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General Education

Faculty & Advisor Resources

UNIV 101: BYU Foundations for Student Success is a two-credit course designed to welcome all first-semester students into the Brigham Young University community and help them understand the university's unique mission and purpose. All sections of the class are capped at 25 students and are taught by full-time CFS-track faculty members who mentor students about the mission of BYU and the resources available to them as they seek to transition to life in college and develop the skills of community building, service, and disciple-scholarship.

The heart of this course is the prophetic vision of a Zion university. Using the dual languages of spiritual guidance and intellectual discovery, students and faculty explore together how to use the community, environment, and resources of the university to successfully achieve the aims of a BYU education in their quest for perfection and eternal life. It depends heavily on developing the habits and practices of a disciple-scholar. The course helps students practice deliberate reflection, intellectual humility, peacemaking and civil discourse, curiosity, and a repentant mindset focused on growth.

Upon completion of UNIV 101: BYU Foundations for Student Success, students will:

  1. recognize and value the unique community, purpose, and Mission and Aims of BYU and connect the BYU experience to their own educational and spiritual goals;
  2. identify and feel confident in accessing campus resources that provide support for academic success and personal resiliency in addition to physical, social, and financial well-being;
  3. develop the character essential to lifelong disciple-scholarship using gospel-centered learning, intellectual humility, and respectful engagement with others; and
  4. be able to articulate the value of both contributing and belonging to the BYU community by embracing the Honor Code, the Dress and Grooming Standards, the Statement on Belonging, and current prophetic guidance; participating in activities and events; and serving others.   

UNIV 101 is pass/fail, meaning that credit is granted based on 100% completion of the class requirements before the final day of class. For students beginning winter 2024 or later, UNIV 101 fulfills a General Education requirement. In this new GE configuration, students will only be required to take only six of the seven Arts, Letters, and Sciences requirements. See the catalog entry for changes to General Education here.

Suggested lesson plans have been prepared for faculty, but it is incumbent upon those teaching the class to reflect upon and incorporate their own experience, expertise, and inspiration. Readings for class discussion are taken from the Envisioning BYU volumes (including material to be included in forthcoming volumes) and prophetic guidance provided in other sources and seeks particularly to foreground prophetic statements and guidance about education generally and BYU’s mission and aims specifically. A peer mentor trained by the Office of First-Year experience is assigned to each section of the course.

The course curriculum is constructed as follows:
Part 1: Envisioning BYU
Part 2: Belonging in the BYU community
Part 3: Developing as Disciple-Scholars
Part 4: Helping and Being Helped by Others
Part 5: Reflection

For additional questions, email byu_foundations@byu.edu.

UNIV 101 Teaching Resources

Click Here to Access Teaching Resources & Lesson Guides


FAQs

Q: Who will be teaching UNIV 101: BYU Foundations for Student Success?

A: Full-time CFS faculty who can share their experience, testimony, mentoring with incoming first-year students.

Q: How do I get involved in teaching UNIV 101?

A: Faculty members should consult with their college dean if they are interested in being involved.

Q: Will faculty teach this class as part of their regular teaching load?

A: Yes, it is expected that faculty will teach this as part of their regular teaching assignment.

Q: When does UNIV 101 become part of General Education?

A: Beginning winter 2024, all first-year (non-transfer) students will be required to take UNIV 101 during their first semester.

Q: Do returned missionaries take UNIV 101?

A: If a returned missionary is enrolling in her/his first semester at the university, yes, s/he must enroll in UNIV 101 beginning winter 2024.

Q: Should FlexGE students enroll in UNIV 101?

A: No, UNIV 101 is only for first-semester matriculated students.

Q: Is UNIV 101 basically a script that I teach my students?

A: No. Although there are lesson plans with daily learning outcomes and suggested class discussion topics and activities, faculty must be prepared to adapt lessons to their own students and circumstance. The class must draw on individual faculty experience and access to inspiration to prepare for the individual students in each section. The relationship between the faculty and students and between the students themselves are a vital part of the course.

Q: What is the role of the peer mentor in the class?

A: Each section of the class has a peer mentor assigned. The peer mentor is trained by the Office of First-Year Experience to help students effectively access necessary resources at the university and transition to life as a student and independent learner. They are not TAs, but they should be used to help teach key concepts, to council with students, and to help faculty members teach about the resources available to students who need them.