Teaching first-year students at Princeton is at once easy and hard.  For many instructors, the FRS is the first course they have taught that is comprised solely of first-year students. Working closely with a small number of bright and eager students who are new to Princeton is incredibly rewarding. Many faculty members, in fact, characterize their time teaching a FRS as among the most exciting and rewarding teaching experiences they have had at the University. At the same time, however, making the transition from teaching more experienced students to teaching first-years poses challenges. It is important to recognize the fact that first-year students are at an earlier stage in their social and intellectual development than their older peers. Embracing both of these conditions—the students' excitement and their greenness—offers opportunities to make a good seminar into a great one.

In a word, energy! Because first-years are aware that taking a FRS is a unique and special experience, they bring with them a distinctive and pervasive level of excitement and engagement. Past faculty members explain that this level of enthusiasm results in students producing high-quality work—even better, in some respects, than that of more experienced students. While the FRS are set apart from other courses in terms of their makeup, they are fully-fledged components of the curriculum: they count for credit, fulfill distribution requirements, and are focused on content knowledge. Faculty offering FRS are encouraged to focus on covering subjects that are intellectually rigorous and which may not be the kinds of things they would normally teach as part of their departmental curriculum.  With this said, it is important to recognize that these students will also not only be learning the content at hand, but will also be becoming exposed to the faculty member's discipline itself, often for the first time.  FRS do not have any prerequisites.  They are conceptualized so as to teach any and all of the students who make them up.  Indeed, we encourage students to look for courses that pique their interest, even if they have had no previous experience with the subject to be studied.

Students interested in enrolling in a FRS apply online once the application period begins. Those doing so are able to indicate up to five choices.

While the University has gradually increased the number of FRS offered, demand still exceeds the number of spaces available. Seminar assignments are first made via an algorithm designed to place the largest number of students into one of their top choices.

Students placed in a fall-term seminar are notified of their seminar placement via email to their Princeton University ID before First-Year Orientation. Notification of the spring term seminars takes place in October.

Unlike the 650-character descriptions offered in the Registrar's Course Offerings, FRS course descriptions are not limited by length. While we prefer your depiction of your course be clear and focused, we also encourage instructors to craft their descriptions in a lively and engaging style. Effective course descriptions often draw students in by first posing a question or problem that evokes the course's broader topic, and then by explaining how this, and related, questions, can be explored within the concept of a broader scholarly literature and debate.

An instructor teaching an FRS affiliated with a specific Residential College makes use of the seminar rooms in that  college as often as possible. We try our best to have those instructors who are college fellows teach in their colleges, but doing so is not always possible. 
It is important to note that students are able to apply to any FRS, not only those hosted in the College where they live.

The FRS program's generous donors have enabled us to support seminars in a variety of ways. All requests for funding should be discussed with the Director of the Program as early in the process as possible. In general, the program supports funding for equipment for lab and science courses, transportation and tickets for field trips (including a modest class meal), and honorarium for guest speakers. Funds can also be available for class parties (again on a modest scale).  Some faculty members host these at the end of term, while others find an earlier gathering helps students bond with each other outside the class in a way that enhances their interaction inside the classroom.

Freshman Seminar Program does not fund any course-building exercises over summer.

Freshman Seminar instructors proposing an international field trip for their course are required to submit a detailed budget along with their course proposal for review. The proposal needs to be approved by the Director of the program before any field trip arrangements are made.

Once the class roster is finalized, it is can be accessed via the ‘Teaching and Advising’ tab in PeopleSoft. Instructors can also communicate through the various tools in Canvas to interact with their students.

