Dear Member of the Class of 2000:
Welcome to the Michigan Community! As you get ready to explore the immense intellectual and cultural resources this university has to offer, I'm sure you know that the next four years will be exciting, challenging, and filled with growth. If I may, I'd like to offer a bit of advice. Be ready to learn in and outside the classroom. There are many non-academic activities to choose from, and some of the most significant personal growth takes place outside coursework. Be assured, too, that there are many people here dedicated to helping you make the most of your next four years--faculty, advisors, and your fellow students. If you encounter difficulties, be persistent and imaginative in dealing with them. But don't be hesitant about asking for help; actively seek it out.
Included in this package is a First-Year Handbook and Fall Term Course Guide. It contains descriptions of many representative courses the College offers and other information, too. Please bring this booklet with you to Orientation. College requirements and the requirements of particular programs of study will dictate some choices, but these are flexible enough for you to experiment and to sample the variety that our curriculum offers. Do not feel compelled to take all the courses that seem essential to you right away. Some can wait. The unusual course that you discover, the one that might never have occurred to you until you read about it, may turn out to be the best of all. An academic advisor will help you plan your program at Orientation.
A brochure that accompanies this letter describes a program of seminars for entering students in the Fall Term. These First-Year Seminars give many first-year students the chance to sample a particular subject in a small class, under the guidance of an experienced member of the faculty. Such classes provide a lively sense of the intellectual challenges and opportunities of the University, and all count in some way toward satisfying requirements for graduation.
Remember that you have the opportunity and the responsibility to help shape your undergraduate education. Think of this in the broadest terms you can, as education for life as well as for a certain career. These objectives are usually compatible, and in the long run you profit most from your education if you plan with both of them in mind.
I wish you the best in your years with us.
Sincerely,
Lincoln B. Faller
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and
Professor of English
Enclosure