Echo staff report
Beginning this fall, Rochester Community and Technical College is offering an enhanced First-Year Experience (FYEX) course for new freshman students seeking an Associate of Arts degree.
This move is an effort to foster additional student success in an environment where many of todayís students are lacking important skills.
ìAlong with a possible lack of academic preparedness, many students have not yet been given the opportunity to form personal autonomy, self-confidence, proper study behaviors or have not yet gained the social competency to be comfortable in this new and different world,î Dr. Greg Mosier, RCTCís Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, said in a prepared statement. ìAs educators, it is our responsibility to help form these abilities in our students as much as forming solid English, math and technical skills.î
RCTC will make the new FYEX a required class in fall 2018 for first-time college students pursuing an Associate of Arts degree.†
To prepare for this change, the college has brought training to campus to help faculty prepare for the new curriculum. Used in classrooms at more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, the curriculumís learner-centered strategies represent best practices from innovators in higher education, business, psychology, sports and personal effectiveness.†
Additionally, RCTC has offered to share the training with other institutions in the Minnesota State system. Joining RCTC in the training are faculty from Hennepin Technical College; Minneapolis Community & Technical College; Minnesota State Community and Technical College; Minnesota State University, Mankato; Ridgewater College; and Riverland Community College.
For further information about RCTCís First-Year Experience courses or the OnCourse training at RCTC, contact Dr. Greg Mosier at 285- 7256 or greg.mosier@rctc.edu.