University Seminar 1001 (UNIV1001) is a course that defies any major or schedule. Taking place at the ripe time of 8 a.m., it is a mandatory staple of the freshman experience. But how many students need, let alone care, about this required course?
UNIV1001 sounds useful in theory. It is a course designed to introduce wide-eyed freshmen into the intimidating world of college life. It certainly seems like a great idea: teaching new students basic time management skills, how to join clubs and various functions of college in general.
However, the consensus among students seems to be that University Seminar is not worth the time it takes.
When I took the course, I was an incredibly nervous freshman. I was used to a small high school with not a lot of students, so college was an entirely different arena than what I was accustomed to. I was actually excited to take UNIV1001 because of how anxious I was. Looking back, the only thing I can remember is how to format an email to a professor.
There were a lot of tasks, some useful, while others were just… unnecessary. I personally believe it should be up to the students on whether they wish to socialize or not, and it seemed as though this class was only made to force students to talk to each other. As an introvert, it was not a fun or useful experience to go out into a crowd of other freshmen and beg to take a selfie with a complete stranger– which, by the way, was for a grade. Socialization is a very big part of the college experience, but forcing us to interact with each other for a grade is not an appropriate use of the course.
Junior psychology major Sydney Morris recalls her experience with the University Seminar as “kind of helpful, but it also felt like a bit of a waste of time.” Morris went on to comment on how she was already aware of most of what the class covered. While she appreciated the information towards advising, Morris found that many of her assignments were “a lot of busy work and [that] was kind of annoying.” Morris stated that the course itself can be somewhat helpful to more sheltered students, but it can also be “tedious.”
Despite the university’s intentions behind University Seminar 1001, it seems to be less helpful and more of a hindrance to students’ attention.
Junior psychology major Micah Endsley had similar sentiments towards the class. He said the people who taught his University Seminar were “nice and helpful,” but there were “way too many assignments.” It seems to be a common theme that there is too much work for a class that does not seem to be that useful.
Students are consistently busy, regardless of classification or major. Having a class that assigns more busy work than anything else is not an appropriate use of school funds or students’ time.
I believe that, rather than having a required class dedicated to it, University Seminar 1001 should be an optional weekly for all incoming freshmen. This would limit wasted time and bring in students who genuinely want to be involved as well as force the instructors to focus on the parts of college life that are actually meaningful.
