Residential First Year Experience Themes

2008-09 RFYE Themes
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Southwest
Central
Orchard Hill
Northeast

Living in the Residential First Year Experience presents many opportunities for you to be involved in your residential experience, including:

Staff in the Residential First Year Experience:

First Year Experience Specialists are full-time masters level professional staff focused on developing a comprehensive academic-based first year program.

Residential Learning Graduates Responsible for assisting and developing the collaboration between Residence Life and Academic Affairs as it pertains to the Residential First Year Experience. The main responsibilities include supervision of student staff and developing and facilitating residential academic success initiatives.

Peer Mentors are undergraduate student staff members that provide academic success mentoring and programming. They also staff a Residential Academic Success Center (RASC) located within the cluster/building.

Residence Directors (RD) are full-time masters level professional staff members with previous residence life experience. They live in the halls and manage the overall administration and operation in a residence hall cluster of 1 to 3 buildings. Residence Directors supervise the hall staff, coordinate hall social and educational activities, oversee community and leadership development, advise House Council, and meet with students for personal and disciplinary counseling.

Assistant Residence Directors (ARD) are part-time graduate staff members who live in the halls and assist the RD in the overall management of a residence hall cluster.

Resident Assistants (RA) are undergraduate students who live on each residence hall
floor. RAs are selected and trained to serve as a mentor, campus resource person,
mediator, and policy enforcer. RAs plan social and educational activities and help to
foster a community environment.

Students living in Residential First Year Experience say:

2008-2009 Theme Options for Residential First Year Experience:

Area Information
Southwest
Orchard Hall
Central
Northeast

Southwest

Enterprise & Action (Melville & Thoreau)
This cluster brings together students whose interests lean toward social action and public service, along with an entrepreneurial bent and a passion for progress and advancement. The halls offer academic programs related to these themes and business, economics and other related topics.

Melville: • Culture & Society RAP • Isenberg Fellows RAP
Thoreau: • Focus Enterprise RAP • Partners in Education RAP (Business)

Global Thought & Action (Pierpont & Moore)
This community studies the diversity of populations in the world and how their actions affect societies. Great for students with a passion for civic engagement, who love to work for social justice, equality, and environmental awareness. The academic programs in these halls grow from these themes, helping participants connect their community dedication to their academic interests.

Pierpont: • Political Science Majors RAP • Social Justice RAP • Emerging Scholars RAP
              • Impact - Community Service Learning RAP
Moore: • Isenberg Fellows RAP • Culture & Society RAP

Fitness & Recreation (James/Emerson)
Residents of this community pursue their personal health and wellness goals. Through healthy-living programming and a supportive environment of staff and peers, students are encouraged to create and continue a balanced, overall healthy lifestyle. These halls include a recreation center and excellent fitness equipment.

Health, Science & Humanity (Kennedy)
This cluster is for students with a strong interest in the life sciences and social sciences, who aspire to careers in the health professions and love to work, in a lab, library, or clinical setting. The academic programs will include:

• Health Sciences RAP • Public Health & Wellness RAP • Nursing Majors RAP
• Arts & Humanities RAP

Pop Culture (Cance)
Incorporating topics of current culture, including a focus on the media, students interested in this community may have an interest in visual and/or performing arts, or an interest in applied sciences and choose from academic programs that are relevant to these themes.

• Communications Majors RAP • Arts & Humanities RAP

Our Society, Our World (John Adams)
The theme of Our Society, Our World incorporates topics and questions from the wide range of the social sciences. It is an ideal hall for students who are interested in people and cultures; those who want to investigate how humans relate and interact, while exploring their own culture and its affect on others.

• Psychology Majors RAP • Careers in Education RAP • Focus Connections RAP

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Central

Culture & the Arts (Van Meter)
This theme takes a multifaceted approach to culture with an emphasis on outreach. Students participate in activities incorporating the visual and performing arts and channel these interests into service learning and social justice projects with the local community. They explore their talents while learning about the interactions of art, community, and social action. They explore their talents while learning about the interactions of art, community, and social action. The academic programs in this hall will emphasize this theme:

• Performing & Visual Arts Majors RAP • Arts & Humanities RAP • Focus Connections RAP

Writing & Literature (Butterfield)
Our smallest RFYE community, Writing & Literature allows students from a range of disciplines to work together and inspire each other. Students broaden their writing styles by living with others interested in poetry, fiction, short stories, journalism, and non-fiction writing, and work on a student-run journal. Writing & Literature students take composition and creative writing courses in the hall, attend readings, lectures, and film screening, and visit literary sites.

• English TAP • Writing & Literature RAP • Honors RAPs

Orchard Hill

Science, Innovation & Leadership (Dickinson)
Students in the Science, Innovation & Leadership hall live and study with others interested in research. An excellent choice for Commonwealth College students and those interested in scientific-related disciplines. The academic programs offered incorporate these themes.

• Bio TAP • Nursing Majors RAP • Celestial Observations RAP • Physical Sciences RAP
• Engineering Majors RAP • Engineering Options Honors RAP • Options Honors RAP
• Computer Science Majors RAP

Society & Leadership (Webster)
The Society & Leadership theme is particularly geared towards students with a strong drive for academic success and leadership. Ideal for Commonwealth College students, its academic programs are for students attracted to the social sciences and humanities.

• Honors RAPs • Culture & Society RAP • Politics Today RAP

Northeast

Discovery
Located near the College of Engineering, the Discovery theme explores connecting people around the world through innovation and technology. An excellent choice for engineering students or anyone excited about scientific inquiry - exploration, creation, development, discovery, analysis - on an international and multicultural level.

Crabtree: • Engineering Majors RAP
Mary Lyon: • Sustainable Environments RAP • Impact Community Service Learning RAP
Knowlton: • Focus Enterprise RAP

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