Brigham Young University-Idaho has launched BYUI 101: Experience BYU-Idaho, a new course designed to help incoming students transition smoothly into university life by connecting them with essential resources and fostering a sense of belonging.
“It's all about establishing a connection between new students and the BYU-Idaho community, helping them understand the culture, mission, and resources of the university,” said Don Bingham, the faculty member overseeing the course.
All new on-campus students will be automatically enrolled in BYUI 101 during their first semester. The course is hybrid to allow for all schedules, with online lessons on the resources available on campus and weekly in-person gathering groups led by student mentors.
“The students gather in small groups across campus once a week to talk about how things are going, what’s going well, what they need help with, what is the stressor of the week, and just be together, talking about their experience together,” said Bingham.
In addition to connecting with peers and mentors on campus, each BYUI 101 class is taught by a recent graduate of BYU-Idaho.
“I think there's a lot of power in having the class help students connect with alumni early on in their time at BYU-Idaho,” said Danae Romrell, associate academic vice president for student success, “It gives them that forward-looking view of what they can become through the example of these alumni instructors.”
Students will also participate in four large events throughout the semester: a Spirit Week activity or event, a Majors and Societies Fair, a Becoming Legendary event with alumni speakers, and a completion celebration at the end of the semester.
“One of the goals of this course is belonging and helping students make connections with different groups,” said Romrell. “We’ve very deliberately built in connections with classmates, older students, alumni, faculty, and resources across campus.”
The pilot program for BYUI 101 has already received positive feedback from the 500 students currently enrolled. The full-scale launch is set for the fall semester, with an anticipated enrollment of 5,500 students.
For incoming freshmen, Bingham recommends, “Be excited to learn and then just be open to the experience, have a good mindset of, ‘This is meant to benefit me, and so I’m going to take advantage of it.”
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