|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear New Students,
I am writing today to introduce you to the First-Year Seminar Program and to ask you, by May 26, to take the first step towards enrollment in a first-year seminar.
We want you to kick off your time at Mount Holyoke with a strong foundation in writing, critical thinking skills and the collaboration with faculty and fellow students that marks the best of the Mount Holyoke experience. That’s why every new student registers for a first-year seminar (FYSEM) at the College.
I can’t say enough about these courses — they are intellectually exciting and tackle some amazing topics — Math and Dragons, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Conspiracy and Superstitions, Tech-Bro Theologies, How to Build an Octopus — and many more. Most importantly, these courses give you the chance to develop close relationships with a faculty member, with your fellow students and with a peer mentor. They will also help you further develop the writing and critical thinking skills that will serve you throughout your education here at Mount Holyoke.
Now it’s time — before or on Tuesday, May 26 — to tell us which first-year seminars you’d be most interested in taking!
A few more details:
-
These courses are enrolled differently from your other MHC courses. Instead of waiting for a registration time and choosing from available courses, every first-year student will select 7 courses from the entire group of first-year seminars, listing them in order of preference.
-
All the seminars meet in the fall semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays at either 9–10:15 am or 10:30–11:45 am. We have worked with all the departments at the College to minimize the number of other first-year and introductory courses offered during this timeslot. (If you notice a few, there should be another section offered in another timeslot; when you register for your other courses in June, you’ll select the section that doesn’t conflict with your first-year seminar.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Log in to my.mtholyoke.edu. Use the same MHC username and password you are using for your Mount Holyoke email.
-
Once logged into my.mtholyoke, look for the Self-Service Menu and then click on its "Students" heading.
-
Within the "Requests & Applications" category, click on "First-Year Seminar Preference."
-
Read the descriptions of the seminars and decide which seven you are most interested in taking.
-
List your top seven choices in the empty fields at the very bottom of the page, being sure to put your top/favorite choice in the first (highest) box, your second choice in the box below that, etc.
-
Click the Submit button below your choices to save your choices in our system. You may subsequently change your preferences list, if you wish, through May 26.
|
|
|
|
You will be able to see which first-year seminar you’ve been matched with starting June 8.
Your first-year seminar group will start making connections with one another during Orientation. Your Orientation group will include those in your first-year seminar if you are a first-year student. And since we want to make sure your first-year seminar group forms deep and lasting connections, once you are assigned your FYSEM course, you will not be able to drop it.
|
|
|
|
Registration for your other courses will begin later in June. Not to worry: you’ll receive additional information in mid-June about preparing for registration, including how to register for the advising chats the deans will offer in June.
|
|
|
|
Please respond with your preferences via my.mtholyoke by May 26.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Take care and, again, a warm welcome to you as you join the Mount Holyoke community!
All my best,
Jennifer W. Jacoby
Director, First-Year Seminar Program
Associate Professor of Psychology and Education
