BGeXperience

404A Moseley Hall, 419-372-7247
http://www.bgsu.edu/students/bgexperience/index.html

The BGeXperience is an academic program designed to help all first-year students make a successful transition to college and jump start their college career. Through BGeX, 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 to an upper class student who can provide valuable guidance and helps them make friends with other first-year students.

All first-year students are required to participate in the BGeX Introduction that runs from Thursday to Sunday preceding the beginning of the fall semester. During the Introduction,first-year students are assigned to an Introduction group of 25 led by a professor, who will be one of their teachers during the fall semester, 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, discuss a common reading, and examine the roles values play in decision-making. These sessions help students get to know one of their professors, an upper class student and 24 other first-year students. They also help them develop critical thinking and communication skills that are important for success in college and beyond. Because this is an integral part of the curriculum, there is no additional cost for the program.

Once the fall semester begins, students take a general education class—along with other students in their introduction group—taught by the professor who led their group. The peer mentor also participates in the class, assisting the professor and serving as a resource for students. BGeX courses are offered in a wide variety of academic disciplines. They focus on values in the discipline being studied, help students understand the roles that values play in scholarship and decision-making, and encourage them to reflect on their own values. Students select their BGeX course in consultation with an academic advisor during Summer O-Reg.