First Year Experience: Spirit, Mind and Body (PE 44a)
This course was developed to assist new students with their transition into Brandeis throughout their first-year. The goal is to help new students apply general health and wellness principles so they will learn to develop a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Students will learn skills to assist them in becoming engaged and contributing citizens in the Brandeis community and beyond. Topics covered include: time management, stress management, goal-setting, communication skills, ethical decision-making, etiquette, and accepting differences, to name a few.
This course counts towards one of the two Physical Education General Education requirements. Each section of the class is instructed by Student Affairs administrators:
Michelle O'Malley
Michelle O'Malley arrived at Brandeis in July 2004 as Director of Orientation and First-Year Programs. She graduated from Springfield College in 1994 with her Master of Education in Student Personnel Administration/Counseling and Psychological Services and has been working in Higher Education ever since. She has worked in the areas of student activities, residential programming, leadership development, conference planning, international students, study abroad, and of course, orientation. At Brandeis she works with students and staff to plan and coordinate all orientation programs for undergraduate students. In addition, she co-advises the Roosevelt Fellows, assists her academic advisees, and has had the opportunity to design and implement first-year programs that assist in the transition of new students, including the First-Year Experience: Spirit, Mind and Body course that she developed. Michelle lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Tim, and her daughter, Abigail.
Jamele Adams
As the Assistant Dean of Student Life Jamele oversees Student Activities, The Intercultural Center, Community Service, and the Chaplaincy. He works with campus groups to promote and enhance opportunities to celebrate diversity in our daily lives at Brandeis. Dean Adams develops programs and activities to support involvement in the larger community and afford Brandeis students the opportunity to practice social justice and change in the real world, in support of the lessons provided in our classrooms. In addition to this he teaches a First-Year Experience course and oversees the Community Predjudice Response Taskforce.
Dean Adams completed his undergraduate studies at Penn State and completed his M.A. at Bowling Green State University. He is also a celebrated poet.
Erika Lamarre
As the Director of Student Conduct and Development Erika oversees all aspects of the judicial process as well as the Rights and Responsibilities committee.