Each year, new first-year students receive a copy of a selected text during Advising and Registration Days session, giving them the opportunity to read the book by the start of their first semester at St. Cloud State.
The Common Reading Program, led by the Office of Academic Initiatives, provides new first year students a coordinated, academic transition experience through summer reading and associated assignments, book talks at New Student Orientation, classroom use of the text in common first-year courses, and programming throughout the academic year. The program’s original initiation was modeled after decades of researching sponsoring the benefit of summer reading programs to new students. Now, the Common Reading Program gives opportunities for academic transitioning, development of partnerships, and provides a sense of community to promote student success.
“I’ve heard stories of students who’ve read a book cover to cover for the first time with our selections,” said Dr. Christine Metzo, who is the director of the Common Reading program. “I’ve seen faculty who’ve taught on campus for years meet for the first time around discussions of the common reading book, I’ve seen programs revitalize aspects of their curriculum for both lower division courses and upper level students when we used The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I have a student who came in with the first campus-wide book join the selection committee who is now actively seeking internships with publishing houses because the program has helped her discover a niche and tap into her own passion for reading. We strive to make this a campus book as well as a first year book. I have selection committee members tell me every year it’s their favorite committee on which they serve!”
In addition to events around the book they received at New Student Orientation in August, many students will use the book in at least one class they take during their first year, and all of them will have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of programs throughout 2014-15 related to the book and issues it raises.
This year’s selection for the Common Reading Program is Fire and Forget by Roy Scranton and Matt Gallagher. Long after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan end, their effects will continue to ripple across foreign policy, American culture, and, most profoundly, among those who served. We’ve been given snapshots of war in movies, television broadcasts, and news reports. But Fire and Forget provides a new perspective through stories by fifteen talented writers who were directly involved in the recent conflicts—front line soldiers, staff officers, and a military spouse. Fire and Forget captures the full spectrum of war and its aftermath—from Fort Hood to Fallujah, from humvees to family sedans. By putting readers in the boots—and the minds—of their characters, the authors convey the “truth” of war in a way that only fiction can.
The Office of Academic Initiatives has several partners with programs, offices and individuals across campus on this program, including the Office of First Year and Transition Programs, University Program Board, Honors Program, Academic Collegiate Excellence Program, Learning Resources Services (Library), Department of Academic Support, Office of the Provost, Husky Bookstore, Office of Residential Life, and the St. Cloud Technical and Community College Connections Program.
For more information on the Common Reading Program, call (320) 308-2931, or e-mail [email protected].
