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Important: April 15 Deadline for Application Removed

Questions can be directed to Matt Jackson

What is the Foundations Program?

The Foundations Program (FP) is first and foremost a learning experience - a comprehensive program assisting incoming freshmen students develop mastery of, and confidence in, their knowledge of foundational academic skills.

This program is intended to begin as a pilot, focusing on a cohort of 20-25 Fall 2013 students entering CEHSP who later intend to take the Minnesota Teacher Licensure Examination (MTLE). These students will take a variety of classes related to their majors together, so that they may form an effective learning community.

In addition to cohort classwork, FP students will lead and facilitate collaborative peer-learning groups outside of class and will be trained to serve in the Duluth school system as tutors. In these roles, FP students will gain additional practice in their basic academic skills by cooperatively working with one another as well as their tutees.

Sponsored by a Chancellor's Cabinet Strategic Initiative Learning Grant, the Foundations Program is aimed at addressing Goal 1 of the UMD Strategic Plan: "Promote integrated curricular, co-curricular, and living-learning undergraduate experiences that achieve UMD's learning goals and prepare students for lifelong learning, globally engaged citizenship, and success in their academic, personal, and professional lives."

Apply here to participate in the pilot cohort for Fall 2013

What Classes Should I Take?

Foundations Program students will work with SSP and CEHSP advisers to navigate registration process.

Fall 2013
SSP 1000 - UMD Seminar (specialized cohort section)	2 credits
SSP 1054 - College Learning Strategies (specialized cohort section)	1 credit
WRIT 1120 - College Writing	3 credits
EDUC 1101 - Education in Modern Society	3 credits
Development Requirement (based on major)	Integrated Elementary and Special Education Majors: EDUC 1000 - Human Development: 3 credits Unified Early Childhood Studies Majors: PSY 2021 - Developmental Psychology: 4 credits Teaching Communications Arts and Literature or Teaching Social Studies Majors: PSY 1003 - General Psychology: 4 credits
Logic and Quantitative Reasoning Requirement (based on major and ACT performance)	All Students with Math ACT of 17 or lower: SSP 103 - Basic Math and Introductory Algebra: 0 credit (counts as 3 credits for registration load) Integrated Elementary and Special Education Majors with Math ACT of 18 or higher: MATH 1140 - Mathematics for Elementary Education I: 3 credits Unified Early Childhood Studies Majors and Teaching Social Studies Majors with Math ACT of 18 or higher: MATH 1024 - Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics: 3 credits Teaching Communications Arts and Literature Majors: LING 1181 - Introduction to Linguistics: 3 credits

Foundations Student Timeline (Partial and Subject to Change)

Spring-Summer 2013

New students enrolling in the following majors for Fall 2013 apply for a place in the FP cohort: Integrated Elementary and Special Education, Unified Early Childhood Studies, Teaching Communication Arts and Literature, and Teaching Social Studies.
Application deadline is April 15th, 2013. Students will be notified of acceptance by May 1st, 2013.
Students will receive communication from the Supportive Services Program (SSP) regarding the Foundations Program prior to their scheduled Advisement and Registration (A & R) dates.
FP students will work with an SSP adviser during their A & R sessions to register and enroll in cohort program courses.
Cohort students will agree in contract to provide both practice and official MTLE scores to SSP for program assessment.

Fall 2013

Pilot cohort begins classes.
Students' foundational skills are assessed at both beginning and end of semester.
Cohort students take Practice Minnesota Teacher Licensure Examination.
Cohort students begin tutoring in Duluth school system.
Cohort students lead weekly peer review sessions for one another in non-SSP courses.
Students advised through CEHSP.

Spring 2014

Cohort students will enroll in a tutor practicum (SSP 3004) and continue tutoring in Duluth schools.
Cohort students complete official Minnesota Teacher Licensure Examination.
Eligible FP students may apply to work with the Supportive Services Program as Teaching Assistants in FP sections of SSP 1000 or SSP 1054. If selected, they will enroll in SSP 3001 (Preparation for SSP Teaching Assistantship) and then return to serve as TA's and student mentors for the Fall 2014 cohort.

This page is a fluid work-in-progress and will be updated regularly as the program develops.

Contact: Matt Jackson, Supportive Services Program