First Year Learning Community

Fall Convocation

CELEBRATING YOUR PLACE IN THIS COMMUNITY
Most people know that when it comes time to graduate from university, there's a big ceremony to celebrate. We get to wear robes and special hats while members of the university administration confer degrees and give out special awards on the graduating class. That ceremony is called "Commencement." But did you know that Commencement is just one ritual of university life? Among other ceremonies are the Fall Convocation and Winter Welcome. During the Fall Convocation, we come together to welcome our newest members, and give them an opportunity to officially sign their names into our community ledger. If Commencement marks the end of school, Fall Convocation is most certainly the beginning. A celebration not to be missed!

The World Café

Ours is a culture of open dialogue, in which every member of the community is welcome to share their ideas and perspectives about the world. But, some conversations are harder than others, and so we all have to do purposeful work to learn how to listen actively, speak thoughtfully, and communicate in a manner that is synthetic rather than confrontational. The World Café is a powerful method used to engage in conversations that matter, designed to offer an antidote to the fast-paced fragmentation and lack of connection in today’s world.

First Year Storytelling Contest

For the submission deadline, full guidelines and a list of prompts, visit the First Year Storytelling Contest page.

Troubleshooting Your First Year

It’s a truism that major life transitions can be just as overwhelming as they are exciting. New students experience a lot of changes in a very short period of time! We do our best during the initial orientation period to inform students about the range of resources and opportunities available to them at Regis – but we totally understand if stuff gets lost in the shuffle! With that in mind, the FYE partners with individual FYE 200/250 faculty to come into the classroom around the second month of the fall semester, and to run a short workshop in which our Peer Navigators (older students) help our new community members to once again learn about the great variety of resources and opportunities that Regis has to offer.

Eloquentia Perfecta Essay Contest

During the fall semester, new students participate in one of the FYE courses (FYE 200 or FYE 250). While each section of FYE 200/250 is unique in its content, they all have the common feature of being writing and speaking intensive. Towards the end of the fall semester, every FYE 200/250 faculty member is invited to nominate a particularly noteworthy piece of writing (and its writer, of course!) to be recognized by the community. A committee formed by the FYE then selects a limited number of finalists, who will have the opportunity to read excerpts of their writing aloud during the Winter Welcome.

SOAR Community Excursions

At Regis, we believe that a cornerstone of university education is engagement with the broader community. That's why one of the first things we encourage you to do during orientation is to get out of the classroom and even off campus! Organized in collaboration with the Center for Service Learning, the SOAR Community Excursions are led by the faculty member who serves as your First Year Advisor as well as professor of your fall writing seminar (FYE 200/250).

Being Present, Looking Forward

A colloquium series sponsored by the FYE, designed to come at a moment when first-year students are creating their spring class schedules. We bring together an expert panel of current juniors and seniors, and we ask them to talk about their personal experiences navigating life at Regis and beyond. Together we explore the processes of discernment which they’ve undergone to arrive where they are, including the good moments and bad. As the name suggests, the conversation specifically focuses on how to actively reflect on and plan for the future, without losing sight of the value of being present to immediate experiences.