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LIFE is an academic enrichment program for first year students. LIFE is designed to integrate academic and real-life experiences by having students live and work together in a learning community. Here is how it all works: In small groups, called LIFE clusters, freshmen are co-enrolled in several course organized around an academic major. Students in LIFE clusters live in designated residence halls according to their academic major and are enrolled in a 1-credit seminar class, UNIV 101. This course is facilitated by a Peer Mentor, an upper-class undergraduate student who meets the required 2.8 grade point average and is an active member of the campus community. The Peer Mentor leads the seminar and activities such as service learning projects, study and discussion groups, and a final group-project designed by the students in the cluster. In addition, each cluster has a LIFE Mentor, a faculty/administrative member who ensures the quality of the academic experience.
The purpose of the LIFE Program is to create a small community of students within the larger campus setting, a community that can support its members in academic work as well as in the residential setting. We want the cluster students to encourage and support each other as they acquire study skills, good study habits, knowledge of available learning resources, and to become acclimated to the University.
Goals of the LIFE program are to:
- Improve students' academic performance.
- Foster thematic integration of introductory courses.
- Strengthen faculty-student contact.
- Personalize the university setting.
- Enrich students' experiences.
Participation in LIFE benefits students in the following ways:
- Early and meaningful engagement with the University.
- Guided introduction to university intellectual life.
- Active participation in a residential learning community.
- Friendships based on shared interests.
- Guaranteed enrollment in cluster courses.
- Guaranteed housing for residential clusters.
In addition to co-enrolling in their cluster courses, students take a 1-credit seminar, UNIV 101. This seminar meets the FYE(First Year Experience) requirement and counts toward graduation. This mandatory seminar provides structured weekly meetings for students in the LIFE Program to meet with their Peer Mentors. Students engage in discovery-based learning such as service activities, problem-solving, and critical thinking. UNIV 101 culminates in a collaborative, reflective project related to the theme of the cluster. Students present their projects at the end of the semester in an exhibit known as LIFE Fest.
Peer mentors are students who have completed the first year, have a major that is related to the cluster, have at least a 2.8 QPA, and who have chosen to apply for the position because they like working with students. Peer mentors are trained by an interdisciplinary group of professionals and faculty from the Office of Undergraduate Studies, the First Year Experience Office, Academic Enrichment Center, and Career Services Center.
Yes. The LIFE courses have been carefully chosen to fulfill basic requirements for the university, colleges, and majors.
Yes. You need to take additional courses to be a full-time student. Twelve credits is the minimum full-time load, and most freshmen take fifteen to sixteen credits. At DelaWorld 101 (orientation for new students), advisors help students choose a selection of courses that match their interests.
Students should enroll in the full set of courses within the LIFE cluster. Students who have AP credits that may count for one or more of the LIFE courses, please tell your advisor at DelaWorld 101 (orientation for new students).
Yes. Students have many opportunities to interact with students who are not part of the LIFE program. For example, courses that cluster students include students who are not participating in the LIFE program. Students will also take other courses outside of their clusters as well. Another opportunity to meet students outside of the cluster is by living in a residence hall with other students who are not part of the LIFE Program.
Students in the LIFE program live in a variety of residence halls on campus. Students within the LIFE Program live with their cluster on an assigned floor within a residence hall which might house upper-class students, other freshmen, as well as those students, because of their major, are not involved in the LIFE Program.
LIFE ran as a pilot program for the first time in fall and spring of the 2000-2001. The program has arisen from discussions among the faculty over the last four years, as a special faculty committee studied the undergraduate experience at Delaware and at other schools. LIFE is just one facet of a larger agenda to revamp the undergraduate curriculum at Delaware, to make sure that we meet the needs of today's students. The LIFE Program now involves over 1,700 freshmen students representing forty different academic majors.
LIFE is coordinated by the First Year Experience Office and the Office of Undergraduate Studies. This Program also involves a broad group of professionals from across campus, including the offices of the Deans of all the colleges, college advisement offices, Housing, Residence Life, the Center for Teaching Effectiveness, Undergraduate Admissions, the Registrar¹s Office, and the Academic Enrichment Center. The faculty for the cluster courses and the Peer Mentors are the heart of the LIFE program. A special committee of the University Faculty Senate is charged with program evaluation while ensuring the program meets its intended goals.
There are no intended added costs for this program. Funding is provided for each cluster to help offset part of the costs for special academic enrichment events, such as field trips. Some clusters may decide to participate in events that are strictly social, in which case students are expected to pay their own way.
There are no special scholarships for the LIFE program. Like all students, LIFE students may qualify for the University's standard financial aid and scholarship packages. All questions about financial aid or scholarships should be addressed to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, (302) 831-8761.
E-mail:life-mail@udel.edu
Telephone: (302) 831-3330
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