FTS Facts
Gustavus faculty created the First-Term Seminar program in 1991
All FTS professors are tenured or tenure-track members and complete an intensive training program before teaching their first FTS section
All FTS courses must be approved by the faculty’s Curriculum Committee
FTS sections are capped at 16 students; the average number of students in an FTS section in 2012 was 14.7
FTS classes satisfy one of the three writing requirements for graduation
Approximately 90% of Gustavus students take a FTSStudents from the FTS class Leisure Quest: Taking Back Your Time are responsible for the construction of the Adirondack chairs you see around campus
106 Gustavus professors have been trained to teach FTS
FTS classes offered in 2012 included: Zen Combat, Railroads and the American Adventure, Pop Music U.S.A, Race and the American Vision, Toy Design, and Framing the Family: Reality Television and the (Re)Construction of Homelife
FTS students in The Politics of Homelessness participate in the National Hunger and Homelessness Sleepout each November
Students in the 2012 How Do We Vote FTS partnered with the College Democrats and the College Republicans to conduct a voter registration drive in which 232 Gustavus students registered to vote
Many FTS professors are award winning teachers: Many current FTS professors have won the Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching (Including Professors Kaster, Kittelson, Fremo, Rosenthal, Zust, Leitch, Saulnier, Heldke, and Gilbert)