Although only just approved in November, the first round of accepted proposals from the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates is already impacting First-Year Interest Groups on campus and learning opportunities abroad.
Since their initiation in 2001, FIG programs, an interdisciplinary grouping of classes for a common group of students, have had relatively high enrollment and a limited budget to fund faculty and programs for the growth of courses, Director of FIGs Greg Smith said. The $250,000 in funding provided through MIU for FIGs will be used to provide programs in the courses and finance a full-time and a half-time faculty member.
“We submitted the proposal for extra funding so we could provide funds for projects and faculty members,” Smith said. “So there’s not a deficiency in the curriculum, student needs are being met and opportunities are provided.”
According to Smith, higher GPAs and greater retention rates for students enrolled in FIGs prompted Chancellor Biddy Martin to say she would like to see twice as many FIGs and to support the program in an effort to improve student services.
Smith says FIG courses are growing as expected with the funds from the initiative, with 13 courses being added next fall and a total of 60 courses expected to be offered by 2011. Currently only 32 FIGs are offered. The FIG program is also trying to pilot FIG options for the spring semester.
“We need to expand our assessment and look at other ways the FIGs program has an influence on students, on choices in majors and so forth,” Smith said. “This is money that’s coming out of student money, and (it) needs to be spent responsibly.”
Smith added the FIG program is growing smoothly, and is on target for the growth he wants to see next fall. He is hopeful for 2011 growth as well.
A College of Agricultural and Life Sciences proposal is also attempting to improve and expand student learning opportunities, but through international programs and a cross-college partnership with International Academic Programs.
According to CALS Interim Dean Irwin Goldman, between 25 and 30 percent of CALS students work internationally, as agricultural life sciences transcend boundaries and affect a variety of issues. Because of this, the CALS proposal attempts to internationalize class curriculum and develop opportunities abroad.
“This is building on a long record the college has of helping students get experience internationally,” Goldman said.
The funding provided to CALS will help fund an extra one and a half staff members and develop programs to advance international curriculum and globalizing educational experiences for undergraduate students.
CALS proposals in the future will focus on providing instruction on natural resource economics to students across UW. Their second round proposals will also look at providing TAs to offer larger classes, Goldman added.
“We’re a smaller college than L&S, but we have some very special types of teaching, and globalization is one of them,” Goldman said. “We focus on programs which are really going to benefit students, which I think is just outstanding.”
