Expected Instructor Attendance at Informational & Enrichment Sessions

All First-Year Seminar instructors are expected to attend an informational session during each spring semester (after proposals have been approved) as well as an enrichment session at the start of each fall semester. These sessions create opportunities to share relevant information with and among all instructors and contribute to a more meaningful and consistent First-Year Seminar experience.

Authorized Instructors

Only instructors who have submitted a proposal will be approved to offer a First-Year Seminar. A proposal must be submitted every year- even if you have taught or are currently teaching a seminar that has been previously approved. Instructors must receive approval from their DEO or direct supervisor prior to submitting a proposal.

Faculty and executive and instructional staff may submit a proposal for consideration. Merit and SEIU staff, undergraduate/grad TA's and research assistants, grad/professional students, post-baccalaureate research interns, and non UI-employed community members are generally NOT eligible to teach a First-Year Seminar. Contact Angie Lamb (angela-lamb@uiowa.edu) with questions regarding unique circumstances. 

Before submitting a proposal to teach a First-Year Seminar, instructors should consider whether or not they feel familiar enough with the University of Iowa to help new students successfully navigate their transition to college and the University of Iowa. 

Prospective instructors are expected to have prior teaching experience in higher education, relevant credentials, and professional experience in the subject area they wish to teach in. Non UI-affiliated community members are not eligible to teach a First-Year Seminar, even as a team teacher or co-instructor. While adjunct faculty are eligible to submit a proposal, they must have prior relevant teaching experience and strong academic ties to the University of Iowa in order to be considered for teaching a First-Year Seminar.

Individual colleges and departments may have additional requirements.

Course Delivery

First-Year Seminars are only offered in-person (not online, hybrid, etc.). When unexpected circumstances arise that requires an instructor to choose between cancelling class one week or moving that week's course online, the instructor may elect to meet online. 

Cancellations 

We coordinate enrollment efforts with the Academic Advising Center and other campus partners so that students are aware of First-Year Seminars and given an opportunity to enroll in one. However, when enrollment is too low in a seminar, we must make the difficult decision to cancel it.

Students begin registering in late May/early June for their fall classes when they participate in summer orientation. We monitor enrollment closely throughout June and July and may begin cancelling seminars when we are nearing the end of summer orientation. Cancellation decisions are final. We will not keep a seminar with low enrollment scheduled until August orientation programs because this sessions are just days before the start of the fall semester. Courses that have not been cancelled by August 1, can assume to be offered. 

Instructor Compensation

Each First-Year Seminar is compensated at $2,500 per course (compensation for co-instructors is split accordingly). Compensation is distributed as either professional development or teaching stipends per each college's allocation policy. All purchases are subject to University of Iowa purchasing policies. Items purchased with FYS funds become property of the University. More information can be found in the UI Operations Manual or by calling the Accounts Payable, Purchasing, and Travel Department at (319) 335-0115. 

Funding is allocated to each college by the Office of the Provost after the start of the fall semester. Colleges then distribute funds to departments. Questions should be directed to either your collegiate accounting staff or departmental budget officer. 

Instructors who offer their course through College Success Initiatives (CSI) or Undergraduate Research Studies (URES) in University College will be compensated directly by University College per the UC compensation policy.

Honors First-Year Seminars and Research-Focused Seminars

During the annual FYS proposal process, instructors may indicate interest in teaching their seminar as an Honors First-Year Seminar and/or a Research-Focused Seminar. Prior acceptance into either category does not guarantee acceptance again in the future. Honors First-Year Seminars will be offered through the instructor's home department, unless the seminar is also a research-focused seminar. 

All Research-Focused Seminars (both Honors and non-Honors) are scheduled by and offered through University College in the URES (Undergraduate Research Experiences) academic unit. All URES instructors are compensated per the University College compensation policy.

