By Patricia Breakey
DELHI _ Samantha Brown and Kimberly Kennedy both said the last person they expected to be teaching their SUNY Delhi Freshman Seminar class was the college president, Candace Vancko.
"I was nervous when I found out that President Vancko was teaching the class," Brown, 18, of Meridale, said Thursday.
"I thought it was different that a president would be teaching a class," Kennedy, 19, of Cooperstown, said.
The State University College of Technology at Delhi's Freshman Seminar was implemented in 1999 and is designed to give incoming students the tools they need to be successful academically and socially, providing an in-depth orientation during the course of the fall semester.
Vancko and Barbara Kaplan, her assistant, also admitted to both being a little nervous about teaching the class for the first time but said they enjoyed it so much, they can't wait to do it again.
Brown said that after the shock wore off of the president being her teacher, she loved the class.
"They are the two nicest ladies," Brown said. "They were so enthusiastic and organized and made it so much fun."
"The class was very comfortable," Kennedy said. "It's a class where we can all share our opinions and President Vancko and Ms. Kaplan were helpful and open."
"For so many of them, they are the first generation in their family to go to college," Vancko said of the students.
The seminar covers practical topics such as time management, where to find help in writing and math and how to calculate a grade-point average. It also assists students in social areas, such as how to form positive relationships with fellow students and how to join clubs and organizations.
Kaplan said one of the things that struck her is the additional pressure placed on students by of all of their electronic devices.
"We told them to turn off their cell phones during class, and they were stressed about all of the texts they would have to answer when they turned them back on," Kaplan said. "They are under constant pressure to respond to people on their phones, their e-mail, on Facebook _ I had not thought about how much pressure that is and how much time it takes."
Vancko said she was also surprised how much the students are constantly in touch with their families because of cell phones and e-mail.
"There is an ongoing dialogue that I would almost say is intrusive," Vancko said. "When I went to college, there was a shared pay phone in the hall, and most people didn't call home more than once a week."
When Vancko and Kaplan asked the students to keep a two-day log of everything they do so they could see how well they prioritized their time, many were surprised to find out that though they thought they didn't have time for things like exercise, it turned out that most of them reported they spend hours "sleeping, napping and chilling."
The seminar's curriculum included a tour of the campus, a visit to Vancko's home and time spent in class enjoying snacks and getting to know each other.
"I love that class so much," Brown said. "I got to know the other classmates, which means I have friends on campus already. It can be especially hard for a commuting student to make friends."
Brown said the campus tour took away a lot of the stress of being in an unfamiliar place.
"We went everywhere on campus and I didn't have to worry about finding my classes," Brown said.
"The tour of the campus helped out a lot," Kennedy added. "I got a lot of useful info I probably would never have gone to look for _ it's a helpful class that is a lot of fun to be in."
Vancko said the tour of her house was to give the students a sense of the community and also to show off the house that SUNY Delhi students built.
"We all had a blast at President Vancko's house," Brown said. "Ms. Kaplan made us brownies, and we played with Mrs. Vancko's dog, Scarlet, and met her husband. We also saw all the knickknacks she has gotten from all the places she has been."
Statistically, Delhi students who take the seminar have had higher grade-point averages in their first semester than students who do not take the seminar. In the first year, the seminar was required for liberal arts and sciences students, the dismissal rate for students in that program was cut in half, according to Kim MacLeod, SUNY Delhi communications spokeswoman.
In 2008, Delhi's Freshman Seminar was given an Outstanding Student Affairs Program Award by SUNY's Office of University Life and Enrollment Management and its Council of Chief Student Affairs Officers.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
