Colloquia unite senior faculty with first-year students

Former university President Henry Koffler came up with the initial idea for first-year colloquia, but it was developed under Manuel Pacheco during his first year as president, said Sharon Kha, assistant to the University of Arizona president.

"They (colloquia) have been very successful from my point of view," Koffler said. He has taught six colloquia in the past several years and feels it has been a "very enjoyable experience."

Political science Associate Professor Cary Nederman has been teaching colloquia since 1994. He said he believes the nicest thing about the colloquia is that he has been able to make initial contacts with many first-year students and has developed a basis for continued mentoring.

Nederman said, "Although all students may not get the subject they want (for a colloquium), it is still a good experience."

He said his department has offered three sections of the political science first-year colloquium, but he thinks more sections would be helpful.

However, other professors do not think additional sections are the answer in their departments.

Atmospheric sciences Professor William Sellers said, "I'm not sure that there's enough interest for more sections. It may be spreading the faculty too thin if more sections were offered."

Regents Professor of economics Vernon Smith said colloquia offer students the opportunity "to find out what we do in the area of research." He said the students help the professors in conducting new research.

Smith said he feels the colloquia allow students to learn in a different way, rather than "just listening to someone lecturing at them."

Smith believes that a downfall of the colloquia is that they "can't begin to cover a whole lot of topics."

Jamie Thomason, a studio art freshman, attended a first-year colloquium last semester.

"I like the idea of first-year colloquiums," she said, "but all the students in the class need to be willing to put forth the effort despite the fact that they are only worth one credit."

Jenny Vodvarka, a freshman majoring in French and family studies, has mixed reviews of first-year colloquia.

She said she took a colloquium last semester and did not enjoy it very much.

"It was not very active as far as the discussion goes," she said. "It was too scientific for what we knew at that level as well."

The colloquium Vodvarka is taking this semester is "much more interesting," she said.

"The colloquia were developed to help students develop their interests in small, one-credit classes taught by senior faculty members," Kha said. "They were designed as an introduction to a specific discipline."

There are 54 colloquia offered at the UA.