Freshman Seminars are an excellent way to introduce freshmen to the University and to the outstanding disciplinary fields we have in the College. CEHD would like to be a college with many Freshman Seminars to offer, and therefore, many opportunities for freshmen to discover our wonderful faculty.
The resources listed on this page are intended to offer assistance with the process of developing a Freshman Seminar course, and ushering it through the various steps of the approval process.
College funding will no longer be available to departments for Freshman Seminars.
Information about the proposal process and characteristics of successful freshman seminars can be found at curricularhub.umn.edu/freshman-seminars.
Submit a Freshman Seminar college proposal form. This form should be submitted to the Dean’s office for approval no later than January 26, 2026, for all Freshman Seminars being proposed for Liberal Education (LE) or Writing Intensive (WI) designation and April 22, 2026, for all non LE/WI proposals. There needs to be a form for each proposed seminar, even if it has been approved within the past three years.
It is strongly recommended that Freshman Seminars also be submitted for approval to CLE for a Liberal Education Theme Designation. This form should be used when submitting a seminar to CLE for a theme approval.
Seminars which are approved for a theme designation are more desirable to freshman and have higher enrollment numbers as a result.
Liberal Education Course Development (effective Fall 2010)
Liberal Education Theme Designation forms
For assistance with developing a Freshman Seminar course for a Liberal Education Theme approval, please contact Nicole Shopbell.
Freshman seminars may also be submitted for approval by the Campus Writing board to be listed as writing intensive.
Student Learning Outcomes: At least one student learning outcome must be addressed in the syllabus of each Freshman Seminar special topic course.
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