First Year Experience
As part of the First Year Experience, new students take three specific courses as a learning community with the same small group of students.
First Year Experience
The First Year Experience program is a collaborative effort of Academic Affairs and Student Life designed to:
- Integrate new students into Salve Regina's learning community
- Facilitate the transition from high school to college
- Promote and enhance student performance and persistence at Salve Regina University
- Introduce new students to service learning as a way of life
- Teach good academic habits, skills and inquiry for lifelong learning
As part of the First Year Experience, first year students will be enrolled in a New Student Seminar (GST110/GST112) both their fall and spring semester. The New Student Seminar is a two-credit sequence course designed to help students develop the academic and social skills and attitudes, which are crucial to becoming a successful college student and a contributor to one's community. Transfer students are placed in a Transfer Student Seminar (GST113).
Learning Communities
Freshmen are grouped into small learning communities enrolled in three common courses. These courses explore themes of personal and social responsibility, as well as personal wellness and social justice.
- GST150: Seeking Wisdom
- ENG150: What it Means to be Human
- GST110/112: The New Student Seminar (two semesters)
These learning communities provide freshmen with a common core of resources: the three instructors of the portal, literature, and seminar courses, and the seminar's mentor.
Service Learning
Students participate in the Feinstein Enriching America Program in the New Student Seminar or Transfer Student Seminar by completing a minimum of ten community service learning hours on the Island.
Exploring Your Worldview: Summer Reading
As part of the New Student Seminar and First Year Experience Program, freshmen will begin to explore their own worldviews by reading "The Question of God" by Dr. Armond Nicholi during the summer before their freshmen year. Understanding and exploring one's worldview through this summer reading assignment gives students the opportunity to build a stronger and integrated sense of self.
Nicholi, Jr., A.M. (2002). The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud debate God, love, sex and the meaning of life. New York: The Free Press.
This book may be purchased in the Salve Regina University Bookstore.
Wellness Model
The Wellness Model is a six dimension visual configuration that encompasses all aspects of mind, body and spirit of a person. Salve Regina University strives to help students enhance themselves in these six areas and offer various resources and support for students in pursuit of health and personal wellness.
The Electronic Portfolio
First year students are introduced to the e-Portfolio during their freshmen year. The e-Portfolio is synonymous to a personal academic webpage in which the student will be able to electronically document his or her academic and social experience at Salve Regina University. By creating and building an e-Portfolio, students will be able to also gain a strong understanding of their undergraduate experience. Students are able to build personal profiles, discuss their intended major and academic goals, list extracurricular activities, upload professional resumes, and reflect on their learning experiences in relation with Salve Regina University's Core curriculum.
