<p>OK A class was mentioned at the Honors BB that was only for freshman. It seemed like it was a class that helped them get familiarized with both the campus and off campus areas. It was mentioned that it would meet at different places on and off campus. That it had activities that made the students interact with each other and seemed like it would be a lot of fun. </p>
<p>Anyone have any idea what I am talking about? (even though I feel like I don’t know what I am talking about ;)</p>
<p>I think it’s: UH120 - Honors Explorations: Honors Year One</p>
<p>Yes, I think it’s the peer/mentor class. Upperclassmen are the mentors, and the class helps incoming frosh get familiar with the campus and surroundings. They also deal with various issues and concerns of a new student.</p>
<p>The mentors have to apply and be selected.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right. My D took this as a freshman and is mentoring in the fall.</p>
<p>Great class in itself, but also a GREAT class for those who are seeking Honors classes that will not add to an already heavy workload. Rather it’s a way to make sure your student has that time away from studies, to interact and become more comfortable with UA.</p>
<p>How many kids to a group?</p>
<p>When my son was a Mentor, each group had 2 Mentors and about 10 students, but that was a few years ago. Don’t know if the sizes have changed.</p>
<p>You can’t determine the “group size” by the enrollment in the class since within each class, the students are broken down into smaller groups. </p>
<p>For those who will be pledging, attending the Peer/mentor functions and weekly meetings can be a challenge since the times can sometimes conflict with pledging req’ts.</p>
<p>It should be basically the same. I know they are making a few changes this year from last year concerning how students are assigned to which group to try to balance the class sizes between sections more effectively.</p>
<p>When my daughter took it as a freshman the groups were sometimes broken down within the class for completing a “project” or “assignment” if they had one for the week…something like taking a picture together at a specific location on campus, etc…nothing too involved, mainly fun.</p>
<p>As for how kids are assigned to groups, I wonder if the mentors are first stating when THEIR weekly meetings are, so that kids can get into groups that have meetings that work within their schedule.</p>
<p>My son was a Mentor for the first year of implementation, and coordinating schedules AFTER groups were assigned didn’t work well. If Mentors Group #1 meet on Monday nights, and Mentors Group #2 meet on Tuesday nights, then frosh could get assigned to the Mentors that work with their schedules.</p>
<p>Honors assigned meeting dates and times to the Mentors already pretty much as you described, but at least in some cases there are multiple groups within the same day/time. There may be multiple groups meeting from 4-5 on Thursday, so all students who select that class won’t necessarily be with the same Mentors.</p>
<p>Last year students selected the date and time and also the group/Mentors and the class sizes apparently varied too much. If a student signs up for a class that says it meets on Thursday from 4-5, that is when the class will meet so there won’t be an issue with schedules. The flexibility will be when students are paired up to complete a task (snap a picture together at Gorgas) so those 2-4 students will decide when to meet to complete the assignment.:)</p>