Welcome to AUx!

American University Experience

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Our Program

The American University Experience (AUx)is a mandatory full-year AU Core Curriculum course specially designed for students transitioning into their first year of college at AU. Students will complete AUx1 in the fall of 2018 (1.5 credits) and then complete AUx2 in the spring of 2019 (1.5 credits). To fulfill this requirement, students must receive a C or higher in both courses. Students who receive a grade lower than a C, will be required to retake the course the following semester.

Charting AUx Progress

  • Through classroom discussions, assignments, and office hours, AUx1 provides a place for students to establish their short- and long-term goals; build academic skills for college success; learn about issues of privilege and bias; and explore their own personal identities.
  • AUx1 course learning outcomes are achieved through online learning, in-class activities, reflective writing assignments, and individual and small group discussions with course Instructors, Peer Facilitators, and classmates.
  • AUx2 is unique to American University, and has been created specifically as a call to action by AU students, staff, and faculty who want to ensure that diversity, inclusion, free speech, and freedom of expression are part of the core curriculum at American University.
  • AUx2 aims to equip students to become part of a community of learners whose members come from a variety of backgrounds and bring with them a range of experiences.

All first-year students will be assigned to an AUx Instructor & Advisor, who will serve as their first-year advisor and advise approximately 76 incoming students throughout their first academic year. During the fall term, they will also facilitate the AUx1 discussion sections for those same 76 students in four 19-student sections that meet once per week. This student-to-advisor ratio will allow first-year advisors to engage in targeted, student-centered advising, recognizing the unique needs of first-year students and ensuring that first-year students will see their advisors every week in the classroom. In their spring semester, first-year students will enroll into a section of AUx2. This course will be taught by an AU staff or faculty member. After their first year, students will transition to a unit-based advisor.

Explore the site to find out more about AUx.

Program Benefits

Students who have participated in AUx have reported that they:

  • Have greater sense of belonging on campus

  • Are more willing to engage with and contribute in their learning environment

  • Have an increased satisfaction with their on-campus social lives as well as personal connections to faculty, staff and peers

  • Have an increased familiarity with campus resources that address academics, bias and discrimination, finances, and mental and physical health