While most undergraduates are preparing to study in the fall, business management junior Kristina Wilson will be getting ready to assign homework.
Wilson is one of about 70 undergraduate students who will work as peer facilitators in one-credit introductory University orientation courses across different departments in the fall.
"The purpose of our class is to help new students adjust to college life," Wilson said. She worked as a facilitator this year and plans to return in the fall.
"I liked being someone [new students] could look up to and help them adjust," she said.
Courses such as UNI 101, COB 194 and DCI 194 are designed to help first-semester freshmen learn to use University resources and receive guidance from other students, said Steve Rippon, executive director of University College, which coordinates sections of University 101.
Rippon said these students tend to have empathy for first-year students who are struggling to adjust to college academics.
"We look for students for whom [academics] didn't come easily."
Rachel Dunaway, student engagement coordinator for the W.P. Carey School of Business said there is a combination of faculty, staff and undergraduate students who work as facilitators.
Dunaway said the business school usually uses about 30 students as facilitators in the fall when the course is offered.
The students teaching COB 194 must also be enrolled in a corresponding 300-level course, Dunaway said.
"This course guides them, teaches them how to teach and facilitate first-year students," Dunaway said.
David Goldberg, a business freshman, said he enjoyed having an undergraduate instructor for his University 101 class.
"She related better toward students because she is one," he said.
Goldberg said he preferred his instructor to a graduate student or full-time instructor.
"She was more understanding than a professor would have been.
"She showed us how to use the library, but also just talked to us and helped us get used to college," he said.
"The advantage we have found is that the peer facilitators and the students relate to each other very well," Rippon said.
Wilson said she took a light course load of 12 credit hours her first semester as a facilitator.
"I wanted to make sure I had enough time and stamina to take on the work.
"I spent a lot of time on the class; I wanted to take it seriously."
Wilson said she enrolled in extra spring and summer courses to keep her schedule clear for the fall when she went back to teaching.
"It was a lot of fun, and all the facilitators agreed that it was," Wilson said.
Students interested in facilitating introductory freshman courses should contact University College or the advising staff of their college.
Reach the reporter at emilia.arnold@asu.edu.
