skills, yet are not well-equipped to lead these students through the process of writing. More attention to careful articulation of expectations and guidance and collaboration through the various of stages of writing, be it in a biology, a sociology, or a music class, would only serve to foster in young students the writing skills they will utilize throughout their university careers.
These examples are but a small sample of the kinds of issues SSU faculty will face as more and more of us are challenged to teach classes populated predominantly by freshmen. Similar challenges will doubtless be felt across the disciplines, from modern languages to mathematics, and school- and department-based discussion of the pedagogical needs of freshmen will be necessary to meet those challenges.
GENERAL EDUCATION
Incoming traditional-aged freshmen are most often encouraged at summer orientations to plan their schedules around General Education classes, so that they will not be “wasting their time” as they explore the various disciplines the university has to offer them. Yet, as those of us who teach GE classes know only too well, new freshmen have very little understanding of the greater mission of General Education, and exert little effort planning an individualized GE package which best suits their interests and furthers their individual academic goals. (Moreover, even those who do manage to accomplish this task often find the courses they need unavailable or in conflict with each other.) Perhaps it is time, therefore, to begin thinking about a new way to organize the first-year experience within the context of General Education so as to make the entire GE experience at SSU more meaningful from the day students enter the university.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
With the addition of such a substantial population to the group of individuals seeking access to General Education courses at SSU, a reconsideration of resource allocation is in order. Faculty and administrators alike will be faced with difficult questions that go to the very heart of the liberal arts and sciences mission of the university.
How, for example, will this demographic shift toward a large population of freshmen affect the ways in which schools and departments strive to meet the general education needs of SSU students? How will we maintain a low student-faculty ratio in lower-division classes without endangering courses in the disciplines? To what extent can we encourage and entice tenured and tenure-track faculty to teach lower-division general education classes, so that they might engage with younger students in meaningful, direct ways? How will this shift affect our part-time faculty’s workload?
THE LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES MISSION
We will conclude our considerations of the freshman-year experience with a return to the fundamental theme of this retreat: forms of knowledge and the future of the liberal arts and sciences at SSU. Before young university students may be expected to benefit from the lofty ideals and expectations faculty at this institution may have for them, such students must first acquire a profound understanding of the fundamental mission of a liberal arts and sciences education. How can we, as faculty, best foster in these young students the values associated with the cultivation of the life of the mind? How might we contribute to their consciousness and understanding of the intrinsic value of a liberal arts and sciences education? How can we ensure that such students have the skills of reading, writing, computation, critical thinking, and information competence essential to their success at a liberal arts and sciences institution?
One possible solution might lie in the notion that such an understanding would be the logical outcome of a strong first-year experience program, a program grounded in general education which also appeals to the academic interests of individuals students while offering them the opportunity to explore areas of interest outside their primary passion. Such a program might incorporate a core of freshman courses (primarily within the context of general education) offered in the context of small communities based on interest, much like the Freshman Interest Groups currently in existence at SSU. It would require a strong commitment on the part of full-time faculty within the disciplines to teach lower-division general education courses with large freshmen populations, faculty who would agree to serve as mentors to students within their own disciplines. It would require a significant amount of planning and targeted scheduling, so that, for example, freshmen could take classes with their peers in general education courses reserved for them only. It would require thorough advising and mentoring, so that students, even non-declared students, will begin their university education in meaningful ways that speak to their long-term hopes and aspirations.
WORKSHOP ON TEACHING FRESHMEN
All faculty interested in knowing more about who our freshmen are, and what SSU is doing to facilitate their integration into the university culture; faculty who are curious about what to expect, and what not to expect from them; or faculty who are simply interested in the issue of teaching SSU’s youngest students, are invited to attend the Workshop on Teaching Our Younger Students, sponsored by the Freshman Seminar Curriculum Committee and the Center for Teaching and Professional Development. This workshop will be held on February 14, 2003, in Schulz 3001, from noon to 2:00. Participants should bring a brown bag lunch; the workshop organizers will provide drinks and cookies. Interested faculty should RSVP to Christine Renaudin. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at X43159 or christine.renaudin@sonoma.edu.
[1] To obtain a copy of this publication, please contact Sue Hardisty in the Office of Faculty Affairs.