William H. Thompson Scholars are co-enrolled with other WHT scholars in two courses per semester during their first year, while second-year scholars are required to take one course per semester. There are a number of benefits to the WHT classes:
- Taking courses with other WHT Scholars makes it easy for students to form study groups,
- Scholars get to know their faculty,
- Scholars are exposed to well-planned ‘extend the classroom’ opportunities supported by the learning community.
The courses are taught by dedicated faculty and are smaller (usually 20 or 25 students maximum) than many other first and second-year courses at UNL. Most of the designated courses meet the UNL Achievement-Centered (ACE) General Education requirements for all majors across campus. ACE courses are designed to ensure that all UNL graduates meet the ten general education learning outcomes designated by faculty as critical to an undergraduate education. As such, they are not intended to be preparatory courses but rather are the core curriculum (although some of the courses also may serve as introductory courses to a major). The learning community also offers a few courses intended to support scholars in the work they do in other classes: Math 198: Individualized Math Instruction and Engl 198: The Critical Reading Studio. Scholars work with their program academic advisors and WHT staff to select courses that best meet their curricular needs and personal interests.