Course Selection for First-Year Students
Typical Course Loads and Schedules
Students normally enroll in five 3- or 4-credit hour courses each semester at Fairfield University. However, a student will be considered full-time while taking a minimum of four courses or 12 credits. The section entitled Program Guides outlines the recommended courses to be taken by first-year students during the fall semester.
Guidelines for First-Year Mathematics Placement
Students should enroll in the highest numbered mathematics course that their high school preparation in mathematics allows. This will permit students to build upon the foundation that was established in high school and will provide greater flexibility when choosing a major or changing majors. This is especially true if students are considering a major in the sciences, computer science, or mathematics, since many courses in these disciplines must be taken in sequence and are required for upper level courses.
Students are placed in the appropriate level of mathematics courses based on courses taken and grades received during high school and, to a lesser extent, on math SAT scores. A student's academic interests and major requirements are also considered. If, after one or two weeks in September, it becomes evident that a student has been misplaced, the student will be permitted to switch to a more appropriate level of mathematics.
For detailed information on guidelines for first-year mathematics placement, visit: www.fairfield.edu/mathplacement.
Guidelines for the Language Requirement
Reasons for the Language Requirement
In an increasingly interdependent world, the ability to understand and communicate across ethnic, cultural, ideological, and national boundaries is essential. Since language is the primary vehicle for communication, one goal of the Core Curriculum is to ensure that Fairfield graduates acquire facility with at least one language other than English. Hence, most students are required to complete the study of a modern language or a classical language at the intermediate level. If a student elects to study a language not studied in high school, four (4) semesters of a Modern Language or three (3) semesters of Greek or Latin are required to complete the intermediate level.
Because of specialized programs of study, students in the School of Engineering do not have to fulfill the Modern Language requirement and students in the School of Nursing have to meet either the Modern Language requirement or the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Deciding which Language to Study
As the section below describes, Fairfield uses a Language Placement exam to assess students' skills in certain languages. We require all incoming students with previous study in French, German, Italian, and/or Spanish to take the exam for each of the languages they studied. The assessment results will enable students, along with their faculty advisors, to make informed decisions about language courses at Fairfield.
Students with a high school background in a particular language may want to continue their studies to improve their proficiency. Other students prefer to use college as an opportunity to learn a completely different language, one that they do not know or that was not offered at their high school. Students considering studying abroad as part of their college experience may want to begin-or continue-learning the primary language of the country in which they are planning to do coursework. Finally, some students, particularly those who are strong in languages, may be interested in learning Arabic, Chinese, or Russian-languages that the U.S. Government has designated as critical in this age of globalization and in which the demand for specialists is growing-or one of the many other languages taught at Fairfield.
Many students include a foreign language course in their first semester of college, especially if they are building on skills learned in high school. Students who are planning to begin a new language at Fairfield, however, may decide to wait until their sophomore year to take language courses. Faculty members from the Department of Modern Languages will be available during Orientation to help incoming students explore all their options for language study.
Assessment of Students' Language Skills
Students who have studied French, German, Italian, and/or Spanish must take the online Language Placement exam by May 23. Information about how to take the online exam is in the Summer Action Items section of this Guide. If students choose to continue study in one of those languages, the score on the placement exam will determine the beginning level of study at Fairfield. Students who place into the intermediate level will need to complete two semesters of language study, while those who place at the elementary level will need four semesters. To continue the study begun in high school of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, or Latin, students should indicate that preference on the Academic Interests Questionnaire found online on the First-Year Student Checklist, or in hard copy form in the Summer Action Items section.
We require students to take the Language Placement exam in French, German, Italian, and/or Spanish if they studied one or more of those languages in high school, even if they do not intend to continue studies in any of them. The Summer Action Items section of this Guide contains more information about taking the online Language Placement exam.
Guidelines for Pre-Health/Pre-Med Planning
Fairfield offers a challenging, competitive, and highly successful pre-medical/pre-dental/pre-health professional program called the Health Professions Program or HPP. Students in this program pursue studies in a field or major of their personal interest while taking those courses necessary for admission to medical and dental schools, as well as any of the professional schools for allied health careers, such as optometry, physical and occupational therapy, and podiatry.
Students who are considering the health professions as a career, but who did not register for the program at admission, should identify themselves and meet with the Health Professions Advisor, Dr. Geoffrey Church, as early as possible in the fall semester. A great deal of careful planning over three to four years must be done in order to prepare a strong application for advanced study. Therefore, an early meeting allows students to make sure they are on track with program requirements while there is still time to add or drop courses as appropriate.
To apply to health professions schools, students need to have foundational knowledge in science. Many pre-health students elect to pursue a degree in one of the sciences. However, students can major in any area as long as they supplement the major program with a combination of courses that represent preparation for medical, dental, and allied health schools.
While many HPP students are interested in earning degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, or biology, students with other majors (or undecided students) should still strongly consider taking general "Inorganic Chemistry" (CH 11) in their first semester. Because two years of chemistry (Inorganic I & II and Organic I & II) are required for nearly all pre-health students, it is easier to schedule the full load of prerequisite courses by starting with chemistry in the first year.
It is not recommended that students begin their pre-health preparation by taking "General Biology" (BI 170) in the first semester unless they are considering majoring in biology or have already declared that major. The faculty members who teach BI 170 lead students through a self-assessment during the first week of class (the add/drop period) so that students can be sure they are ready to succeed in the course.
First-Year Learning Opportunities
Cornerstone Courses
Cornerstone courses are reserved for first-year students and are designed to enhance student engagement by helping students integrate their intellectual and social lives. The program is based on a learning-community model, which promotes student-faculty interaction, peer-to-peer inquiry, and active learning. Essential components of the program include residential-based programming facilitated by resource teams (including residence life, library staff, and academic support), faculty development and support, and funding for course enhancements. Some Cornerstone courses are offered as Clusters, a set of two Core courses, in different disciplines, which are taken by the same cohort of students.
Students will have a number of Cornerstone courses, in a variety of subjects to choose from, and there will be complete lists available at Orientation. Each first-year student should register for one-and only one-Cornerstone course or Cluster pair in the fall semester.
Laptop Sections of English (EN) 11
Laptop sections of EN 11 are offered for students wishing to use their own laptops in a wireless learning environment. While the goals of this course are the same as the goals for all sections of EN 11, this course is an exciting and productive way to use a laptop in a class taught by a professor enthusiastic about using computer technology in the classroom. Students share essays, help edit each other's work, talk in chat rooms, and write essays during class.
First-Year Experience Seminars
As part of Fairfield's First Year Experience (FYE) program, all new undergraduate students enroll in a non-credited FYE seminar for their fall semester. Co-facilitated by a faculty or staff member and a student mentor, the seminar teaches Fairfield's core Jesuit values and discusses topics-such as campus life and resources-to help first-year students acclimate to college. Passing the year-long FYE program is a requirement to graduate from Fairfield University.
This upcoming year we will be piloting two sections of FYE, specifically on service learning, as well as a few sections that are based on gender (i.e., all-women, all-men seminars).