Information For Faculty

Faculty from all academic units are invited to offer 1 or 2 credit-hour seminars targeted at first-year students. Enrollment is capped at 18 students and interdisciplinary seminars are encouraged. Faculty are provided a $2,000 stipend ($1,000 of which is for course development) for the initial offering of an approved seminar and $1,000 for subsequent offerings.

Faculty interested in developing a freshman seminar followed by a short study abroad experience are encouraged to contact the office to explore options.

Evaluations from both students and faculty have been very positive, with 87 percent of students indicating they would recommend the seminars to other students and 89 percent of participating faculty reporting they would like to teach their seminars again.

Why should I teach a seminar? (Comments from current and past faculty)

• It encourages innovation, and allows faculty to "think outside the box" within a structure that streamlines the bureaucracy.
• It's a good way to get freshmen involved with the academic community.
• I really liked the freshman attitude. They were open (a little wary) but overall interesting, bright, creative individuals. I also never had even one unexcused absence!
• I like this idea of introducing the students to an area they are not familiar with and giving them an opportunity to find out about the nature and scope of a professor's field of scholarly research.
• It’s fun to meet incoming students and help them see OSU as a place to expand their minds (rather than fulfilling requirements only).
• I think this is a good way of giving entering students some notion of the intellectual rigor and demands that are characteristic of programs at the university level.
• Since I don't really work with undergraduate students on a regular basis, this course allowed me to experience teaching a whole new group of students. I highly recommend teaching a freshman seminar to other faculty.