Admissions

Spring semester means it is “admissions season” in the Honors Program. Our staff will spend time this semester with the Office of Admissions working to recruit students to UConn as part of the Class of 2019 in Honors. We expect 500 first-year students to join the Honors Program as part of the Fall 2015 incoming class. We recruit them through participation in Spring Open House as well as the Husky for a Day Program, which pairs admitted students with current Honors students to experience a day in the life of a Husky. Our student organization, HIPS – the Honors Initiative for Prospective Students – also hosts “meet and greet” events for our prospective students to talk with faculty members and current Honors students. We try to invite faculty in the prospective majors of our students, so if you are invited to attend a meet and greet, I hope you will join us. It makes a definitive difference in recruiting great students to UConn.

Admissions season also means that we are recruiting current UConn students who are interested in an Honors education to apply to the Honors Program. Many students are unaware that you can join Honors beyond the first-year, and faculty members play a critical role in encouraging students to explore their options and apply to the Honors Program. Students can apply as rising sophomores and rising juniors. The Honors Program also has relationships with all regional campuses, so regional campus students can use the same application processes to apply to honors. For rising juniors, February 16^th is the early admission deadline, and April 1^st is the regular admission deadline. For rising sophomores, April 1^st is the admission deadline. More information can be found here about our processes, spring deadlines, and how faculty can support students in the application process.

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Ceremonies

Spring is also a season of ceremonies for Honors. The Provost’s Office will celebrate Scholars Day on March 24, 2015 at 4:00 p.m., and all faculty are invited to attend this university-wide celebration of academic achievement. The Honors Medals Ceremony, which is the graduation ceremony of the Honors Program, will take place on May 2, 2015. Last year we graduated a record number of Honors Scholars, 354 students. It looks like the Class of 2015 may surpass this record. None of this would be possible without the dedication and support of faculty members, so we are grateful for all that you do to provide exceptional Honors experiences for our students. More information about the Honors Medals Ceremony can be found here.

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Stay in Touch

The Honors experience depends on successful relationships with UConn faculty members. Please contact us at honors@uconn.edu or 860-486-4223 if you have questions about any of the following:

• The Honors conversion process, including designing meaningful projects
• Teaching an Honors version of one of your courses
• Interdisciplinary Honors Core courses
• Advertising your events to Honors students or co-sponsoring an event with the Honors Program

Join the Honors community! Follow us on Facebook (UConn Honors Program) and Twitter (UConnHonors) for updates.

 

 Jennifer Lease Butts, Ph.D.
Director, Honors Program
860-486-4223
jennifer.lease@uconn.edu

 

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Spring 2015

New University Scholars

In December, the University Scholar Oversight and Selection Committee selected 28 University Scholars from a pool of 49 applicants. This was one of the largest applicant pools in recent history and one of the largest cohorts selected. The University Scholars selected include students from Nursing, Engineering, Pharmacy, CAHNR and CLAS. Details about the students and their UScholar Projects can be found here.

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Recruitment of UScholar Applicants

Do you know a first or second year student who might be a good candidate for the University Scholar Program? Please encourage them to explore the program early. Successful applicants have well-defined projects and a solid grounding in research methodology. Taking appropriate courses and exploring research opportunities as a sophomore will facilitate a student’s application to the University Scholar program as a junior.

Students in the arts, humanities and social sciences may find it difficult to identify a pathway toward research or a creative project as first and second year students. So please encourage your curious, motivated, and talented students in those fields to consider coursework and research opportunities that will prepare them to apply to the University Scholar Program.

The University Scholar Program will hold informational workshops for sophomores (freshmen welcome, too) in April.

• Thursday, April 2, 2015, 4-5 pm, Laurel Hall 305
• Wednesday, April 8, 2015, 12:20-1:10 pm. Oak Hall 112

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Monica van Beusekom, Ph.D.
Coordinator, University Scholar Program
860-486-0324
monica.vanbeusekom@uconn.edu

 

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Spring 2015

Updates and Events

The Pre-Law Center continues to advise students throughout the law school application process. We have also expanded opportunities for pre-law students. The number of law schools attending the annual Law School Fair grew again this year. We saw particular growth from higher ranked law schools; this year, Yale Law school attended for the first time.

