Opportunity

FIGs: "Something to Belong To"

Picture this: You come to the University of Oregon as a freshman interested in art. You don’t know the campus, you don’t know any other students, and you are overwhelmed with the variety of courses, majors, and degrees.

You sign up for a residential first-year interest group (FIG) called Contexts of Art. The head of the Department of Art, Kate Wagle, is the instructor. Every student in the class takes an active interest in the subject. You enroll in several related courses with the same students and live with them in a dorm as well. One of your first class sessions is a trip to Portland with Professor Wagle to visit art galleries and discuss what you saw over dinner.

UO freshmen Rachael Henderson and Adam Stamp were among twenty-five students who had that experience in 2003.

“I think it was the best way to come into a university,” says Rachael. “It’s a small community within a huge community. It makes it a lot easier to meet people. It’s something to belong to.”

“Being with the head of the art department in a group full of possible art majors—that’s a really nice welcome,” Adam agreed. “With a school this big, it would be really easy to get lost. It made the transition into college easier.”

She says first-year programs such as FIGs, Freshman Seminars, and Pathways need to serve more students. “I think they’re very successful not only in keeping students here but in helping them have a more successful experience here.”