SIX-COLLEGE INITIATIVES:

FRESHMAN FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE: The six colleges have submitted a proposal to the Undergraduate Council for approval of a new freshman first-year experience course to be piloted in Fall 2014. Each college will invite 100 freshmen to participate in this 2-unit course. The provosts will serve as instructors (at Warren, where Steven Adler will be on sabbatical, Professor Grant Goodall of Linguistics will serve) and will engage advanced undergraduates to serve as discussion section leaders, with graduate TA support. The provosts will collaborate with colleagues across units, drawing on the expertise of the library, CAPS/Wellness, Writing Center, OASIS, AIP, Career Services, and other departments to provide a bracing introduction to living and learning in a research university. We will also take a leading role—partnering with our colleagues across campus—in developing a larger arc to the first-year experience beyond the
first-quarter class. We will engage in discussions with campus partners to identify the best means of creating a similar course for new transfer students.

WRITING CENTER: Dr. Madeleine Picciotto is doing a stellar job shepherding the Writing Center through its second year of existence. She is working magic with limited resources and 35 undergraduate peer mentors. Since October 2013, the Center has seen 1,750 discrete students, compared to ~1970 students for the entire
2012-13 AY.

THE VILLAGE: The colleges have taken the leading role in collaborating with HDH to create more (and more focused) college-centric activities and living communities in the Village, providing a greater college presence in response to the direction of Chancellor Khosla. We believe that the Village can become a stronger and richer campus resource as we seek to create a student-centered community at UCSD. To start, colleges will hold academic advising sessions at the Village, provide faculty-led lectures/presentations, schedule college-centric discussion/writing sections in seminar rooms, and work with HDH to provide a more consistent mapping of room assignments to ensure greater college identity.

REGENTS SCHOLARS: The six colleges have just pledged to support all Regents Scholars who participate in faculty-sponsored research in the summer after freshman year with $1,000 stipends to augment funding they may receive from other sources.
INTER-COLLEGE COMPETITIONS/IDENTITY: We have started discussions with Recreation to create a vibrant six-college intramural program. We have also begun conversations to revive College Bowl (or similar academic competition) among the colleges. These, and other gentle, good-natured competitions, can continue the spirit engendered by the UnOlympics.

REVELLE COLLEGE:

Residential Life Interns: In response to a significant increase in the number of students housed at Revelle College for AY 2013-14, the Revelle Residence Life Office converted four unpaid Residence Life Intern positions to paid positions. The Res Life Interns (RLIs), who participated in RA Training over the summer, directly support Resident Assistant and community-wide programs. The Residence Life office also hired a half-time temporary staff person to advise our Residence Hall Association and provide additional support in dealing with roommate conflicts and issues.

Peer Advisor Program: Last summer, we founded the first Revelle College Peer Advisor Program and established the Peer Advisor staff workgroup, which developed interview protocols and a training manual; hired five peer advisors; collaborated with Revelle Student Affairs, Counseling and Psychological Services, and Career Services to facilitate trainings on various topics including students of concern and pre-med advising; and conducted debrief session at the end of the fall quarter to assess peer advisors’ experiences and solicit feedback from peer advisors on how to improve Revelle Advising services. Since mid-Fall, peer advisors have been providing advising to Revelle students on a walk-in basis and via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC). The peer advisors also provided "After Hours Advising" (more below).

After Hours Advising: Revelle implemented a new program, “After Hours Advising” (pre- enrollment evening advising sessions for new freshmen offered during Week 6 and 7 of the Fall and Winter Quarters) in which Academic Advising staff collaborated with Student Affairs and Residence Life to offer sessions in locations closer to students’ residence halls. 187 students attended the After Hours program across four evening advising sessions in Fall 2013. Students who completed post-advising surveys overwhelmingly expressed appreciation for the program and are likely to use these services in the future.

JOHN MUIR COLLEGE:

Muir College Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program, which was started in Fall 2013, is designed to provide financial support for undergraduate research projects by Muir College students. These projects might involve travel to a conference to present a paper, expenses related to departmental honors projects, and the like. The program funds up to $500 for each of three to four projects per quarter. 

The College Academic Mentoring Program, which began this winter, is run in partnership with EAOP. Muir College sponsors an academic mentoring program, and students enroll in a two- four unit course where they discuss aspects of college access and college advising in high schools. Each student spends six hours a week in a local high school (Clairemont, Gompers, or Castle Park), advising freshmen high school students on college preparation and application.

Muir Musical: Gypsy: Muir College’s annual Muir Musical Ensemble returns this year with a production of Gypsy: A Musical Fable. This 1959 work—which takes place in the 1930s at a time when the advent of burlesque signaled the death of vaudeville—follows the dreams and aspirations of Rose, who raises her two daughters to be vaudeville stars. With a book by Arthur

Laurents, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Jule Style, this 1959 work has been acclaimed as the greatest American musical by critics such as Ben Brantley and Frank Rich. The Muir Musical is made possible thanks to support from various campus organizations and groups, including the UC San Diego Parents Fund.

