First Year Programs

Lauri Shemaria-Aguirre, Director

Namm Building, room N 506

Phone: 718.260.5967

email: laguirre@citytech.cuny.edu

First-Year Programs strives to foster academic and personal growth within and beyond our students’ first experiences at City Tech with the following educational opportunities:

First Year Summer Program

First-Year Summer Program (FYSP) immersion offers incoming freshmen and continuing students an opportunity to take tuition-free developmental courses to earn proficiency in math, reading, writing, and ESOL during the summer and January intersessions.

FYSP for Incoming Students: After receiving acceptance to City Tech, incoming freshmen requiring developmental reading, writing, math, and ESOL classes will be offered and registered for free FYSP classes by the New Student Center. In addition to providing free courses to advance college readiness, the summer classes include orientation activities to help students successfully transition to college life and develop strategies to address personal and academic challenges. This unique, supportive, and intensive classroom time provides students an academic “head start” on fall semester studies. All incoming freshmen in the Immersion Program also receive specialized orientation and copies of The Companion for the First Year at City Tech, a guidebook created by the First Year Programs office.

June and January Programs for Continuing Students: Continuing students who completed a developmental or ESL course in the spring and fall semester may be eligible to repeat or advance their developmental coursework in the June and January Programs. These intensive developmental reading, writing, math, and ESL courses provide eligible students with the opportunity to improve skills and ultimately earn proficiency in order to enroll in credit-bearing courses.

First Year Learning Communities

First Year Learning Communities (FYLC) are two or more courses with the same students enrolled, linked with an interdisciplinary theme, providing an innovative way for students to learn and form bonds with the college. FYLC faculty work together and with peer mentors to highlight connections between disciplines, in addition to creating a more caring, consistent, and supportive environment.

First year freshmen and transfer students, regardless of major, can choose to participate in learning communities.

Activities include shared coursework, workshops, class trips, and events, often with other learning communities. This program aims to encourage stronger interactions between faculty and students, a vital aspect of college life that is often a challenge for students attending a large commuter college.

Students benefit by demonstrating an increase in grades and retention, being designated a peer mentor to provide support and guidance for concerns typical to students transitioning into college, participating in collective FYLC events offering student social networking opportunities and peer support and accountability.

Peer Mentors

First Year Program Peer Mentors act as role models for students participating in First-Year Learning Communities (FYLC) and the First Year Summer Program (FYSP) and Student Success Seminars with Student Life and Development. They have experienced student leaders who are eager to share their college expertise and knowledge

with new students acclimating to college life. Whether your issue is learning to cope with the workload of college, how to study, find a job, make time for friends and family, deal with stress, where to go in college to answer a hard question or solve a problem, or just where to eat in the neighborhood, they are always willing to help. Peer mentors not only quickly answer college-related questions and assist with the navigation of City Tech platforms such as CUNYfrst and Blackboard, but they also guide new students to recognize their academic strengths and identify and address personal challenges.

For more information, visit http://fyp.citytech.cuny.edu