WELCOME TO FRESHMAN SEMINAR

Bought to you by the Office of Student Life & the Office of Orientation & New Student Programs

Freshman Seminar is the essential gateway to your success at Baruch College. It will provide you with all the tools you need to make informed decisions regarding your academic, personal and career choices. The course will also help you develop the skills and abilities necessary to navigate around the college campus. Most importantly you will have the opportunity to get to know your fellow freshman. Many of your classmates will be attending other classes with you and this will give you a great opportunity to connect with others.

Your class will be taught by a Freshman Seminar instructor and a peer mentor. In some instances you may just have a peer mentor. These people will be your guide and support during your first semester at Baruch College. Use them as a resource and let them make your transition easier.

During Freshman Seminar you will be introduced to a number of different topics. These will range from academic success strategies, ways to get involved in the campus community, some options regarding your future career plans to opportunities to engage in community service at the broader New York level. You will also learn how to improve your communication skills and be able to understand the Baruch academic curriculum so that you can choose the classes that work with what you want to do.

Additionally, you will be asked to attend a number of different and exciting workshops around the campus as a way to complement what you have learnt in your classrooms. Baruch offers a host of enriching workshops throughout the semester and you have the opportunity to attend events including lectures by today's leaders, theatre performances at the Baruch Performing Arts Center and even learn how to "small talk" at Baruch's Starr Career Development Center.

You will need to attend at least six enrichment workshops. On page 33 of your planner you will find a "passport" that you must bring with you to your workshops. The workshop facilitator or your peer mentor will sign off on your passport to mark your attendance. On page 31 you will see a description of the types of workshops you may attend. The list is by no means exhaustive and you can certainly ask your peer mentor and your freshman seminar instructor about other programs and events you might come across that would fill one of your passport categories. We want you to sample all that the Baruch College campus has to offer.

The next few pages will cover some areas that you will discuss during your Freshman Seminar classes. We are excited that you are joining us on this journey. Best of luck on the start of your college career!