The Pre-Law Center continued the “Lunch with Lawyers” speaker series to provide small groups of students the opportunity to talk with practicing attorneys in a variety of fields. Our next Lunch with Lawyers will feature Joseph A. DeGirolamo, Director and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at UConn Law, who will be talking about his career in intellectual property. We are also continuing the “Hot Topics in Law” series. Our first for this semester will feature Prof. Hillary Farber, from UMass Law. She will be speaking on Tuesday, Feb. 24^th at 6:30PM on the issue of domestic drone use.

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Student Organizations

Pre-Law student groups have also been very active. The Law Society has hosted significantly more events this year, including a successful visit to three Boston area law schools. Moot Court performed extremely well at the Regional Competition, with one student earning a Top Orator award and one team advanced to the National Competition held in Miami in January. Mock Trial is gearing up for an invitational competition this month at UMass Amherst and then for their regional competition in February at Yale University.

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Courses

This Fall, the Pre-Law Center offered new courses, including “Morality Police” as part of the Honors Program UNIV series, and “Applied Legal Analysis” to help students improve their legal argument skills.

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Law School Admissions Cycle

Students and alumni applying for law school admission this cycle have begun to receive admission offers. In addition to UConn Law, UConn Pre-Law students have been accepted to many top law schools, including Georgetown, UVA, UPenn, Cornell, NYU, Boston University, and many more. Many of our students are also receiving significant scholarship offers.

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Edward F. Kammerer, Jr., J.D., Ph.D.
Pre-Law Advisor; Director, Special Program in Law
860-486-3174
edward.kammerer@uconn.edu

 

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Spring 2015

The purpose of the University of Connecticut’s Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center is to provide systematic and sustained resources and advising to students and alumni of the University community for students interested in pursuing professional careers as doctors of medicine and dental medicine, or as physician assistants.

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Updates

The Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center, with the support and direction of the Pre-Professional Faculty Advising Committee, provides individual advising, informational group and workshop activities, and professional school application process services to prospective students, current students, alumni, faculty, and University staff. Approximately 250 applicants to professional schools are expected during the upcoming application cycle.

We offer an annual MCAT/DAT Prep Test course for students preparing to take the exams. Course enrollment is projected to reach approximately 100 students for Spring 2015. For Fall 2015, the Post-Baccalaureate Program has received 104 applications seeking acceptance into the program since January 1. Enrollment closes in March 2015. A full slate of workshops for Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental students has been scheduled for the 2014-2015 academic year, and dinner events for students and alumni in the Special Programs in Medicine and Dental Medicine and the Post-Baccalaurate Program are being planned and scheduled.

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Meeting with the Director

The Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center encourages any student interested in a health profession to meet as early as possible with the Director. Appointments can be scheduled via AdvApp or by contacting the Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Office, listed under the Pre-Professional Programs heading.

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Keat Sanford, Ph.D.
Advisor, Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center
(860) 486-1655
keat.sanford@uconn.edu

 

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Spring 2015

Explore the latest news, workshops,and updates
from UConn’s Enrichment Program units:

Open by invitation to first-years and by application to rising sophomores and juniors

• Honors Program

Open to all UConn students on all campuses

• Office of Undergraduate Research
• Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships
• Pre-Law Center
• Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center
• Individualized Major Program
• University Scholar Program

As always, you can find contact information for our staff members or the individual unit offices here.

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Enrichment Program Updates

Honors Program
Spring semester means it is “admissions season” in the Honors Program. Our staff will spend time this semester with the Office of Admissions working to recruit students to UConn as part of the Class of 2019 in Honors. Read more.

Office of Undergraduate Research
Circle January 26th on your calendars: this is the date of the opening reception for it’s a dream: Memories of the Cuban Revolution, an exhibition by Ashley Frato ’15 (SFA). Read more.

Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships
Results of the major fall scholarship competitions yielded a record number of finalists.  Read more.

Pre-Law Center
The Pre-Law Center continues to advise students throughout the law school application process. We have also expanded opportunities for pre-law students. Read more.

Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center
The purpose of the University of Connecticut’s Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Center is to provide systematic and sustained resources and advising to students and alumni of the University community for students interested in pursuing professional careers as doctors of medicine and dental medicine, or as physician assistants. Read more.

Individualized Major Program
The Individualized Major Advisory and Admissions Committee admitted 29 new students to the Individualized Major Program in Fall 2014.

