Taking seriously our charge to transform the undergraduate educational experience, we offer a comprehensive and integrated approach to student learning in the first year. The First-Year Experience (FYE) is an institutional initiative that utilizes a student centered approach designed to foster learning and achievement inside and outside of the classroom. The FYE begins before students arrive on campus and continues well beyond their first year.
Pre-Orientation is a required one day orientation program where new students learn about academic life at Wittenberg and identify course preferences for the fall semester.
Summer College is a two-week pre-college transitional program for newly admitted first-year students that allows students to take a 2-credit college course and learn how to be successful in college.
New Student Days is a required four-day orientation program for first-year students that takes place immediately before classes begin each fall semester.
WittenbergSeminars (WittSems) is a required first-year seminar class that explores an intellectual topic in detail and addresses academic issues and skills first-year students need to master. To assist in the transition to Wittenberg, peer mentors act as social and cultural guides for the students.
Connectors is a program offered by the office of Multicultural Programs that is designed to guide first-year African American students and students of color through their first semester of college by connecting them with upper-class students (called Connectors). Connectors assist first-year students as they transition from high school to college by helping them to make friends and navigate the day to day tasks of college life.
English 101 is a first-year writing class that introduces students to basic forms and conventions of college writing, provides the opportunity for frequent practice in writing and revising, and helps students explore various stages of the writing process from planning to proofreading.
Supplemental Instruction is an academic support program that uses collaborative learning strategies and trained, supervised student facilitators to increase academic achievement and retention in target courses.
FYE Support Series is a workshop series that engages first-year students in interactive sessions that complement the academic learning experience and address their total development as a person.
WittPath Career Services offers a program for first-year students that prepares them to explore and examine their personality characteristics and interests and consider relevant options for an academic major. The program supports and encourages self awareness, reflection, and vocational exploration and creates an intentional pathway of self discovery for Wittenberg students beginning in their first year.
Honors Program offers a travel-abroad opportunity to enhance the education of first-year Honors students. The program provides first-year Honors students an opportunity to experience another culture and engage in a service-learning experience.
First-Year International Travel will be connected to some academic courses where first-year students learn about the history and culture of the country prior to traveling abroad.
Emerging Leaders Program is a leadership development program for first-year students that meets weekly from October-December each year. Through the program, students develop the skills, personal qualities and knowledge they will need to be effective leaders at Wittenberg. Students will also have the opportunity to work with mentors to plan an event or program for the campus in the second semester.
Community Service and Service-Learning are experiences students can participate in during their years at Wittenberg. First-year students will have the option to participate in a service-learning course where they can engage in meaningful and purposeful ways of connecting the concepts and theories they learn in the classroom with the practical, hands-on learning of “real life” experience.
New Student Showcase is an opportunity for first-year thespians and entertainers to perform in theatre and musical numbers during Family Weekend for their fellow students and visiting family members. The Department of Theatre and Dance and the Department of Music welcome all Wittenberg students to participate in and study the performing arts.
