Biology Department Committee on Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) supervised changes for the Fall 2023 “First-Year Seminar” course, which serves as an introductory seminar for freshmen entering as biology majors at Georgetown. 

The goal of the syllabus changes this semester is to foster a greater sense of community among first-year biology students and introduce them to the wide variety of resources they can access as biology majors. Students will also have more opportunities to learn about the department from upperclassmen in the four biology majors, according to “First-Year Seminar” professor and JEDI advisor Mun Chun (MC) Chan.

“We have removed some of the content of the course,” Chan told The Hoya. “By removing those components, we could make room for things like more student panels.”

The course was first modified in 2017, when “First-Year Seminar” switched from a two-semester course to a one-semester course and added more of an emphasis to introducing students to the many resources available to them in the biology department. 

“When we redesigned the course, it was really about getting the students to take advantage of all the different possibilities and opportunities that are available to every biology student,” Chan said. 

The 2017 version of the course included discussions on studying abroad as a biology major, how to decide which of the four majors that the department offers is right for different students and exploring opportunities to conduct research.

JEDI, which was first formed in 2000, aims to ensure opportunities and success for those in underrepresented groups in the biology department. 

Undergraduate JEDI members have been working with Chan since last Spring to develop changes to the introductory biology course. According to JEDI member and “First-Year Seminar” mentor Madeline Tan (CAS ’26), many committee members felt that the course faced issues last year with student attendance and lack of engagement.

“They had a lot of issues with it because people were not attending and it was not super engaging,” Tan told The Hoya. “This year, we really tried to make it more interactive and include more perspectives.” 

One of the most notable suggestions from committee members included building more peer interactions within the class. Chan said he felt it was important to ensure that students had resources to help them not feel overwhelmed academically.

“Among the suggestions were more activities that increase the mentorship relationship between the folks that were hired as mentors and the students, more opportunities to meet more people within the biology community, as well as to place an emphasis on wellbeing and wellness throughout the semester for first years,” Chan said.

Another focus of the update to the course was to ensure that students did not feel like medical school was their only option post-graduation.

“A big part of restructuring the course was making sure that we are bringing in other students like upperclassmen that are not pre-med but are biology majors,” Tan said. 

“There are pre-law students, students who are doing research, who want to do consulting, so we are really just trying to show them that there are so many things that they can do with a biology degree besides medical school, but if they are pre-med, give them the resources so they can be successful,” Tan added.

The biology department also changed the student-mentor ratio, adding more mentors to allow for smaller group interactions.

Though the changes have just been implemented, Chan believes that students are enjoying the class and said he hopes the changes make the biology department’s programs and resources more accessible for first years.

“The goal there is to make sure that this information is out there and available to every student, and that it’s not only available to the students who knew how to navigate the system or already had experience,” Chan said.