Kansas University student Lindsey Miles hails from Halstead, otherwise known as “the biggest little city in Kansas.”

Despite her hometown’s proud slogan, the KU sophomore said she wasn’t quite prepared for her first few weeks on campus last August.

“KU is a pretty big place, whether you’re from a little town or a big city,” said Miles, 19. “As a freshman, I was thankful to have a community of people to lean on from the beginning.

“It helped to shrink down the size of school.”

Miles, a nursing major, is referring to KU’s Thematic Learning Communities, which launched in the fall of 2003. The program groups first-year freshmen who share similar academic interests.

“Basically, we bring students together who have like majors or interests and allow them to interact inside and outside of class,” said Linda Dixon, interim coordinator of the program.

Students who sign up for the program are co-enrolled in two core classes and a seminar course, all of which focus on a particular theme.

“I was interested in health care, so my community had physical therapy, nursing and pre-med majors in it,” Miles said.

The program also allows students the option of living together in one wing of a dorm.

“I can’t tell you how nice it was to have my classmates, who became my friends, living around me,” she said. “We spent a lot of time studying together.”

Thirty percent of program participants chose to live off campus in 2003.

Most Thematic Learning Communities include 20 students. Communities focused on areas such as business, film, law, science and ethics and leadership in America. One hundred thirty-three students participated in the program in 2003-2004, Dixon said.

Thematic learning communities peer educators visit at Ellsworth Hall. Sitting from left are Michael Younker, Ellinwood senior; Shin Ying Chu, graduate student from Malaysia; Deana Neunschwander, Overland Park sophomore; and Victor Vaca-Bastumante, Bolivia junior. Beth Kimberly, Fairway senior, is standing. The Thematic Learning Communities program puts first-year Kansas University students with similar academic interests together in core classes and in residence halls.

“Our goal is to keep adding communities so that everyone is included,” she said. “The benefits of the program are clear: Freshman find a sense of support on campus and get interested in an area of study right off the bat.”

Dixon said KU was using the program, among the first of its kind, to strengthen incoming classes and increase academic success levels.

Holly Ghahramani, 20, served as a peer educator with the biology and society community last fall. Each group has a peer educator to help keep members organized and to answer questions.

“My role is to tackle group questions and share what I’ve learned before,” said Ghahramani, a pre-pharmacy major from Overland Park. “I’ve taken the classes the freshmen are taking, so I really feel like I can offer some real advice and tips.

“I wish this program had been around when I was starting at KU.”

Incoming freshmen should have received information in the mail this summer regarding involvement in the program. Deadline for application was July 1.

“We advised people to apply early,” Dixon said. “TLC assignments are made as they are received, so early birds benefit.”