The First-Year Experience
Core Community
Being on a large, state-school campus can be intimidating without a supportive and inspirational community to belong to. At CU Boulder, the Presidents Leadership Class provides this community for the approximately 200 student members of the program. This core community makes the large campus feel more intimate and individualized - our students get personalized and directed attention and support starting their first day on campus. We excel at providing a rich first year experience full of courses, experiential learning, community activities, and dedicated staff/faculty support that welcomes and leads our students into college. It is primarily the first year experience of freshmen in PLC that creates for them a strong connection to the program, the university, their peers, and to their education.
Congratulations once again on earning a spot in the Presidents Leadership Class. You are entering into a very special community that is here to support you through your career at the University of Colorado Boulder and beyond. You have committed to becoming a better leader, a better student, and a better citizen in your community through the curriculum and programming offered by the Presidents Leadership Class.
Over the next four years, you will take five PLC courses and one capstone course (if you choose) culminating in a Leadership Studies Minor, undertake and participate in one Applied Leadership Experience coupled with the ALE Course (PRLC 2930-801), attend and participate in two Deep Dive trips, serve your community with over 40 hours of service work, and grow through your participation many community events.
However, before you get started on this journey, you need to be ready for the very first day!
First, please fill out the following form ASAP :
Keep an eye out for many emails this summer from myself, JulieMarie Shepherd Macklin, Jessi Follett, and/or the plc-23 listserv. We have a lot of information to pass along and we don’t want you to miss anything! Start checking your @colorado.edu email address at least once a day this summer.
Below is a list of everything that we do as a program to enhance the First-Year PLC experience. Students are not required to do every activity or take advantage of each and every resource, but we pride ourselves on providing ample opportunity for every member of PLC to feel fully integrated into the program and the university within their first year.
Student Handbook: Each year PLC publishes a handbook that is only issued to the current First-Year students. The handbook provides information about the history, present, and way forward for the program. CU and PLC policies, program requirements, student staff position descriptions, and other resources are all made available in the handbook. This book serves as one tier of the PLC support system and is bolstered by many other in-person and online sources that help students learn what it means to be part of the program and the university.
Summer Reading Assignments: First-Year PLC students are assigned reading over the summer focusing on different styles of leadership and deep self-analysis/awareness. These readings are examined and discussed at the First-Year Orientation - students begin to get to know one another while engaging in important conversations with new peers. This collective learning experience offers an opportunity for group bonding, self-reflection, and lays the foundation for the cohort community that will continue to grow throughout the first year.
REQUIRED READING - The following list of books, articles, and one Ted Talk are valuable starting points for your PLC journey. Feel free to buy the books new, used, digital, or borrow them. You will discuss the books at orientation as well as the articles.
- Grit; The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth
- Emergent Strategy - Adrienne Marie Brown
- How to be a Great Mentee (In 4 easy steps)
- 10 Quick Ideas for Becoming a More Effective Mentee
- The gift and power of emotional courage - Ted Talk by Susan David
Staff Reading Recommendations - These are all highly recommended (because they are so good!)
- Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Coddling of the American Mind - Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Emmanual Acho
- Quiet - Susan Cain
- Start with Why - Simon Sinek
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*%k - Mark Manson
Freshmen Orientation: All newly admitted students are required to attend the Freshman Orientation organized by PLC, which takes place on the weekend before classes start. This orientation is designed to provide a student-centric experience that inspires a smooth transition into the PLC community. It is known to be one of the most influential and memorable experiences for PLC students. The orientation aims to connect students with the history and traditions of PLC, fostering an emotional connection to the community, which inspires commitment, excellence, and success. At the orientation, PLC's professional staff, faculty, and student staff will educate the freshmen on the best practices for academic and personal success as they begin their journey at CU. The orientation commences early Saturday morning at the UMC plaza, where freshmen gather before taking buses up to Santa Maria YMCA camp near Bailey. We look forward to welcoming you to the PLC family. Please review the Orientation Packing List and Information.
MyPLC App: Written by a PLCer, the MyPLC app provides a portal to everything you need to know about your PLC experience, including event notifications, newsletters, curriculum progress, appointment scheduling, and more!
