For Faculty

The First-Year Seminar (FYS) Program and UNV 101 Description, Explanation and Request for Applications (RFA)

What is the First-Year Seminar and Why?

Teach Your Passion!

This exciting program invites full-time and part-time eligible faculty to propose a first-year “dream seminar” for freshman to be taught during the academic year focused on the unique scholarly and creative disciplinary interests and expertise of our tenured, tenure-track, and adjunct faculty. We seek exciting and inventive course proposals that will engage first-year students and kindle their passion for shared inquiry and exploration with faculty in their area of discipline in small class sizes of no more than 20 students.

What is a First-Year Seminar (FYS)? 

The First-Year Seminar Program is a student success initiative. It reimagines the course, UNV 101, as an introductory seminar that integrates a faculty member’s proposed topic with students’ personal, social, and intellectual development.  At CSUDH, our FYS has the moniker “Dream Seminar” because it is the dream course a faculty would love to teach (and a dream for the students to experience).

CSUDH seeks to intentionally provide all incoming freshmen with the opportunity to enroll in a small disciplinary-based course taught by our full-time tenured, tenure-track faculty or adjunct faculty to ignite their appetites for life-long learning and develop their identity as scholars. In the FYS, professors don’t pontificate; they discuss, debate and engage with first year students in smaller, more intimate classes, conversations and hands-on activities to explore and discuss topics of mutual interest.

Because the FYS promotes meaningful peer-to-peer interactions and close faculty-student mentorship, it is considered a high-touch and High Impact Practice (HIP). FYS students will develop key competencies by producing written and oral assignments and take part in co-curricular activities that engage meaningfully with the course content. The FYS provides first-year students with a strong foundation to thrive in college and persist to graduate school; further, successful completion of the course allows students to fulfill the Area E General Education requirement.  

Exploration of a special topic within a discipline in close collaboration with a faculty member will enable our freshmen to enjoy unprecedented close contact on a wide variety of fascinating topics that may range from ancient artifacts to digital arts, grassroots movements to global revolutions. These seminars will deeply enrich and connect our students to core ideas in new disciplines with passionate and caring professors. Moreover, these first-year students will have the opportunity to hone their critical thinking, writing, and oral communication skills and work closely with both their peers and faculty. 

Who Will Teach in the FYS Program?

Full-time faculty and lecturers on three-year contracts who hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree (e.g., MFA, JD) and are active in their field are eligible to teach in the program. Faculty who do not have terminal degrees will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Who Will Teach the Dream Seminar?

Tenured, tenure-track, or nontenure track faculty who hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree (e.g., MFA, JD) and are active in their field are eligible to teach in the program. Faculty who do not have terminal degrees will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Why Should I Apply?

The Dream Seminar allows faculty to share their scholarly and creative passions, showcase the many facets of their discipline, and nurture first-year students’ interest in and appreciation of them.  The specific focus of the FYS, therefore, becomes a formative lens through which these new students begin exploring the university and surrounding community.

The selection process for the Dream Seminar program is competitive. Dream Seminar faculty members not only receive the honorific designation “First-Year Preceptor” in being chosen, the President, Provost, and Deans will formally recognize their contribution to this student success initiative. All First-Year Preceptors receive ongoing professional development to support them in teaching UNV 101 as well as their other courses.

For faculty in the RTP process including probationary faculty seeking promotion and tenure from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor, and those seeking promotion to Full Professor, participation in the FYS program will be viewed positively in the RTP process in the area of teaching at the Dean’s and Provost’s level of review. Nontenure-track faculty can highlight their participation in the Dream Seminar program in the teaching section of their review files.

Terms of Participation

Dream Seminar Preceptors are expected to participate in the following activities to facilitate UNV 101 seminar development and delivery and will receive professional development support during the months of May and August.

A Note on the UNV 101 Framework

The CSUDH FYS integrates discipline-specific seminar topics with the existing UNV 101 course objectives and student learning outcomes to meet two related aims: (1) to nurture meaningful and sustained interaction between first-year students and faculty; and (2) to provide first-year students with the General Education Learning Outcomes for Area E: Lifelong Learning and Self-Development.

At the training sessions, First-Year Preceptors will design a syllabus and assignments that integrate their proposed topic with the course outcomes and student learning objectives for UNV 101.

How Do I Apply?  

Applicants must submit a completed Dream Program application form. Email will be sent to all faculty to apply.

Selection Process  

Applications will be evaluated by a committee of faculty members using the FYS scoring rubric [available upon request]. To allow sufficient time for scheduling teaching assignments notifications will be sent via email.

Completed applications submitted by the deadline will be given full consideration. Late or partial applications will be considered as space permits.