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Instructor Comments

Scott Bates

"Being involved in Connections provides me an incredible opportunity to get know my "audience" better. These are, after all, the students that will be filling my classroom. I believe that Connections has made me a better teacher."

Ed Reeve

"Teaching Connections allows you to get a "fresh perspective" of today's incoming freshmen. Because you learn about their expectations, their needs, as well as their fears, you become a better teacher who can help them succeed."

Maria Cordero

"I love teaching Connections. I see it as an opportunity - an opportunity to introduce students early on to the humanities, literature and art, history, culture, foreign languages, and study abroad opportunities.

This year I was able to try out a service-learning project related to the earthquake relief effort in Peru. I also helped my students find information about and become involved with service projects related to their intended careers in education and medicine. This helped them to find a network of friends right away, and their service work helped them to become more engaged with their academic subject matter and the community."

Joyce Kinkead

"As a faculty member, I welcome the opportunity to meet the new class of USU students and begin engaging them in the academic enterpriseýwith quite a bit of fun thrown in to boot. My class talks about academic expectations, begins to consider the opportunities a research university offers, and engages in discussions on our Common Literature Selection. In addition, we connect with Logan Canyon with a riverside hike where we also read poetry of May Swenson; we connect with downtown Logan with an architectural and historical tour of West Center Street, getting to know the Eccles who have played such an important role in the university. It is an energizing experience, not only with my own group of students but also with the new class come together as a whole in our Kent Concert Hall events. This important ritual of beginning the university experience benefits from faculty involvement."

John Kras

"Connections is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had at USU. The students come to us with little understanding of college life and we make a huge difference in their first year experience. The retention numbers speak for themselves!!!!!"