From a basic concern that students experience an appropriate first introduction to academic life, Stockton has created freshman seminars required of all first-semester freshmen to provide students with an early, authentic seminar experience in which they will encounter the essential processes of academic discourse. Complementing the seminar experience, a variety of co-curricular events, lectures and additional experiences serves to engage students in their first year at Stockton.
The Freshman Seminar serves as the academic introduction to the life of the mind. In the seminar, students will be required to develop and demonstrate the communicative skills of speaking, listening, writing, reading, and critical reasoning and judgment in a class small enough to allow the full expression of these capabilities as well as to allow ample individualized attention. To submit a Freshman Seminar course for review, please download and complete this form. Save your changes and email the completed form with your syllabus to Dr. GT Lenard as an attachment.
The First Year Experience serves to bring students together in intellectual and social community through interlocking events and programs designed to span the academic, co-curricular and informational aspects of the educational experience. The program focuses events and activities around a common theme.
This year’s theme for The First Year Experience is “Power.” Through this theme we will explore positive and negative meanings of this concept as it applies to social, political, economic, scientific, intellectual, religious, and emotional aspects of our daily lives.
Our common reading, selected by the Freshman Seminar faculty, is The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, a Pakistani national who attended Princeton and Harvard Law School before settling in London.
Throughout the academic year, a variety of events and activities have used this theme and/or reading as the basis for programs that will allow students, faculty, staff, and the local community to participate in and develop an understanding and appreciation of the interdisciplinary learning environment upon which Stockton prides itself.
9/24 - Convocation: Sehar Tariq, Thoughts on The Reluctant Fundamentalist from a Pakistani Woman, 4:30pm in the Performing Arts Center
10/6 - Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Human and Civil Rights Symposium, 2:00pm in the Performing Arts Center
10/24 - The War of the Worlds - LA TheatreWorks retells the chillingly powerful radio story, 7:30pm in the Performing Arts Center
11/3 - Election Day - wield your power: cast your vote in the Gubernatorial election
To propose an event for the 2009 - 2010 First Year Experience, please download and complete this form. Save your changes and email the completed form to the First Year Experience Advisory Board as an attachment.
Be sure to address the Goals of the First Year Experience program in your proposal.
Goals and objectives of FYE: By the end of the first year at Stockton, (freshman) students should have achieved the following skills and experiences. They should:
- Recognize the level of academic expectations in college courses
- Maintain a minimum 2.000 GPA (Fall and Spring Terms)
- Develop intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for learning
- Engage in campus life outside the classroom (clubs, athletics, organizations, volunteerism in their communities, etc.)
- Begin an ULTRA transcript
- Read unassigned books
- Develop effective academic skills
- Identify their academic strengths and weaknesses, i.e., in writing, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, oral communication, learning styles, study habits, etc.
- Explore majors and career goals, including having changed them if appropriate
- Begin to develop an academic and personal plan for the sophomore year and possibly beyond, e.g., toward success in the job market and participation in future community involvement
- Establish a base of social contacts and engage support services when needed
- Interact with new/different/diverse types of students (other cultures or ethnic groups, religions, sexual orientations, etc.)
- Interact with faculty outside the classroom, e.g., precepting, assistance with class material, informal discussions, etc.
- Use campus resources as appropriate (Wellness Center, Skills Center, Career Services, etc.
- Embrace values of civic engagement, personal development and academic integrity
- Identify their strengths and weaknesses in personal/social behaviors, i.e., ability to work in groups, time management, leadership skills, risk-avoidance, etc.
(Archive of Past Themes)
The 2007-2008 theme was Liberty: in an age shaped by globalization, environmental dangers, epidemic diseases, electronic invasions of privacy, etc. how can we protect, preserve, and extend human liberty?
The theme opened questions regarding the intersection of liberty and security, of the interrelation between individuals and governments, of the nature and extent of human "free will", of the responsibilities of "free" citizens, etc. The theme intended to reflect the College's commitment to fostering lives of engagement.
The theme was anchored by a common reading of Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, who visited Stockton as our Convocation speaker.
The 2006-2007 theme was "Disaster as Reality and Metaphor" anchored by a common reading of Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast. To emphasize the importance of wetlands preservation, the 2006 Freshman Convocation featured the book's author, Mike Tidwell. In addition, a series of trips to the Nacote Creek Research Station provided freshmen with an opportunity to tour New Jersey's own wetlands.