THURGOOD MARSHALL COLLEGE:

TMC received $10,000 grant from Girard Foundation this year towards expanding the TMC ties to our Partnership Schools program and bringing hundreds of students into Preuss and Gompers. Students take TMC 198 for credit as part of this tutoring and classroom volunteering. As part of our commitment to Preuss and Gompers, TMC artist-in-residence Fernando Vegas brought two original solo works—Canciones Di Mi Mama and Cesar Chavez— to these schools free of charge.

TMC co-sponsored the posthumous honoring of two key historical campus figures. Former Marshall Provost Faustina Solís was honored last November 21 at the Faculty Club with a distinguished public health panel, and alum James Avery’s life and career were celebrated March 1 at the Weiss Forum with celebrity participation and UCSD-TV subsequent
broadcast. Further, TMC commissioned an artistic mural and plaque for Solís Hall, which had never defined its namesake.

TMC acquired from Muir College the Film Studies Minor and has been expanding the cinema program with a robust, new campus tradition of live professional actors in dialogue with Rocky Horror Picture Show. These and other efforts doubled the number of film students in the minor.

EARL WARREN COLLEGE:

The Warren Association for Volunteer Enthusiasts (WAVE) “adopted” Bayside Elementary, an under-resourced school in Imperial Beach, this year. WAVE conducted two donation drives to assist families and students at Bayside. WAVE co-wrote a proposal that resulted in Bayside Elementary being chosen as the MLK Day of Service site. WAVE also partnered with Alumni Affairs for a Follow-Up Day of Service as part of Alumni Affairs’ soft launch of its “San Diego Promise for Education” Campaign. WAVE co-wrote grants for La Jolla Playhouse to fund performances of their POP! Tour and for Lamb’s Player Theatre to bring Bash! to assist with
Bayside’s anti-bullying/non-violence efforts. WAVE also worked with SPACES to host Bayside Elementary for a campus tour, and collaborated with Alumni Affairs office to assist with Bayside Elementary’s “Read Across America” event.

Warren College’s Law and Society interdisciplinary minor program is partnering with California Western School of Law in offering the A.I.M. for Law Program (Achieve, Inspire, Motivate). This free, ten-week non-credit-bearing course, taught by CWSL faculty, was developed to provide a diverse group of UCSD students with a strong understanding of what law school and a career in law can afford them and how best to prepare for the road ahead. The program is in its second year, and it works with the Black Resource Center and other campus groups to promote the program to students across campus.

Warren College continues to host its signature High Table Dinners, which provides an opportunity for 10 faculty and 20 students from across the disciplines to mingle, chat, and enjoy fine dining in a loose version of the British high table tradition.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT COLLEGE:

International Education: ERC is offering two international service programs in AY 2013-14. The break Away Global Service (BAGS) is the embedded component of ERC’s Global Service and Research two-course sequence. After taking the preparatory course on the location’s culture and history and preparation for the service work, students travel with faculty and staff to the location for service work over spring break, followed by an optional research course in spring term. This year, ERC offers one program in Puerto Rico focused on environmental projects and one in Istanbul focused on human rights for people with disabilities.

I-House Programs: Victoria Ojeda, who leads the UCSD Health Frontier in Tijuana, a student- led free clinic, served as the I-House Faculty Fellow for winter quarter and was engaged in a project to develop a mentoring program for students interested in international and global health. Eleanor Roosevelt and Muir Colleges are collaborating further on promoting student involvement with the Tijuana clinic.

Intercultural Communication Workshop: For five weeks during winter quarter, ERC conducts an experiential and reflective workshop on learning about and being able to articulate one’s own identity and its role in successfully communicating across cultures.

SIXTH COLLEGE:

With its focus on Experiential Learning through its Practicum Course, Sixth College held the second Experiential Learning Conference: High Impact Practices, a signature event held on a biannual basis that attracted hundreds of innovative educators nationally. This year, Sixth College is also collaborating with the newly formed Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination to launch a number of new Culture, Art, and Technology courses and co-
curricular events. An example of this collaboration is the “Are We Alone?” CAT 3 course, which brings together an astrophysicist, a social scientist, and a literary critic to explore the theme of “human exceptionalism.”

Sixth College is at the forefront of improving the online learning offerings of UCSD. A new version of CAT 125 Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication course—offered jointly with writing faculty at UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis—will focus on Digital Writing and Rhetoric. It will also showcase cutting-edge research being done at the Qualcomm center as part of the continuing collaboration with Calit2.

Some of the signature Student Affairs/Residential Life programs and events this year at Sixth include: Winter Game Fest, Let It Flow, Lunar New Year, Semi-Formal, Kuncocshun, Chocolate Festival, Sixth College Campout, and participation in the MLK parade in San Diego. Sixth residential programs have been recognized by the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) in February.