The requirement that all freshmen take a first-year seminar (FYS) course has been paused for the 2023-2024 school year after an emergency decision by the Chief Academic Officer, Provost Kevin Carman.
“Deans have reported that, at this time, many of their academic departments do not have the instructional capacity to offer enough courses for their majors and staff the FYS program, which includes over 80 sections campus-wide,” Carman said in a public statement.
“Please know that I don’t take this decision lightly – there is much to admire and celebrate about the FYS. However, resources cannot support our delivery of it on such a large scale for the near future,” Carman continued.
The FYS requirement was first added with the adoption of the 2015 University Studies Program, which specifies the 30 required credits that all UW undergraduates must fulfill to graduate.
The goals of the FYS courses are to teach students how to conduct research and find reliable sources, discuss and collaborate on tough questions, analyze assumptions present in information, synthesize multiple perspectives, and communicate ideas in writing.
“I feel like the class is beneficial as it has given me more information on how to write more scientific and how to conduct research. Also how I should interpret the information gathered,” Clayton Keasling, a freshman enrolled in the FYS course Thinking About Thinking, said.
“With that said, however, I feel like it’s a bit more lecture than somewhat like a seminar,” Keasling continued.
Dr. Steven Barret, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, was also involved and wrote a six page report on the issue.
“In response to the identified challenges, I recommend an optional pause to the FYS for AY 23/24,” Barrett concluded in his report.
“I further recommend the Provost establish a committee to review and explore the relationship and benefits of different elements of the first year experience including Saddle Up, the First Year Seminar, Freshmen Interest Groups, the Bridge Program, and alternate staffing and funding models for the FYS.”
A lack of resources is the primary issue facing FYS courses at this point.
FYS courses are intentionally kept small to better facilitate discussion and are taught by faculty as opposed to graduate students as some other lower-division courses are. These factors combine to create a resource intense requirement.
Resources are something that UW has significantly struggled with in recent years. In Fiscal Year 2022, UW cut spending by $16.5 million, with a further reduction of $17.5 million in FY23. The Provost has previously acknowledged that UW faces a critical lack of instructional faculty.
“There is a great need for additional faculty to meet our basic instructional needs and to advance our research and scholarly pursuits,” Carman said in a public statement in mid-September 2022.
The future of the FYS requirement remains undecided, and will likely be evaluated as the semester continues.
“I hope a version of a FYS requirement will be brought back in the future, but it remains to be seen,” Allison Gernant, the FYS Coordinator, said.