As a FRS instructor, you are particularly well positioned to identify students who might need additional academic support (i.e., individual tutoring, consultations with the McGraw Center, working with Writing Center tutors, etc). We encourage our faculty to actively monitor students' progress and to look to identifying those who might benefit from such guidance. You are very likely to be the first member of the Princeton faculty to work closely with the students in your class, and while many of our students come to us remarkably well prepared and ready to take full advantage of all that the University has to offer, some find that they need additional guidance to realize their potential at the college level. Please recognize that, because you work so closely with your students, you might be aware of academic issues that would not be apparent in larger classroom settings. We encourage you to set a low threshold for encouraging students to seek help, to help them understand that it is the best-performing Princeton students who take advantage of the University's learning resources, and to bring any concerns to the attention of the student's dean and director of studies through an Academic Early Alert (AEA) report. Please note: AEA reports are informational only and are not made a permanent part of a student's record. On the contrary, they are simply means by which academic advisers are enabled to identify and address students' needs.  Beginning the process as early as possible is very useful!

Service at Princeton means responding thoughtfully and ethically to issues in the world. Courses help students prepare for, reflect upon, carry out, and evaluate effective and appropriate service and/or community engagement.  Faculty members working with the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) on one or more aspects of their course may choose to attach a Community-Engaged Learning attribute to their course.  This attribute will place the course on the ProCES course list updated each semester and shared on the Office of the Registrar’s ProCES Course Offerings page.

Community-Engaged Learning offers students opportunities to deepen their thinking on critical societal issues. Typically, a course includes one or more of the following elements:

• Opportunities for reflection on the publicly-engaged orientation of the course material, the discipline, or student work;
• Guest speakers including representatives from community-based organizations, government agencies, or nonprofit organizations who provide expertise and insight on course themes;
• Off-campus trips highlighting the work of community partners related to the course material;
• Direct service, such as tutoring or teaching, related to course materials and learning goals;
• Research projects that meet course learning goals and respond to a community partner priority;
• Event highlighting the public implications of students' academic work.

Instructors are limited to teaching one Freshman Seminar per academic year.

Freshman Seminars do not require any prerequisites other than an interest in the subject. However, if a seminar, because of its specialized nature, requires particular qualifications or appropriate academic background, this fact should be specified in the course description.

The FRS program approves and pays for AIs (or TAs) only for SEL (Science and Engineering with a Lab component) seminars. These funds come from an endowment that is restricted to this purpose only. There is no funding for TA/AIs for non SEL seminars.

1. Communicating with the First-Year Seminar Office

While the majority of the communication with First-Year Seminar instructors will take place via email ([email protected]), you are always welcome to call 609-258-1402.  If you would like your assistant to receive FRS-related emails, please ask them to contact the office.

2. Teaching Room Assignments

Most First-Year Seminars are assigned to a seminar room in one of the residential colleges.  In the event of a request for a seminar room in an academic building, we will work with the Registrar’s Office and try to arrange for the same. Please note that specific room assignments in academic buildings are not guaranteed, but instead are requests only. Room assignment information is normally available on the Registrar’s Course Offerings page about two weeks before the start of the term.

If you are assigned to a seminar room in an academic building and plan to meet during the Reading Period, the Registrar’s Office requires a reservation for that period. If your seminar is assigned to a residential college seminar room, please arrange your request through the residential college administrator.

3. Canvas Course Site

All courses are on Canvas, our learning management system.

The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning supports faculty’s use of Canvas in multiple ways: each faculty member may consult with an instructional designer for individual assistance, and we also offer small-group training sessions and support over email. Please contact us with any questions at [email protected]. 

4. Firestone Library Reserves

The Library's Course Reserves Service allows instructors to set aside books, films, or sound recordings for class use, or make articles or book excerpts electronically available through Canvas.  Reserve lists typically include required and recommended reading for Princeton courses.  Firestone and most PUL branches provide course reserves services; see guidelines on placing reserves requests.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Liza Scherff-Nesarikar ([email protected]) or Donna Radley ([email protected]).

5. Course Reading Lists & Text Books

[[UPDATE NEEDED]] The course book reading list software, Timber,  allows you to submit your reading lists to Labyrinth Books, the University’s bookstore.  Labyrinth will continue to source books, and students will continue to receive their 30% discount on all course books. 

