FIGs in the Media- Chicago Sun Times
FIGs bear fruit: Groups help freshmen feel at home
Universities create small communities for new students by having them share classes and dorms
By: Susan Dodge, Higher Education Reporter
David Payne didn’t know anyone when he arrived as a freshman at Indiana University, a sprawling campus filled with 36,000 students.
But Payne quickly became friends with a group of students with whom he shared three classes first semester and who lived in his dorm, Wright Quad.
The group was part of a new trend sweeping many universities: Freshmen Interest Groups, also known as FIGs. FIGs are composed of 15 to 25 students who take two or three classes together and who often live in the same dorm, sometimes on the same floor.
“It really helped me just to get used to everything and to know people to do stuff with on a daily basis,” said Payne, 19, of La Grange.
Many universities are creating FIG programs to make large campuses more welcoming to freshmen, and as a way to improve the recruitment and retention of new students. The groups give students a way to make friends through shared academic interests.
Northern Illinois University, Indiana, the universities of Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Washington; Arizona State, Eastern Michigan and Michigan State universities are among those with FIGs.
Indiana now has 52 FIGs for freshmen. Some of the more popular groups include “Marketing and Managing Sport,” “Psychology of Criminal Behavior,” and “Exploring Business.” Each FIG requires students to take at least two academic courses and a one-credit freshmen seminar that covers topics such as time management and study skills.
At Northern Illinois, FIGs this spring included groupings to English, psychology and history courses, along with one on “Chinese Philosophy and Art.” The university bills its FIGs as small, personal “learning communities” designed to broaden students’ college experience and contribute to their academic success. Catchy titles with a nod to pop culture are part of the lure for students at the University of Texas at Austin. “La Vida Loca” FIG includes courses in Spanish and cultural anthropology, while “Tales From The Crypt” includes classes on Ancient Egypt and archeological studies.
Many parents are interested in FIGs for their teens because they give students the opportunity for friendships early in college, as well as paving the way for study groups among students, said Jacek Dalecki, director of Indiana’s FIG program.
“One of our goals is to make a big campus smaller,” Dalecki said. “With 36,000 students, it can seem impersonal and maybe overwhelming. FIGs give students a group of peers right away and a peer instructor who introduces them to the campus.”
Peer instructors take students on field trips – to tour libraries and museums on campus – and on cultural outings, to see free concerts or plays, Dalecki said.
IU has about 600 freshmen enrolled in FIGs, about 10 percent of the freshmen class.
Payne was not planning on joining a FIG until registration day at IU last fall, when he learned that being part of the program would guarantee him housing in the dorm he wanted, along with sports in telecommunications and English courses.
“At first, I thought it would be a hokey high school thing: ‘Everybody get together and we have something in common,’ “ Payne said. “But it turned out to be really helpful because it helped me get used to things right away.”
Excerpted From: Chicago Sun-Times, June 12, 2001
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