Professor Annie Ou has been at Lasell University since August 2013. Ou, who has been Associate Professor of Writing and Director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program, now has another job as First-Year Seminar Coordinator.
Before earning this title, she had worked with the team developing the new and improved curriculum for FYS (First-Year Seminar). Besides this role, Ou will continue to hold her current positions as Associate Professor of Writing and Director of ESL alongside her new position as FYS Coordinator.
When being asked about what this new position truly entails, Ou is in charge of scheduling FYS sections and will work closely with the peer mentor coordinator and collaborate with different resources on campus. These resources directly include the Counseling Center, Library, Academic Achievement Center (AAC), Study Abroad, Student Activities, and much more on campus.
While this is already a heavy load to take on, the position entails much more. Ou is also going to work on improving the curriculum, coordinating workshops and activities, and working heavily with the FYS faculty and instructors throughout as well. Ou wants to make sure that this new curriculum of FYS is “relevant, engaging, and meets students’ needs.” That is something that will be a needed and valued change throughout the FYS curriculum to make sure students are getting everything they need out of this course, rather than not seeing any value in it at all.
The previous FYS curriculum was more based on themes chosen by an instructor, and through that, top students would learn various academic skills. Ou intends to change that and focus more on helping students transition into college life. It is such a different experience going from high school to college, so being able to better support incoming students through this curriculum will definitely be beneficial.
Some examples of these new topics to be explored will be growth mindset, time management, goal-setting, collaboration skills, self-care, and self-advocacy. Ou also wanted to share how she “Hopes to find engaging ways to introduce campus resources to students, encourage students to attend clubs/events to feel more connected, and make sure they know where to go and who to ask for help if they feel like they’re struggling.”
Overall, the transition into this new position has “been great but busy.” Ou has already started working with different people on campus to further discuss these collaborations, events, and workshops. There is a lot of prep that has to go into this process to make sure everything is ready for the fall semester, and everyone is getting prepared for the new semester.
–May 15, 2026–
