Meghan Harmening | Opinion Editor

As a sophomore in Student Senate, I have had the pleasure of being a part of many changes on the Buena Vista University (BVU) campus. However, while I was a freshman, I was required to participate in the University Seminar program as a part of my course load my first semester. There were many parts of University Seminar that I am still benefiting from today. However, a few parts could be changed to better meet the needs of the students.

The parts of University Seminar that I did enjoy proved to be very helpful as I continue my journey through college. The first is the emphasis placed on relationships with professors. I was a part of a seminar class that was not within my discipline of study here at college. This connected me with several faculty and staff outside of my discipline that I may not have come in contact with had I not been a part of this seminar. I would encourage incoming freshmen to choose a seminar class based on an interest separate from their intended major.

Another part of University Seminar that has stuck with me since seminar class is the fact that peer mentors were in each of our seminar classes. My peer mentor was especially helpful in the sense that she was a Global Fellow. This in turn led to my application for Global Fellows 2014 and eventually the trip to southern Chile this past January. Finally, I very much enjoyed the book that my class had to read – “Left to Tell” by Immaculee Ilibagiza. This book helped me grow in my faith and put into perspective the struggles that I have here in college compared to those in other countries.

However, though all of these individual things were good additions to the University Seminar program, the process by which each part of University Seminar was connected to the overall purpose of the program could have been better. The main suggestion that I have for the program is to make sure there is equality and a universal purpose among all seminar classes. The degree of work and preparation varied greatly between classes – preparing certain students more than others. If there was a common theme or at the very least a common set of standards that freshmen must meet before University Seminar is completed, more students would have a better experience. In addition, the Tuesday sessions oftentimes did not pertain to global sustainability or college preparation – the two main themes of University Seminar that I noticed. If BVU is going to require freshmen to go to Tuesday sessions in an effort to become more informed, something must change. Perhaps by providing the same information in another format would prove more useful to students.

In the end, University Seminar has the intent and the potential to be a great program to introduce freshmen students to the college life. However, at this moment in time, the standards being set are not uniform throughout all classes. In addition, if faculty hope to provide a beneficial program to freshmen students, something needs to change to intrigue students to want to learn more. If all parts of the program become intertwined with the purpose in mind, BVU then has a great program on its hands.

Photo courtesy of University Marketing and Communications