Coordinated Undergraduate Education (CUE)

This page last updated on: July 30, 2017

The Baruch College Faculty Handbook

Last
updated on 10/5/2015

CUE (Coordinated Undergraduate Education) is a college-wide program,
supported by CUNY, that brings together a wide range of programs,
initiatives, and practices that are designed to strengthen
the academic skills of entering students, to ease the transition
into higher education, to provide a meaningful and coherent
first year experience, to improve retention, and to build
a solid foundation for academic success. Overseen by the
Provost’s Office, CUE draws upon faculty, student development
professionals, staff and administrators from all three schools,
student life, and student development. Key components include:

Block
Programming: First-semester
freshmen experience Baruch College in blocks, a full-time
structured schedule containing English Composition, Mathematics,
Freshman Seminar, and required courses drawn from the
General Education curriculum. Each block consists of 20-25 students who attend
the courses in the block together as a group. Block programming
enhances student cohesion and offers some of the benefits
of a residential college environment; it also provides the
College with opportunities for pedagogical and curricular
innovation.

Freshman
Academic Year Programs: CUE funds a wide range of special projects for first year students, including supplemental instruction, tutoring, new classroom technologies, course design, faculty development, and a number of assessment efforts. The overall mission is to provide students with a seamless transition into the College and a framework for mapping goals and expectations that will guide them toward successful completion of their degree objective and beyond. Starting with new student orientation, students take part in a series of shared experiences including a common reading for entering freshmen, Baruch Beginnings (convocation, which features an address by the author of the freshman text, parent orientation and other events), and a vocational inventory for second-semester freshmen.

Freshman Seminar: A required 12-week non-credit course for first year students, Freshman Seminar offers students an opportunity to engage in the Baruch community during the initial, and sometimes unsettling, first semester on campus. Freshmen seminars provide information about college life while acclimating and integrating students to the College. The course aims to provide students with the necessary tools to become self-directed learners by exposing them to on-campus resources, academic success strategies, and an opportunity to explore preliminary career plans. Structured class exercises and out-of class enrichment experiences encourage participation and provide an avenue for interactions with the students. Seminar leaders play a vital role in helping students adjust and in influencing their educational objectives.

Learning
Communities: Faculty who participate in Learning Communities build on the advantages of block programming by highlighting intellectual links between paired courses and arranging co-curricular events and meetings outside of class time. In a Baruch learning community, two faculty members assisted by a peer mentor help a small group of first-semester freshmen to make a successful and enjoyable transition to higher education at the college level. Together the faculty create a range of activities that supplement in-class instruction, increase engagement, and reinforce the collegial ideal of students and teachers working together on the common project of education.

Testing
and Evaluation: The Office of Testing and Evaluation administers proficiency
and placement exams. All entering students must demonstrate
college-level proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Summer Immersion Programs: Entering
students who do not demonstrate college-level proficiency
in reading, writing or mathematics are invited to participate
in the summer immersion program.

Contacts

Freshman Seminar

Damali Smith

646-312- 4553 or damali.smith@baruch.cuny.edu

Office of Testing
and Evaluation

Denyse Ramkaran

646-312-4269 or Denyse.Ramkaran@baruch.cuny.edu

Orientation and Freshman Year Programs

Stephanie Gika

646-312-4270 or stephanie.gika@baruch.cuny.edu

Learning Communities

Gary Hentzi, Associate Dean of
Arts and Sciences