University Scholar Program
In December, the University Scholar Oversight and Selection Committee selected 28 University Scholars from a pool of 49 applicants. Read more.

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In Other News

UConn Undergraduates Head to National Moot Court Contest
Lenehan’s story is so much more than basketball
Senior Wins Award in Recognition of Leadership Potential

Return to previous editions

Upcoming Events

Circle January 26th on your calendars: this is the date of the opening reception for it’s a dream: Memories of the Cuban Revolution, an exhibition by Ashley Frato ’15 (SFA). The exhibition is the culmination of Ashley’s UConn IDEA Grant project, which examines her family’s experiences of the Cuban Revolution and highlights broader issues of censorship, filtering, and neo-imperialism.
Monday, January 26, 2015 – 5-7 pm – Vais Gallery, Art Building. Exhibition runs January 26-29, 2015.

Ashley was selected as a member of the third cohort of UConn IDEA Grant recipients in Spring 2014. Watch the OUR website in the coming days for the announcement of our latest cohort of grantees, who will be engaging in project work in Summer 2015. The UConn IDEA Grant program supports individual or small group work on meaningful, student-designed projects, whether original research, creative endeavors, service initiatives, or entrepreneurial ventures.

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Key Dates

February 2 – Deadline for SURF Applications
February 9-March 9 – Frontiers Application Open
March 16 – Deadline for UConn IDEA Grant Applications (Academic Year 2015-16 Funding)
April 10-11 – Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition

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Fall Highlights

Fall was a season of growth in the Office of Undergraduate Research, with a number of exciting developments:

53 undergraduate researchers presented their work at the second annual Fall Frontiers research exhibition on October 29, 2014. The number of posters doubled last year’s count, but the event still offered an intimate environment for the presentation and discussion of student research. We congratulate the student presenters and thank the members of the university community who made up the engaged and enthusiastic audience.

We published our first round-up of the research and creative accomplishments of our undergraduate students. Please join us in celebrating the breadth and quality of their work and encourage your students to report their achievements via our online form for inclusion in a future installment.

After careful evaluation of a record high numbers of applications, 24 SHARE (Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Research Experience) Award teams were selected. These awards offer early-career students research apprenticeships that will build their skills and enable them to explore projects of interest with the support of a faculty mentor. This year, we are especially pleased to count students from the Greater Hartford, Stamford, and Waterbury campuses among our SHARE awardees.

The OUR and the UConn Humanities Institute are partnering in an effort to support and promote undergraduate research in the humanities. The UCHI has generously agreed to fund two student SHARE awards as well as to offer support for humanists’ travel and supply needs via the OUR Travel Award and OUR Supply Award programs. We encourage undergraduate students conducting humanistic research to apply to these programs to secure funding for their academic projects.

We were also excited to name the two teams selected to receive Roper Awards for Research Experience (RARE Awards) for Spring 2015. These faculty-student pairs will conduct research that makes use of the Roper Center’s extensive collection of public opinion data. The OUR gratefully acknowledges the Roper Center’s co-sponsorship of this award program for the past several years as well as key role the Center has played in introducing UConn undergraduates to public opinion research through its internship program.

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Caroline McGuire, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Undergraduate Research
860-486-5829
caroline.mcguire@uconn.edu

 

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Spring 2015

ONS&F supports high-achieving graduate and undergraduate students who may be eligible for prestigious national scholarships and fellowships.  We work with prospective candidates at any stage in their academic career, advising them on how to search for applicable awards, how to become strong candidates and how to draft and submit competitive applications.

Faculty are an important part of the process.  Please send us your best and brightest! We encourage students to work closely with faculty in their disciplines as they think deeply about their educational goals, especially as they construct research proposals and other discipline-specific materials.  Faculty support is also critical for letters of recommendation.  In addition, we rely on faculty from across the disciplines to serve on committees to select nominees for those competitions that require institutional endorsement (Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Fulbright, Truman, Udall, Goldwater, Beinecke and the Carnegie Jr. Fellows program).

Indeed, it takes a village to raise a successful scholarship candidate in the face of difficult odds and limited funding.  Win or lose, however, students benefit from an application process that requires then to reflect on their education and articulate their achievements and goals.  ONS&F alumni have gone on to win numerous national awards; others have landed in top graduate and professional programs.  We only began working officially with graduate students last fall, but so far, we have seen several students land post docs and big fellowships and are working in partnership with the Graduate School to educate students on the value of prestigious fellowships to help launch their academic and professional careers.

