A First-Year Student's experience at SUNY Old Westbury is steeped in deep care and introduces students to college life and self-exploration.
The First-Year Experience provides our first-year students with a supportive environment, innovative curriculum and enriching educational experiences that foster their personal growth and active engagement in Old Westbury’s richly diverse learning community.
Our goal is to promote academic success, classroom and campus engagement, by helping first-year students to become intentional learners and develop the intellectual, civic and study skills required to tackle the challenges of college learning.
required first-year courses
Fall Semester
FY1000 Ethics of Engagement (4 credits): This course introduces students to academic and campus life at Old Westbury, emphasizing the themes of self-discovery, the meaning of a liberal education, the relationship of the individual to society and the nature of values and of personal and social responsibility. By situating the major intellectual and emotional challenges students confront in their first year of college within the framework of ethics, the course encourages students to evaluate their ideas and assumptions, and the impact of their decisions on themselves, their community and the world. Students are challenged to consider multiple perspectives and to reflect upon their identities, values and aspirations within the larger common good. The course fosters critical thinking and the effective articulation of ideas by introducing students to the close reading of texts and the writing of substantive analytical essays that are the basis of most college learning. Students will also be expected to write weekly reflective journals and are expected to attend mandatory workshops and campus events.
Spring Semester
CL2000 Community, Action, Learning and Leadership (2 credits): CL2000 integrates community-engaged learning and action into the first-year curriculum, challenging students to confront the big questions facing the world today by participating in and reflecting upon civic engagement and social justice activities. By engaging students both personally and intellectually at the very beginning of their academic journey in structured service-learning activities and reflective projects, this course introduces students to Old Westbury’s social justice mission and encourages their college and community involvement. The goal of this class is to encourage active learning, to promote intercultural understanding, and to build academic, interpersonal, organizational and leadership skills. Students will participate in a 5-7 hour service-learning activity. Students may be expected to attend mandatory workshops and campus events.
Sample first-year plan of study
| Sample Schedule for Fall Semester | Sample Schedule for Fall Semester | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Name | Credits | Course Name | Credits |
| *FY1000 Ethics of Engagement | 4 | *CL2000 Community Learning | 2 |
| *000000 General Education | 4 | *000000 General Education | 4 |
| EL1000 English Comp. I | 4 | EL2XXXX English Comp. II | 4 |
| MAXXXX Math Selection | 4 | MAXXXX Math Selection | 4 |
| XX0000 Elective Selection | 4 | ||
| Total Credits: | 16 | Total Credits: | 18 |
services provided
The FYE provides:
- An innovative year-long curriculum that includes a common First-Year Seminar, FY1000 The Ethics of Engagement: Educating Leaders for a Just World.
- CL2000 Community Learning, a course embedded with a service-learning and action experience for all first-year students.
- Advising and mentoring by an assigned First Year Advisor.
- On-campus workshops and guest speakers on academic success, financial literacy, major exploration and personal well-being.
- Both FY1000 and CL2000 use Open Educational Resources for their course materials, so there is no cost!
Fall '25 FYE Guide
The First-Year Experience has developed a helpful guide for students joining the University in the 2025-2026 academic year.
Course Descriptions
Please find first-year general education course descriptions that are reserved for first-year students
Frequently Asked Questions
Get quick answers to the most common questions we received about the SUNY Old Westbury First-Year Experience.
CALL Program
The CL2000 Community Learning course is the required service-learning engagement that makes up the heart of the University's award-winning Community Action, Learning and Leadership (CALL) program.
Common Reader Program
The Common Reader Program seeks to establish a sense of community among the first-year class by having them read the same text and then take part in associated academic and social activities to explore its meaning and messages. The 2024 Common Reader was “I Wasn’t Supposed to Be Here,” a memoir written by Jonathan Conyers, who visited campus in October 2024 to meet with students.