FIG Faculty FAQ
What is a FIG?
A First-Year Interest Group or FIG offers an academic community of 20-23 students who share a common interest and enroll in two or more courses in their first semester at TWU. These groups are specially designed to support first-year students who are not part of a living-and-learning community
How do FIGs benefit students?
Students in FIGs:
- develop meaningful friendships and connections with faculty
- stay on track with their coursework
- gain peer mentors
- enjoy smaller class sizes
- persist in their studies
How many FIGs are there?
As of April 2025, 15 FIGs have been identified across all colleges
- Projected to serve 345 students
- 30 courses
- 30 instructors
- Ex: BIO 1111 and CHEM 1111 labs paired
- Ex: UNIV 1231 and KIN 1801
What types of FIGs are there?
For Fall 2025, we will offer the following FIGs:
- Biology/Medical Laboratory Sciences
- Business
- Commuters
- Education
- Exploring Majors
- Fashion
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Kinesiology
- Nutrition and Food Sciences
- Pre-Nursing
- Social Sciences
- STEM
What does it mean to teach a FIG?
- Integrate part(s) of your curricula to complement a paired course.
- Create two or more social activities outside of class for FIG students, faculty and your peer mentor (funds available for this).
- Learn with us as part of this community of practice!
Which courses are paired?
- Check out this sheet for the most up-to-date pairings.
- In the near future, we’ll send you and your fellow FIG teacher an email to connect you and answer any questions.
Who are the FIG Peer Mentors?
We are in the nascent stages of a FIG Peer Mentoring Program, which is inspired by Owl’s Nest and literature on the benefits of peer mentoring, but we can share that:
- FIG Peer Mentors are expected to come to social activities, a few classes and attempt to meet with each student at least once over the course of the semester.
- Adams, VP of Student Success, will be providing funds to train these FIG Peer Mentors.
- Compensation for mentoring: $5,000 scholarship.
Where can social activities happen?
- Out-of-class study sessions
- Attending university lectures
- Hosting game nights
- Creating a campus event
- Taking field trips on or off campus
What's next?
- FIGs Feedback and Scheduling Survey will be emailed to you.
- Summer Workshop, TBD
- Commuter Student Reception, August 20
- Pioneer Camp Meet and Greet, August 21
Want to read more?
Erck, R., & Sriram, R. (2022). Connecting on Campus: Exploring How Different Interactions Predict Thriving for College Students of Color. Journal of College Student Development 63(5), 555-571. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.2022.0047.
Erck, R., & Sriram, R. (2024). Deeper life interactions and student success. In Fostering Sustained Student-Faculty Engagement in Undergraduate Education (T. Trolian & E. Parker, Eds.). Routledge.
Erck, R.W. and Strehlow, S. (2025), The Dual-Purpose of Deeper Life Interactions: An Opportunity to Influence Hearts and Minds and the Bottom Line. New Dir Teach Learn.. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.20636
Erck, R., & Sriram, R. (2023). Thriving through interactions: Investigating how distinct relationships influence college student success. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 60(5), 608-624. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2023.2173605.
Erck, R., & Sriram, R. (2022). Residential learning communities as coalitions: Bridging the gap between customer, consumer, and learner. In Student Support Services (H. Huijser, M. Kek, & F. F. Padro, Eds.), pp. 583-600. Springer.
Questions?
Shawnda Smith, PhD
ssmith115@twu.edu
Jackie Hoermann-Elliott, PhD
jhelliott@twu.edu
Page last updated 8:49 AM, July 15, 2025