Important Fall Dates

Sept. 1: Campus Deadline for Rhodes, Marshall & Mitchell Applications
Sept. 15: Campus Deadline for U.S. Student Fulbright Applications
Oct. 21: Campus Deadline for Truman Scholarship Applications for Nomination
Oct. 28: Campus Deadline for Goldwater Scholarship Applications for Nomination
Oct. 29-Nov. 6: Deadline for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (dates vary by field)
Nov. 3: Campus Deadline for Carnegie Jr. Fellows Application for Nomination

Fall Workshop Dates

Sept. 2: Graduate STEM Fellowship General Information Session (12pm, Whetton 200)
Sept. 3: Graduate Fellowships in the Humanities & Social Sciences (4pm, Whetton 200)
Sept. 8: Graduate STEM Fellowships: Successful Applicant Panel (4pm, Whetton 200)
Sept. 11: Graduate STEM Fellowship Bootcamp (4pm Whetton 200)
Sept. 17: Intensive Foreign Language Study (4 pm, Austin 103)
Sept. 18: Intensive Foreign Language Study (12:30 pm, Rowe, 420)
Oct. 2: International Relations Scholarships (12:30 pm, Rowe 420)

Please encourage your students to consult our website regularly for upcoming deadlines and workshops: www.ons.uconn.edu

Jill Deans, Ph.D.
Director, Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships
(860) 486-0087
jill.deans@uconn.edu

For 50 years, the UConn Honors Program has offered opportunities for high achieving students to enrich their undergraduate education through advanced study, research, and co-curricular experiences. This year, slightly more than 500 new first-year students at the Storrs campus entered the Honors Program, making this our largest incoming class ever. Students at any UConn campus may apply to join Honors as sophomores or juniors, and we now have almost 2,000 Honors students across all years and campuses.

Throughout their Honors careers, students may earn Honors credits in a variety of ways, beginning with specially designed first-year seminars and culminating in the thesis project: an original piece of scholarship or creative project in a student’s major discipline. In the intervening years, students may take Honors versions of general education courses, interdisciplinary Honors Core courses, Honors courses and seminars within their majors, and graduate courses. When an Honors version of a course is not available, students may work with their instructors to design conversion projects to earn Honors credit. In all of these examples, students are prompted to engage in material at higher levels, delve more deeply into specific topics, or progress more quickly through standard curricula than they would do otherwise. They are guided through this journey by assigned Honors faculty advisors as well as the staff of the Honors Program.

Honors students are active outside the classroom as well. The friendships and connections established in the Honors First Year Residential Community and other Honors housing options are key parts of the Honors experience during students’ undergraduate years and beyond. The Honors community is also fostered through a robust selection of programming and events, many produced or advertised in partnership with other UConn departments. Additional opportunities for engagement, leadership, service, and connection can be found through several Honors student organizations.

The Honors experience depends on successful relationships with UConn faculty members. Please contact us at honors@uconn.edu or 860-486-4223 if you have questions about any of the following:

• The Honors conversion process, including designing meaningful projects
• Teaching an Honors version of one of your courses
• Interdisciplinary Honors Core courses
• Advertising your events to Honors students or co-sponsoring an event with the Honors Program

Faculty members also serve an important role in identifying current UConn students who would benefit from the Honors experience. Some of these talented students are unaware that they can apply to join Honors as sophomores or juniors or that they can be Honors students at the regional campuses. Encouragement from you—and offering to fill out the faculty evaluation form—can go a long way! Please direct them to our website at honors.uconn.edu for information about the application process and deadlines.

Join the Honors community! Follow us on Facebook (UConn Honors Program) and Twitter (UConnHonors) for updates.

Jennifer Lease Butts, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice Provost for Enrichment Programs and Director, Honors Program
860-486-0700
jennifer.lease@uconn.edu

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Fall 2014

Research universities like UConn offer their undergraduate students unparalleled opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge scholarly inquiry. By engaging in authentic research experiences, students develop their capacity to work collaboratively, think critically, and adapt creatively when the unexpected occurs. Student learning is facilitated by the mentorship of faculty members and graduate students, who are undergraduates’ guides to the on-the-ground realities of academic research.