For more information about Research-Focused First-Year Seminars, please click here or visit the OUR website at: https://our.research.uiowa.edu/

Scheduling a First-Year Seminar

First-Year Seminars are limited to 16-20 students, cannot be offered through distance education or online (must be taught face-to-face), may be team-taught, and meet for a total of at least 750 minutes over the course of the semester.
     15 50-minute sessions:
     One per week for 15 weeks or
     Twice per week for 7.5 weeks

     10 75-minute sessions:
     One per week for 10 weeks or
     Twice per week for 5 weeks

Seminars may meet for the entire semester, or may be offered off-cycle. For example, a seminar may be offered for 75 minutes per week for the first 10 weeks of the semester. Off-cycle courses must start during the first week that undergraduate classes are in session. Seminars that meet on Mondays must be scheduled for an additional 5 minutes to make up for missed class time due to the Labor Day holiday.

All first-year seminars are required to begin during the first week of undergraduate classes; exceptions to this policy must receive prior approval by contacting angela-lamb@uiowa.edu. 

Syllabus

NEW FOR FALL 2024: Prior to the start of the fall semester, instructors will be asked to submit their finalized syllabus to University College. 

All instructors should refer to their home collegiate and departmental syllabus requirements for syllabus design. Instructors teaching a course in College Success Initiatives (CSI) and Undergraduate Research Studies (URES) should refer to University College guidelines, which follow very closely CLAS syllabus policies and syllabus insert requirements. Another source for syllabus information can be found on the University of Iowa Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost website. 

During the seminar proposal process, instructors should upload a syllabus that follows their home department's syllabus structure; if approved to teach in URES, adjustments should be made as applicable.

For University College courses (CSI/HONR/URES), the University College governs class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty. In addition, courses in the University College should reference University College as the administrative home including contact information for Andrew Beckett, Associate Dean of University College, 310 Calvin Hall.

Grading

To encourage students' active participation, instructors rely on classroom participation, papers, projects, and other interactive assignments, and, consequently, instructors agree not to use quizzes or exams as part of the evaluation of student work. Quizzes or exams cannot be part of the evaluation of student work in a First-Year Seminar. FYS courses provide students an opportunity to explore subjects new to them. The no-exam policy encourages students to move beyond their comfort zones to tackle new academic challenges. Student learning in First-Year Seminars can take place through active classroom participation, well-crafted papers, thoughtful discussion, and well-planned and executed projects.

Courses must be offered for graded (A-F) credit. Instructors should decide whether or not to use plus and minus grades; however, the syllabus should tell students clearly whether plus or minus grades will be used. Typically, A+ grades should not be used in a First-Year Seminar and grading scales should be adjusted to communicate this to students. 

For grade approval, instructors should follow the usual practices of their departments, and submit course grades as they would for any other course, but no later than the registrar's deadline for undergraduate course grades. For more information, visit the Office of the Registrar's website on Final Grade Reporting. 

Specific and detailed suggestions on how to draft an effective grading rubric, and other course design resources, can be found on the Center for Teaching website. 

Please remember that for one hour of credit, students should be asked to do around two hours of work outside of the classroom each week. One of the most frequent topics of discussion among instructors has been about grades and grading. Given the nature and size of the class, the course grade distribution will probably not correspond to a standard distribution; as always, grades should be based on the quality of student work, not on a pre-determined expectation about the percentage awarded of any particular grade.

Course Evaluations

End-of-semester course evaluations are required for First-Year Seminars. Instructors should use the course evaluations, and follow all associated policies developed by their department (just as they would for any other course). Course evaluation results are not available until after final grades have been submitted. For more information, instructors should visit the ITS webpage on ACE Online Course Evaluations.

Course evaluations are automatically scheduled when your First-Year Seminar is added to MAUI/MyUI. For those offering their course outside of University College, please confirm that your course scheduler did not opt out of the course evaluation when scheduling your section. 

Instructors who offer their course through University College can contact angela-lamb@uiowa.edu with additional questions about course evaluations.