UB 101: friend or foe?

Freshman year is the time to get acquainted with UB, take some good classes and learn about one's major. Almost all students at one time or another are backed into the ugly corner of taking a class they didn't want or didn't need, after believing it fulfilled a requirement.

UB 101, a weekly seminar that only freshman or first semester students are allowed to take, is often forced on students who are told by advisors that the class is a required part of the curriculum for freshman, when it is merely an elective.

According to Mary Clare Fahey, coordinator for Community Service Learning as well as a UB 101 instructor, every student should take UB 101; it exposes students to campus resources and gives them a forum to discuss important topics with fellow students and teaches valuable skills that can be used after college.

"We cover important issues in UB 101, such as diversity, alcohol and drugs, sex, and personal safety," Fahey said. "This allows students to hear about these things from someone, in addition to whatever their parents said, but more importantly, it opens the discussion within a group of peers."

According to Dorothy Strahley, a freshman business administration major, UB 101 is just like a repetitive, semester-long orientation.

"We shouldn't have to take UB 101 because it doesn't really provide any new information than what we got in orientation over the summer," Stranley said.

Christie Gagliano, a freshman undecided major, also believes that UB 101 should be presented as an option for freshman rather than as a requirement.

"There are a lot of other classes that we could be taking that are important to fulfilling our major or general education requirements," Gagliano said. "This class just takes up space and time."

While some students don't seem to think that the class is worth their effort, skipping UB 101 could be detrimental to students in the long run, according to Matt Weigand at New Student Programs.

"Regular assessment of and research on the course reveals its positive impact on first-year students," Weigand said. "Compared to students who do not take the course, those taking UB 101 are more likely to stay enrolled at UB and graduate."

In addition to a higher student retention rate, students who take UB 101 statistically have a higher first-semester grade point average, Weigand said. Ninety percent of students taking UB 101 think it's a valuable experience and would ultimately recommend it to a friend, Weigand continued.

Stacy Surette, a junior political science major, disagreed. Surette explained that the criteria students are forced to complete while in the class isn't material students should be forced to learn.

"Students should be able to make their own decisions about these things," Surette said. "If they want to see their advisor or attend an on-campus event, they will, and if they don't, they won't."

According to Amy D'Silva, a sophomore biomedical sciences major, her advisor made it sound as though UB 101 was a required class.

"When I found out that it wasn't required, I ended up taking it pass/fail," D'Silva said. "It was an easy credit and an easy A."

Having a faculty and staff member that students can turn to for advice, support or help is directly related to students' success, Weigand said. He believes that having a faculty or staff member to turn to is especially important at a large university such as UB.

"Having someone to give them advice on anything from roommate challenges to changing a meal plan to talking about being homesick is important," Fahey said. "I know what offices can help these students without them running all over campus."

Despite having an advisor to turn to for help, many students feel there is some value in figuring things out for yourself, especially as a freshman. According to Weigand, students can benefit from UB 101 in other ways, directly related to the effort and interest they invest in the seminar.

"I believe that all students can benefit from taking UB 101," Weigand said. "Of course, like just about everything else in college, what you get out of it is proportional to what you put into it."