While many students are interested in participating in research, few have a clear sense of how to get started. The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) helps students from all majors and UConn campuses navigate this process by developing individualized strategies to find opportunities to conduct research and/or engage in creative activity. In addition, by providing funding for student projects and venues for showcasing students’ work, OUR supports students through the full cycle of inquiry: exploring the unknown, creating new knowledge, and sharing discoveries.

OUR is also a resource for faculty members. Are you looking to recruit research assistants? Post a research opportunity via the form on our website and we will advertise it via our site and social media platforms. Would you like an OUR staff member or one of our Peer Research Ambassadors to speak with your class, department, or other group? There’s an online form for that too. Would you like to learn more about our programs or strategize about involving undergraduates in your work? Contact us and we’ll set up a time to talk. And if you happen to be looking for a service opportunity, we’d be happy to add you to our ranks of application reviewers as input from faculty across the disciplines is essential to our competitive award programs.

When applicants for OUR awards are asked how they learned about these funding opportunities, faculty advisors are consistently listed as one of the primary sources of this information. We encourage you to learn more about our suite of funding programs, which run the gamut from small awards for travel or supplies through $4,000 awards for intensive summer or academic year projects. If a student doing innovative, self-designed work crosses your path, please encourage him or her to apply for a UConn IDEA Grant. This growing program supports individual or small group work on meaningful projects, whether original research, creative endeavors, service initiatives, or entrepreneurial ventures.

We invite you and your students to join us at the Fall Frontiers Poster Exhibition on October 29th, where undergraduates will share their work with the university community. Come be inspired by their terrific accomplishments and help us extend and expand the conversation about undergraduate research at UConn.

Key Dates:
August 25 – Applications open for Travel and Supply Awards
October 27 – Deadline for SHARE and RARE Award Applications
October 29 – Fall Frontiers Poster Exhibition
December 17 – Deadline for UConn IDEA Grant Applications (Summer 2015 Funding)
February 2 – Deadline for SURF Applications
March 16 – Deadline for UConn IDEA Grant Applications (Academic Year 2015-16 Funding)

Caroline McGuire, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Undergraduate Research
860-486-5829
caroline.mcguire@uconn.edu

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Fall 2014

 

The UConn Pre-Law Center is committed to working with students and alumni who wish to become legal professionals. The Center is open to any student, regardless of major or class year, and all alumni, no matter when they graduated. Advising begins with the question of whether or not law school is the appropriate tool to help students achieve their goals. Not all students who start out pre-law decide to go to law school. We help those students find ways to link their interest in law to other paths while keeping the possibility of law school in the future open. For those students who do decide to go to law school, the Pre-Law Center helps them make their application as strong as possible by reviewing resumes, personal statements, and other application materials, advise on school selection and scholarship offers, as well as provide general information about law school and the application process.

In addition to individual advising appointments, the Pre-Law Center hosts workshops and events for students to learn more about law and the legal profession. We recently started a new lunch series, Lunch with Lawyers, which aims to bring a variety of legal professionals to campus to expose students to different areas of law and different legal careers. Last semester, we started Hot Topics in Law: A Speakers Series to bring cutting edge legal research to campus. We also host an annual law fair that brings law schools from across the country here to recruit talented UConn students. This year we’ve expanded our numbers and hope to bring even more schools to campus.  This year, the Fair is on October 14th in the Student Union Ballroom.

The Pre-Law Center also maintains an active Facebook Page where we post information about campus events as well as important news about the legal profession and the law school application process. We also have an email newsletter that we send out twice a month (on average) with highlights and other information, including our Alumni Spotlight! column where we feature UConn alumni who have gone on to have legal careers. To receive the newsletter, please send an email to prelaw@uconn.edu.

Faculty are encouraged to refer any student interested in law school to the pre-law office so we can begin working with that student as soon as possible. Students are encouraged to attend a general pre-law workshop before scheduling an advising appointment, but this is not required. Advising Appointments can be scheduled via AdvApp; pre-law is listed under the Pre-Professional Programs heading.

Edward F. Kammerer, Jr., J.D., Ph.D.
Advisor, Pre-Law
(860) 486-3174
edward.kammerer@uconn.edu

Return to Enrichment Programs Faculty Update Fall 2014