Major/Academic/Career Coaching: PLC students will have major/academic advisors in their respective departments, however, they also have a dedicated professional staff that can provide coaching and guidance for students who are still exploring their major options upon matriculation, are changing their major due to a change of heart/mind, are thinking of adding a second major or a dual degree, etc. Certain PLC professional staff members are trained in conducting informal interest, value, skill assessments and exclusively offer these services and support to PLC students.
Online Student Profile/LinkedIn: An online profile for each student is created and hosted on the PLC website when they start the program. Professional pictures are added as well as resume information and a link to their LinkedIn profile page. First-Year students are required to build a LinkedIn profile and to join the Presidents Leadership Class group on the social networking platform. By joining the group they are automatically linked to over 800 student, alumni, and community members that are connected to the program.
First-Year Courses & Recitations: Each cohort is truly created and solidified in the two first-year courses and the affiliated recitations. First-Year students are required to take PRLC 1810- Leadership Foundations & Applications I in the fall semester and PRLC 1820- Leadership Foundations & Applications II in the spring semester. Students attend lecture every Monday/Wednesday evenings from 4:40-5:55 PM and then meet in smaller recitation groups on Thursday afternoons/evenings. The familiarity of the peer group allows for strong bonds to be made over the course of the year.
Neither you nor your advisor can register you for PRLC 1810. The PLC Program Manager will do that this summer. Please leave the following windows of time open in your schedule so you can attend your PLC lecture and recitation:
PRLC 1810/1820 Lectures: Monday/Wednesday: 4:40-5:55PM
Recitations: Thursday: 3:30-7:00 pm - try to leave the entire span open so you can be placed in either the earlier (3:30-5:30) or later (5:00-7:00) recitation without time conflicts.
First-Year Class Advisors: Six upperclassmen PLC students are staffed as First-Year Class Advisors (CAs). These students attend Monday/Wednesday morning lecture with the First-Year students, run the recitations on Thursday afternoons, plan and strategize with the course professor each week, review and advise on academic papers and presentations, and serve as mentors for the students. First-Year CAs are hugely influential in the lives of the First-Year students and act as the first line of support for our freshmen.
Professional Staff/Faculty & Student One-on-One Meetings: Written into the syllabi for 1810 and 1820 is a requirement to schedule and meet with each professional staff member once each semester for the first year. These touch points are integral communication sessions allowing the staff to get to know each student well and learn about their future desires and plans. This is also an opportunity for First-Year students to get acquainted with the staff members - learning that we are here to support the PLC students in all we do for the program.
Board Boosters:Board of Advocates members act as Board Boosters to First-Year students. This is not a formal advising or mentoring relationship, rather an informal connection between current students and the board. Board Boosters meet their assigned First-Year students in the fall semester of the first year of PLC, then stay in touch throughout the entirety of the undergraduate experience. Many groups go to coffee or plan dinner once over the semester when scheduling allows.
Deep Dives: These one-and-a-half-day weekend trips are university level field trips that are focused on social justice issues and the sociopolitical/cultural/economic intersections that occur within. First-Year students are required to go on a least one trip in their first year, if not complete the two-trip requirement for the program. The excursions are informational, inspirational, and fun for the 10 students that attend each trip.
PLC Peer Leadership Connection (PLC^2): PLC has a peer-to-peer mentorship program that connects First-Year students to upperclassmen in the program. The Mentor Programs Coordinators run the program and carefully matches upperclassmen to freshmen based on similar majors, interests, hometowns, future goals, etc. Peers are free to plan and meet more than required and build collegial relationships outside of official PLC programming. There are required pair meetings and fun community events that focus on the pairings. Peer mentors prove to be highly valued members of a PLC's support structure at CU Boulder.
Community Events: The academic year is packed with PLC community events - annual cohort orientation events, annual day of service, CLA Summit, monthly community dinners, intramural sports, recitation olympics, progressive dinners, special guest speakers, alumni events, etc. The community of PLC students is often the most lasting and meaningful facet of the program. Though our academic courses are excellent, our professors are exceptional, and our programming impactful, it is the peer community that stays with students throughout college and far beyond.
PLC Now Newsletter: First-Year students are automatically subscribed to the weekly online newsletter - PLC Now. This newsletter provides information about events and opportunities available to all PLC students. The emailed newsletter is part of the support system that extends opportunities and resources to PLC students.
PLC Orientation
