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=== Freshmen Success and EPICS Reform ===
Every first-year student here at the Colorado School of Mines must complete the courses of [https://minescasa.com/csm101/ CSM 101: Freshmen Success Seminar] and [http://inside.mines.edu/epics-home-page EPICS I]. CSM 101 focuses on connecting and adjusting students to the collegiate landscape. Epics I intends to "Introduce a design process that includes open-ended problem solving and teamwork integrated with the use of computer software as a tool to solve engineering problems. The course emphasizes written technical communications and introduces the importance of effective oral presentations."
EPICS exists as one of the least rated courses on the Mines campus and CSM 101 exists as a class that many freshmen see as unhelpful. Current reforms are seeking to change this reality. The short-term objective concerning these classes is to fully push these reforms through.
The prospect of CSM 101 is being expanded from a 0.5 credit hour course to a 1 credit hour course. The addition of time in this course is intended to increase the capability of the course's instructors to provide more detailed instruction concerning freshman success. Current University Innovation Fellows hope to work with [https://www.mines.edu/casa/ CASA ]and the Peer Mentor program, the two organizations that run CSM 101, to add greater instruction and curriculum concerning the innovation atmosphere at the Colorado School of Mines.
Current University Innovation Fellows are working to make design thinking a greater part and emphasis of the EPICS I curriculum. Small steps are currently being taken toward this goal, with some trials occurring during the 2018 Spring Semester. The hope of this initiative is to allow and enable more students to create meaningful projects through the EPICS program. Another divergence from the normal EPICS curriculum is a new push to combine the EPICS class with the Nature and Human Values (NHV) class, an ethics class all undergraduates must take. This combined approach focuses on expounding on design thinking by making the advent of human-centered design a greater piece of the course.
''Last edited February 2018''
=== Innovation Workshops and Speakers ===