Here are step-by-step instructions for how to submit reading lists and a FAQ quick reference. ]]

If students do not need to purchase reading materials for your course, please follow the instructions for bringing the course into view and then slide the slider from “unsubmitted” to “submitted” (without adding books) or email Labyrinth to let them know.  Your confirmation that no reading materials need to be purchased helps students make informed decisions and is required by law.

If a course was offered in a previous semester you can easily copy a previous list to the current term.  Please reference the instructional material for step-by-step directions.

If you prefer, Annie Farrell will be happy to take your book order via email or over the phone. Please contact her at any time by phone at (609) 497-1600 x224, by email at [email protected], or [email protected], or stop by the store.

After the reading list is submitted, you will receive a confirmation email and the course book information will be sent automatically to Labyrinth for sourcing and ordering for students.

6. Desk Copies of Books

The library will offer controlled digital lending (CDL) for reserve, so fully scanned books may be checked out and read online. For copyright reasons, sections from CDL items cannot be downloaded and saved or printed. You may specify a preference for physical items or CDL by adding a note to the book request form. The standard checkout period for both physical items and CDL items is three hours. The number of copies that are available to be checked out simultaneously is equal to the number of copies the library owns, or in the case of licensed content, will be determined by the terms of the license. Every effort will be made to have multiple copies available in relation to class size. The library normally provides one copy per 15 students. As the loan periods are short and some students have their own copies of material, this normally provides enough access.  If this is not sufficient for specific needs, please let us know. We also make articles and chapters available via pdf.

If you need a refresher or instructions on how to do this, the Library provides a brief tutorial and related information at the following page:

https://library.princeton.edu/services/reserves/tutorial

7. AV Services

Please contact your residential college administrator to see what media devices are available in your assigned room, or visit the Classroom and Event Technology Support website https://iss.princeton.edu/learning-spaces (click on “Tigerspace” under the Classroom Search Tool to see a list of the media equipment in the room).  You will also see a link to submit an Event/Class Support Request.  There is no charge for equipment used for instructional purposes.  If Instructional Support Services requires an account number, I will provide it upon request.  Media equipment is limited so it is best to make your requests as soon as possible.

8. Fieldtrips/Honoraria/End-of-Term Gatherings

1. Fieldtrips: Please email your field trip proposal with a brief rationale and estimated budget to our office for the Director's review at least three weeks prior to the fieldtrip.  Once the fieldtrip is approved, our office will work with you to take care of the logistics (e.g., purchasing train tickets, pre-payment of museum fees, etc.)
2. Honoraria: The Program will pay a modest honorarium of $500 for in-person guest visitors, or guest performers/artists who are not already employed by Princeton University.  The honorarium for visitors who attend class virtually will be $300.  Guests who will receive an honorarium must complete an Honorarium Acceptance Form and a W-9 form before we will be able to requisition the honorarium. We allow up to 3 guests per seminar.
3. Parties/Gatherings: Please refer to the University’s Guidance on Events and Gatherings before planning your party. The Program will reimburse up to $30 per person for one end-of-term party. 

9. Faculty Laptop Program

Princeton’s Technology Loaner Program offers a pool of technology to support teaching, and learning and, in some cases, temporary loans while devices are being repaired.

First-Year Seminar instructors proposing an international field trip for their course are required to submit a detailed budget along with their course proposal for review. The proposal needs to be approved by the Director of the program before any field trip arrangements are made.

If you are planning course-related international travel with undergraduates at any time of the year (breaks, Wintersession), please reach out early in the planning to Dr. Olga Liamkina in the Office of International Programs (OIP), who is the Assistant Director of Study Abroad for Faculty-Led Programs, at [email protected]. OIP is there to assist as you develop your plans and can provide early guidance to students, especially those that might have special circumstances.
For consultative services such as pre-planning guidance, program design, logistics planning, budget development, supplier sourcing and negotiations, and best practice recommendations contact Susan Godfrey, associate director, Princeton University travel program.