BGeXperience

122 Saddlemire Student Services at Conklin, 419-372-7247
http://www.bgsu.edu/students/bgexperience/index.html

The BGeXperience is an academic program designed to make critical thinking about values a central part of the student’s college experience from their freshman through their senior years.

The BGeXperience Program begins with the BGeX Introduction, which is designed to help all first-year students make a successful transition to college and jump start their college careers. In the BGeX Introduction and the BGeX “V” courses for freshmen, students develop relationships that connect them to the BGSU community and skills that prepare them to succeed academically. The program’s focus on values exploration also encourages students to reflect on their values and decide what is truly important to them. BGeX helps first-year students make connections with faculty that are critical to academic success. It also connects them with other first-year students and an upper class peer mentor who can provide valuable guidance.

All first-year students are required to participate in the BGeX Introduction that runs Saturday and Sunday preceding the beginning of fall semester. During the Introduction, first-year students are assigned to an Introduction group of 25 led by a professor and an upper class peer mentor. During the Introduction, students participate in lively, interactive small-group sessions that help them learn about expectations, introduce them to concepts useful in exploring values, and examine how values function in decision making. This helps them to develop critical thinking and communication skills that are important for success in college and beyond. These sessions also help new students feel comfortable with one of their professors, an upper class peer mentor, and 24 other first-year students. Because this is an integral part of the curriculum, there is no additional cost for the program.

Once the fall semester begins, students will continue in their BGeX “V” class along with the other students from their Introduction group. The peer mentor also participates in the class, assisting the professor and serving as a resource for students for academic and college life matters. BGeX “V” courses are offered in a wide variety of academic disciplines. They focus on the particular values that are involved in the discipline and subject being studied, help students understand the roles that values play in scholarship and decision-making in public and private life, and acquire the skills to reflect on their own values. Students select their BGeX “V” course in consultation with an academic advisor during Summer O-Reg.

Other upper level BGeX courses and sections of courses are available for students to continue developing their capacity to think critically about values beyond their first semester experience.