University College

University College is the home of two academic units, First-Year Programs and the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. The college’s first degree program, the innovative Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, serves students who are interested in a custom-designed degree.  

University College collaborates with all partners across campus, but specifically with the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Provost’s Office to provide interdisciplinary programs and services to students who may not fit into pre-determined degree programs.

Center for Interdisciplinary Studies

The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIDS) endeavors to catalyze, promote, and support modes of inquiry and learning at UWG that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. It serves this mission in two primary ways: First, by assisting and providing administrative oversight in efforts to infuse and strengthen interdisciplinarity in the curriculum, including the development of new XIDS courses and interdisciplinary degree programs, coordinating the assessment of XIDS courses in the core curriculum, and supporting existing interdisciplinary major and minors, including Global Studies (BA), the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS), and minors in Africana Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Film Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Latin American Studies, and Women’s Studies. Second, the CIDS manages and administers the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, including coordinating the advising and mentoring of BIS majors, managing individualized degree plans, offering the introductory (XIDS 2000), theory and methods (XIDS 3000), and capstone (XIDS 4000) courses in Interdisciplinary Studies required by the BIS major, and supporting BIS majors in undertaking and presenting their capstone projects. This role will expand and develop as workforce demands continue to move toward requiring more broadly educated thinkers who can think creatively to identify and work collaboratively to develop solutions.

First Year Programs

University College is home to several of the university’s high-impact practices aimed to help foster the success of first-year students, including:

• First-Year Seminar (XIDS 2002, 2 credits: Area B2): A course intended to assist in students’ intellectual transition to UWG.
• Learning Communities: Communities of 22 or more students that take blocks of courses together around a theme (e.g. Film).
• Living-Learning Communities: Communities of 22 or more students that take blocks of courses together and share a residential community.

University College also houses two academic support units: the Advising Center and the Center for Academic Success.

The Advising Center

https://www.westga.edu/advising/

The Advising Center supports students in their path to graduation via delivering information about advising and registration, providing appropriate course recommendations to keep students on track, and teaching students to use the tools for self-advisement that the University of West Georgia offers.

The Center for Academic Success

https://www.westga.edu/student-services/cas/

The Center for Academic Success seeks to be a resource for students who want to be successful learners. The Center offers Peer Tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, Academic Coaching, Success workshops, the Succeed West program, and a number of employment opportunities for students. 

Programs

• Global Studies, B.A.

• Interdisciplinary Studies, B.I.S.

• Embedded Certificate in Global Studies

• Africana Studies Minor
• Asian Studies Minor
• Classical Studies Minor
• Film Studies Minor
• Gender and Sexuality Studies Minor
• Latin American Studies Minor
• Women’s Studies Minor