The Undergraduate Experience: Exploration in Human Ecology

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The College of Human Ecology is distinguished by its community contacts, extension programs, and land-grant mission to the state, all of which enrich its academic programs immeasurably. New Human Ecology students are introduced to these and other aspects of the college through an expanded orientation program. But the real undergraduate experience is best portrayed by the stories of the five outstanding New York State students profiled on these pages.

There was a point in time, according to Charles McClintock, associate dean of research and academic administration, when a student could graduate from the College of Human Ecology without fully realizing what fields were studied there. No more, he says. The college now ensures that incoming freshmen and transfer students know the breadth of what Human Ecology offers.

The answer is a one-credit course, Human Ecology 110, Exploration in Human Ecology.

"We've always done an extended orientation for new students," McClintock says. "Five or six years ago we decided to focus on the multicultural teaching environment. We offered a faculty presentation and then an hour-long discussion in which students broke into small groups and met with faculty members to discuss the issues."

Although that program was successful, McClintock says it couldn't accomplish all the administration's goals.

"We wanted to introduce students to the full range of subject matter in the college at an early stage so that they could make intelligent choices about courses and majors. We also wanted to continue the close contact the students had at the beginning of the year with the faculty. We couldn't do all of that in two hours, so working with the faculty educational policies committee, we decided to establish a five-week course."

Human Ecology 110, in its second year, has a structure that's similar to that of the original one-day program. There is a faculty presentation before students break into small discussion groups with faculty members. The difference is that four of the lectures are team taught and focus on the college's four areas of content: nutrition and health, economic and social well-being, human development, and environmental design and technology.

McClintock believes the team teaching approach is particularly beneficial to new students. "Two …